January, February… Uh-huh, the hayfever season is here again. I’m not hypochondriac, nor obsessing about it – I’m just aware and perhaps most sufferers are. This year I’ve even started taking my antihistamines early. I began my reminder on the 1^st of February. That’s a common advice given by doctors, start taking your pills before you need it as a pre-emptive strike to those pollens come Spring.

Five years ago, it wasn’t so bad. Then I got pregnant and I thought I was scot-free, or rhinitis-problem-free. But then I gave birth & the onslaught was really bad. Two years ago, I get pitying looks from my former colleagues. One year and one company after, I was told by the CTO to “get healthy” as my number 1 priority. Come on, it’s not like I can inject myself with steroids and forget I ever had hayfever! Oh wait! That is one treatment that is not recommended in the UK anymore.

There is another treatment that none of my doctors would recommend – desensitization. My GP even said it’s a waste of money & far too risky. Basically you check in to a hospital, they expose you to all sorts of allergens until your body has had enough & get acclimatized. At least that’s the general idea.

I’ve been prescribed all types of antihistamines and according to experts I have been taking the most powerful formula currently available – desloratadine. And yet none of them ever worked for me. I have gone for alternative medicines too, most are garlic based. Many toothbrushes later, still no effect.

So this year, I am hoping that by religiously waking up to my “take your medicine” alert & downing my pills for more than half-of-the-year, my hayfever will not be as bad. I really don’t want to post “IM NOT CONTAGIOUS” on my forehead.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 at 4:55 pm and is filed under hayfever. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.