Not sick!

[asterroc]

Decided to just entirely quote an email I just sent to my parents.

Continued symptoms of a head cold or sinus infection drove me to my doctor yesterday morning. Before she even examined me, she noted that I'd been to see her with a cold every Oct/Nov for the past four years, indicating either that the symptoms were actually allergies, or that the allergies left me susceptible to catching colds. After the exam she decided that the current symptoms were a combination of illness and allergies, and decided to start by treating the allergies alone. She prescribed me Singulair and Flonase, told me to call her Friday with an update so she could decide whether to add antibiotics to my list, and told me I could mix the Singular with either Claritin or Zyrtec if I feel it was necessary. (Singulair works on leukotriene while Claritin and Zyrtec both work on histamine.) Took the drugs yesterday evening, slept through the night, and woke up feeling normal for the first time since early September. Yay! Looks like I might not need to see an allergist after all.

The part I found particularly telling was that every year since 2006 I have been to see my doctor with a cold either in October or November. I wouldn't see my doctor unless I were convinced it wasn't allergies, so either I was wrong, or that allergies in September or October depressed my immune system enough to catch the colds. So anyone know what I'm allergic to at that time of the year? Leaves aren't yet falling so it's probably not mold/mildew, and it's not Spring so it wouldn't be most of the things blooming.

Comments

[meig.livejournal.com]

My guess is ragweed. Ragweed always kills me in the Fall, too.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/ragweed_season_bad_and_getting.html

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

I have the same thing happen to me every year (since I was a little kid) and we still haven't figured out what the exact cause is. It's probably a combination of several mild things that add up into one big thing. I used to get terrible bronchitis but the med regimen I'm on now (Veramyst and Zyrtec) helps a lot and I only got what felt like a bad cold for 3 days this year. Hopefully that will be it.
I'm glad the combo of Singulair, Flonase, and antihistamine is helping. Fall allergies suck. Especially when you can't figure out what the hell is the cause other than it's October.

No Sick

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know what you have a-blowin around where you live, but it might be from far away. Here in the plains of Oklahoma a large number of people have allergies to cedars (as determined by skin tests) that act up when the cedars (actually junipers) pollinate... hundreds of miles away in Colorado. Check your prevailing winds.