Out of the Wilderness

Hey hey! Hi! Thanks for checking out the post today. Most likely you’ve come here because you relate to something about this post whether it’s suffering from allergies, living in Tennessee, being bored and surfing the internet, or all three! But no matter, thank you for stopping by. If you’re like me, you’re almost to the level of def-con 10 trying to figure out how to overcome allergies. And I’m not even talking about cats, that could be another whole post!

Battlefield
It seems like all of my adult life I’ve had to battle allergies and more specifically, seasonal allergies. Think spring and summer when everything is blooming and/or hotter than a parking lot in the desert. I remember having such trouble with the sneezing and the itchy, watery eyes, the sniffling and all that… and the sad part is I never really tried to find out why. I just went on with it as a normal part of life. Well, a few years ago I finally began to address this ongoing fight. I became vegan when I was challenged by a friend of mine (check out his stuff here) to give up dairy for a month and see what happens.

Since then I’ve dug deeper into what’s going on with my body during these seasonal allergies (of which I’m suffering even as I type! So obviously the battle isn’t over :)). I had the chance to take those tests tests where doctors or nurses add allergens to your arm to see what causes the biggest reaction. This was huge for me.

Do You Know Your Enemy?
These tests revealed my biggest bully was ragweed. The enemy has been identified! Then the fight became how to address this specific antagonist. What’s kinda funny, too, is that I don’t remember having this level of suffering before I moved to Tennessee, so while I love it here, something’s up with Tennessee, y’all. The last few years I’ve tried to pinpoint a specific defense against ragweed and haven’t quite nailed it down. But last year I made progress. The symptoms were lessened and I even added info to my calendar so I could start preparing for the days symptoms would most likely show up.

So I creep…
Then spring 2019 came around and wham-o! ragweed’s annoying brother crept up on me– tree pollen! Weeks before I thought I’d see the enemy (ragweed allergies), my nose starts running, my eyes start watering and I was caught unprepared. The last 2 weeks have been rough. All the normal symptoms but coming at me twice as hard, it seems. I’ve caught myself many times thinking, “I can’t live like this for 20 more days!” So I set out to do more this year. After some research (for instance, this), I’ve reinstated the use of the air purifier in my house, I’ve bought plants to help clean the air, I wear disposable masks (as pictured above), and I even ordered a mask on Amazon (click here for Amazon link*) that arrived today. I’ll do a follow-up post to update on it’s effectiveness. Here’s a quick look at my defense systems…

*as an Amazon affiliate, I receive a kick back for any orders placed through the links I provide, at no extra cost to you*

Not to mention, wearing long sleeves and pants whenever I’m doing yard work, staying indoors during the late morning/ early afternoon hours, using the car air conditioner instead of windows down, washing clothes more often, and just generally being more attentive to the environment around me.

Can I get a connection?
With all this said, I want to hear from you all out there who are going through the same things! Any DIY solutions that have worked? OTC medications that have been effective? Tell me, share, let’s overcome this together. Until then, keep up the fight!

-Out of the Wilderness