Thursday, December 8, 2011

An Allergy Day

I went in for allergy testing this morning.  It was a fun process.  If you call getting "pricked" 43 times with different allergens, being told not to scratch anything that itches and then being left alone for 15 minutes to watch your skin react to the allergens that itch REALLY bad, "fun".
Of the 41 allergens that I was tested for - I showed allergies to 37 of them.  Numbers 17, 18, and 19 were by far the WORST, and all three of them are grasses.  And that picture was taken after only 5 minutes.  After 15 minutes, when the nurse came in to check on me, splotchy redness was traveling up my arm.  She hurried to get the doctor to look at me so that I could get some medication.

Anyway, after this visit (side note: I really, REALLY like the doctor.  He checked me out and diagnosed a sinus infection that I have right now before starting the allergy testing. He's youngish and funny.), I have made the decision to get allergy shots for the next 3-5 YEARS, so that I don't have to spend my summers taking drugs and stuffing my nose with wads of toilet paper at night.

I really don't like needles.  And to start off, I have to get shots twice a week for 2-3 months.

HOORAY.

According to my results, I'm allergic to dogs and cats.  What's up with that?  I'm not allergic to dogs or cats or horses (and my results say that I AM).  As far as seasonal allergies go (besides grass - which is all summer long), I'm pretty allergic to Willow and Linden trees in the spring, and Plantain and Marshelder weeds in the fall.

So, lucky me, I have allergies all year round.

And that is more information about me and my allergies than you ever wanted to know.  But now you know it.

6 comments:

Connie Baldwin said...

You didn't put Dr Taylor's name in the blog....I really like him too!

Becca Lund said...

I'm so sorry, this sucks! Allergies suck!I am allergic to pretty much every plant, and maybe even air. And boys. I got allergy shots as a kid, though, and my allergies seem to slowly be going away now.

Amanda said...

Is he the allergist at Riverton Hospital? I've considered going in and starting shots again but I really doubt I will...

Unknown said...

So did you scratch??

Tasha said...

Yikes!!! That is awful!

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry! That does not sound or look like much fun. I hope you treated yourself to something yummy after that appointment!