The Allergy Attack

Well, I'm sure a lot of you out there are also experiencing what I've been going through this past week.  In fact, many of you may have heard me sound quite differently on the radio this past week:  congested, sniffly, maybe a little broken up.  I had what I thought were, in fact, allergies.

Everyone around me said, "Oh sure, it's that time of year," and "Well, we had such a mild winter - the pollen is twice as bad as it would be", etc, etc.  So, I thought, "It is what it is.  You're gonna have to suck it up and deal with it."

It started out as just your typical allergy attack: a little runny nose, maybe some watery eyes, nothing major.  Then it started to turn into what I have decided to "lovingly" call The Lurgy.  The Lurgy, in my mind, looks something like this:

Hideous, isn't it.   This is our challenger. This unwanted intruder into my sinus passages managed to cause quite a bit of havoc in a short period of time.  What had been a normal allergy spate turned into something excruciating.

Mucus came out of my tear ducts.  It glued my eyes shut in the mornings.   My throat became so sore that gargling with numbing agents just gave the Lurgy something to play with.  I couldn't swallow without first attempting to numb or placate my throat.  I tried pills, I tried sprays, I tried lozenges, I tried hot beverages, I tried cold beverages.  Each worked for a short time, but The Lurgy was clever.  He bested each effort and came back with more force.

This weekend, I attempted to actually leave my modest abode and head out to a music show with  my cousin.  We drove to Colombia and watched a few very nice people sing quite loudly with a lot of lights and some Conway Twitty jokes.  Most of the time I was attempting not to cough and blow my nose every thirty seconds, while continually sucking down something that was supposed to help with sore throat symptoms.

It had now been over eight days with little to no relief.  I caved.  I went....... TO THE DOCTOR.

No, just kidding (though that would make the copay worth it).   It's more like this:

I had been told repeatedly by several sane, smart people that knew a thing or two but admittedly did not have medical training that I would probably just get what they called "the allergy shot" and then I would be fine in about an hour.

Alas, this was not meant to be.  No, not for me.  My medical professional looked in my ears, took my temperature, examined my throat, and used something that looked like a flashlight to look up my nose.  After some discussion and breathing in and out,  the doc told me that I, in fact, had a sinus infection.  I may have started out with simple allergies, but often these things can develop from allergies, and in this case, I was the lucky one.  The Lurgy had weaseled his way in through the open door that was Allergy Season.

So now, I have had to take two whole days off of work in order to cough this business out of my system, with the help of the pictured supplements.  I spent most of the day Monday asleep and I imagine today will be just as unproductive.

My question is this:  Will you tell me your story? How has allergy season treated you?  Do you have any home remedies that you use, or something that your family always told you to do?  Do you have a tried and true product that you always turn to at this time?  Do you even have allergies?   When you're sick or under the weather, what do you do?  What are your comforts?

While I am coughing up a number of interesting liquids I believe I can safely say I will be back on the air Wednesday.  By then I shouldn't be contagious and I should also be able to speak for more than a minute without coughing.

Love and sneezes (and hopefully back on the evening show soon)

Behka