2025, animals, Family, History, pets, Uncategorized

Allergic

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Husband is allergic to most things airborne. Pollen in the Spring, grasses all Summer, deciduous and conifer trees, molds, dust, and cats. He has had shots, devours Sudafed multiple times daily, and uses nasal irrigation every day. Nothing really helps. He snots, drips, and gags. It is hard for me to hear. The only thing I am allergic to is oral contraceptives..

It has been particularly bad this last month as the Spring wheat harvest is in full swing and there is harvesting going on all around our community. Lots of dust and pollen are wafting around us.

Despite his cat allergies, Husband adores cats, and at one time we had four cats. He just ups his antihistamine doses and we vacuum the bedspread and brush the cat with the furminator brush. Due to his need for a cpap machine and his REM sleep disorder, I sleep in the guest room with the dog. The cat happily snuggles up with Husband.

I tell him it will be worse in Southern Minnesota, due to the increased humidity, but he is open to try living there. My best friend who will live with us has four cats, so we will have some challenges

What would you do if you found you were allergic to something you adored?I If you have allergies, how do you manage them?

41 thoughts on “Allergic”

  1. In my early 40s I developed “Spring” allergies – oak pollen and cottonwood fluff in particular – and for years took either over the counter or prescription antihistamines from April until early August. Two years ago my acupuncturist learned to do ear acupuncture, specifically designed to help with allergies. I had it done in the early summer of 2023 and was able to stop meds within 2 weeks. It was a bad year for cottonwood fluff but I had nearly zero symptoms. This year I started having some symptoms in mid April so had a “booster” session and have been fine except for a little bit of sniffling. I consider her my miracle worker.

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      1. She does some testing first to determine what allergens are the most troublesome. Then she places several tiny acupuncture needles in the ear canal at specific locations. Then the needles are covered with a type of liquid bandage. Mine stayed in for 3 to 4 weeks, then were removed using a tweezer. Once in place, I never felt them. While they are in, try to keep the ear canal dry – OK to shower, not OK to go swimming with head under water.

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  2. My wife is allergic to cats despite having three cats over the first 30 years of our marriage. After the last one died in 2008, we said, “No more cats.”

    Fast forward to Dec., 2024, when we met a neighbor of her nephew who is also allergic to cats but owns a Siberian Forest cat (or just plain Siberian). Amazingly, despite their thick, multi-layered fur, they are hypoallergenic for most people, including my wife! We signed up on the breeder’s waiting list and were offered a kitten in less than a month! Best money we ever spent! And she wasn’t cheap. *gulp* You don’t wanna know how much.

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    1. WP is messing with me again. Didn’t get to finish. Trying to post a photo of Iris the cat but can’t figure out (remember?) how to do it.

      Anyway, there’s hope for all with cat allergies with Siberians.

      I’ve had some unusual allergic issues this spring on the golf course. Normally, I have rhinitis through the winter, eating spicy or hot food, etc. But for some reason, my sniffling, runny nose and watering eyes got so bad on the course that it affected my game. Hard to focus on the tiny white ball when your eyes are gushing waterfalls. Went to the doc to find out what’s wrong, get allergy tests, etc. Process is slow, going to have some tests next month and have been trying different treatments: Flonase, nasal lavage, antihistamine pills, etc.

      One theory I have is that the Canadian wildfire smoke earlier this year is the cause of my problems. I’ve been better lately since the air has cleared up down here. Maybe the allergy tests will reveal what the problem is. Fingers crossed.

      Chris in Owatonna

      ***BSP*** Riverwalk Market Fair in downtown Northfield again tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 30). My books and I will be there, along with dozens of other vendors, farmers market produce, food, sweet treats, tuneful music, and a laid-back vibe that is so energizing. I feel a genuine sense of community when I participate in these street fairs, arts & crafts shows, and book festivals. Come on down and spend a gorgeous summer morning in Northfield. 9-1 every Saturday into October, in case you miss tomorrow. My next appearance will be Sept. 20. ***END BSP***

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  3. I feel so lucky to have no allergies to speak of – sulfa drugs as a child… that’s it so far.

    If I found I was allergic to, say, chocolate (like a childhood friend of mine was – I felt so sorry for her!), I think I would try to find an accupuncture person like K-Two’s!

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  4. I have a long list of triggers, not sure if I should call them allergies, some are. Triggers are odors, chemicals, etc. acetone for one sends me into pain hell. So I cannot be around fresh fingernail polish or remover. Many cleaning products light me up. Perfumes, artificial scents of all kinds.
    In terms of allergies, many plants, tree pollen, many flowers, hay, but not grass. Re southern Minnesota, I have had a nagging allergy all summer. I have more allergies here than it NE MN.

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    2. I’m afflicted with the same allergy. I can’t even look at the orange face without getting a headache. My brother told me I have “trump derangement syndrome.” I told him that’s good. At least I’m not as insane as a “magat.”

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  7. I consider myself fortunate to not be sensitive or allergic to most common allergens. I am hypersensitive to cigarette smoke, however, and will get a sore throat, stuffy nose, and runny eyes within hours of exposure to it. Thankfully, it’s reasonably easy to avoid these days.

    Like Clyde, I’m also bothered by strong perfumes; they give me a headache. Fortunately, I’m rarely exposed to that either. I do have several friends who like to wear patchouli oil, but I only see one of them regularly, and I know her well enough to be able to ask her not to wear it when we’re going to be together.

    During a resent visit to the ER, we discovered that I’m allergic to certain antibiotics.

    Seeking relief from allergic reactions through acupuncture makes sense to me, and I’d do it in a heartbeat rather consume a steady diet of antihistamines which have been linked to dementia.

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  8. OT: We have had a terrible several days. Our dog had another episode of poly-arthritis come on, and then it spread to her digestive system causing the early stage of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. After a week of struggling with medications, she was in pain and dragging her back legs again, as well. This morning she was euthanized. I am heartbroken.

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      1. Although the pain, along with the fact that IBD is pretty intractable was the reasoning. Now if we could do something about MY pain…I was just distraught. Last year when the first episode occurred, the specialist emphasized that this is extremely rare in such a young dog and it might go this way.

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    2. Oh Jacque, I’m so, so sorry. What an awful thing to have happen, especially at this moment. Words cannot express how truly sorry I am to hear this awful news.

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  9. I’m allergic to dust, exhaust fumes, and cigarette smoke. I don’t have a diagnosis of a cat allergy, but they make me itch and sneeze.

    This moving is getting hard and stressful. My brother is coming to help me tomorrow. He will cheer me up. It’s been a rather stressful and depressing week.

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  11. She is on the verge of moving into the final stage of hospice. But she declines and recovers. Today was a big decline. Not going into details. I knew there would come this point of tears. See where she is in the process tomorrow and where I am.

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  14. I developed an allergy to dairy and wheat, so the gluten and lactose intolerance came up as the blue one day, and basically caused me to live uncomfortably with those things rather than completely eliminate them, but they have been lessened to a huge degree if your husband has all these allergies I might suggest going into a health food store or probably online and looking up what they have for homeopathic remedies for allergies. I’ve suggested this to a few people and have about a 50% hit rate on whether the homeopathic remedy will resolve the allergy issue. It’s a pretty amazing change of life for those people who are able to have it affected. It’s like a one time dose that will basically get your body to be rewired to where the allergic stuff no longer affects you if you’re interested I can look into specific stuff for ,CHRIS otherwise, you can just go into a whole foods store next time you’re in Fargo or some metropolitan area and look on their shelf for homeopathic. Remington research it online and it will help you figure out what the proper remedy would be

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