Woman's reaction to allergies: Make it stop!
It's that time of year again. Pollen invades the air ... and the sinuses of more than 50 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies. Stephanie Gildea is one of the afflicted. The consumer marketing manager at Paste BN parent company Gannett , who lives in McLean, Va., gives her account of what it’s like to develop allergies as an adult.
I didn’t have environmental allergies when I was young. Allergies were limited to the realm of medicine commercials and mysterious aisles of the pharmacy. They had nothing to do with me.
I didn’t know what true allergies were.
Then, two years ago, I began to feel run down. I slept for 10 to 12 hours a night. And it wasn’t enough. My eyes were hot, puffy, swollen and felt like molten lakes of lava. I put ice packs on my eyes to vanquish the flames of the some horrible internal fire.
Sinus infections became a regular occurrence. I felt as if a balloon had inflated in my head. My skull felt like it was in a vise. A low-grade fever was the house-guest who just wouldn’t take the hint and leave.
I went to my doctor every week for a few months. I was a young, healthy woman. After my fifth sinus infection in a six-month period, my doctor mused: “Maybe it’s allergies.”
Maybe?
I went to the allergist and got a test. I was pricked dozens of times by needles contaminated with allergens. I felt like I was being stung by a hive of bees. I was covered in bloody welts. It was definitely up there in the list of “Things I could not possibly be paid to repeat.”
At least the problem finally had a name. Five names, to be precise: maple trees, cats, horses, house dust and cockroaches.
The plan to combat these ubiquitous enemies: allergy shots.
Once a week I was stabbed with two needles that shot a serum into my body. This serum is not just any serum. It’s specifically developed to train my immune system over time to not hate maple trees, cats, horses, house dust and cockroaches. Allergy shots are not a short-term fix. They’re a long-term game. So while I continued getting shots every week, impatiently waiting to see the effects, the misery of allergies refused to let up.
And then I had a balloon procedure. My ear, nose and throat doctor took a stick with an inflatable balloon at the end and inserted it through my nostrils. It all was was designed with the unpleasant intention of expanding each of my four sinus cavities. The real fun didn’t begin until I could hear my bones making soft crackling noises as the balloon was inflated in each sinus cavity and fluid began to course through my sinuses like a raging river. I was no longer just a sufferer of allergies. I was a sufferer of allergies who had been reengineered by the excruciating marvels of modern medicine.
I’ve been an allergy sufferer for almost two years now. I haven’t had a balloon shoved up my nose again, but I have gotten smarter about how I manage my allergies. I wash my face after I’ve been outside. I use a neti pot to flush out my sinuses once or twice a day. I take a decongestant that requires the approval of my pharmacist because it also can be used as an ingredient to make methamphetamine. My life has changed, and that means that maple trees, cats, horses, house dust and cockroaches are now my fiercest enemies.
I now know what true allergies are. I’m scared of driving with the windows down, and dust bunnies are a foe to be vanquished at every turn. But I still play soccer and do things outside on my own terms. Allergies might define a lot of my life experiences now, but they don’t control who I am or how I am in the world.
Getting rid of them is worth a million allergy shots. But maybe only one balloon procedure.
In the meantime, this is what living life with allergies looks like. Send me your experience at sgildea@gannett.com or tweet your allergy-coping tips at @USATODAY.