Help

My allergies are out of control. Just looking at this cotton wood makes my skin crawl. I can’t be outside for 2 seconds without swelling up like a balloon. I can’t open the windows in a car without my eyes itching so badly I want to rip them out. The worst side affect is the sneezing. My sneezes can only be described as violent. They are loud, force full, shake my entire body, and startle innocent by standers. The worst part of sneezing is the obligatory “bless you” that comes next. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate people being polite. But once I start sneezing, I won’t stop until I get inside and have about 10 minutes with “clean” air. People say “bless you” really enthusiastically the first time - with no idea what they’ve just committed themselves too. They appear equally confident in their 2nd “bless you.” But by the time I’ve sneezed 19 times their “bless you” is hardly an audible whisper, the story they were telling is long since ruined, and I swear I can hear their mind frantically searching for an exit strategy.

I know I should go see an allergist. It is on my list of things to do, but isn’t my favorite solution. The allergist man charges me lots of cash, and then gives me 1 TBP of medicine that can hold me over for about a week. I found a saline nasal rinse that speeds up my recovery time once I’m inside the house – but does nothing to help with prevention. When I have an allergy attack and don’t have my saline nasal rinse on me, I find myself sniffing water up my nose like a drug addict. It does burn, but I prefer the burning to the itching.

Someone out there must have some good over the counter allergy medicine they can recommend.