allergy update - this is my life

So, appointment with allergist today. Wait for it. Or not, I'll just tell you.

Forty-one separate skin tests--including rabbit--have yielded the following: I may be a little tiny bit allergic to walnuts and German cockroaches. Everything else was statistically insignificant and I have pictures of my back to prove it. Or, those things could be contributory maybe? but not really. I don't even like walnuts so not a problem there.

That said.

I have a mildly deviated septum which no one in my entire life of doctors looking up my nose has noticed before and needs special equipment to explore (my nostril. To explore my nostril). I had mentioned earlier in the appointment that my upper gums got swollen or tender or really sensitive on occasion as well as the roof of my mouth and I still had problems smelling things sometimes or I smell the wrong things, sometimes unpleasant. Her expression should have warned me but whatever.

So working theory: I have had a chronic sinus infection most of my life, which apparently is true of forty-nine percent of the population who comes in for allergy tests, specifically one that reacts badly to changes in barometric pressure, humidity, temperature aka weather changes and becomes irritated and inflamed and worse and contributory to my misery. There is no season for this; it's all the seasons.

...yes. I am allergic to weather. To weather. That's a thing.

(Like, won't lie, a part of me was like "YES I KNEW IT WOULD BE SOMETHING STUPID AND WEIRD AND WHAT" but...I was joking about being allergic to the weather. I didn't know it was a thing. But it is a thing.)

Now why on earth insert concept here: no idea. I've had diagnosed sinus infections before, so that part is at least there, but the rest, no fucking clue. She added an antihistamine to the flonase for daily use that I need to take at an angle because the taste is horrific if it gets to the back of my throat. I also have an appointment with an ENT in March to do deep nostril exploration--nostril exploration--and also need to acquire and learn to use a neti pot???? and ponder universal irony.

Like, I have no idea where this goes but you'd think someone, somewhere would have said "Gosh, that's one deviated septum I wonder if shit is getting up there and infecting????" Like, any time since fourth grade?

Okay, but. Why do antihistamines work? Why does hay make me sneeze? What is the sound of one hand clapping? We just don't know.

Update: I am making two quarts of tea, three parts Yorkshire Red/one part Lady Grey to deal with my life. Extra sweet: I deserve it. Recommended for existential nasal complaints and need of high-calibre caffeine.

Comments

[seperis]

This one: https://www.amazon.com/NeilMed-Sinus-Rinse-Complete-Kit/dp/B000RDZFZ0/ref=pd_ybh_a_6?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=R3NVAMWFR8NE8M5T7KK5&th=1&psc=1

Does it work okay for you? That is much less intimidating than the pots I've been looking at.

[ivorygates]

Yes! It is super easy. You bend over the sink, hold your breath, open your mouth, stuff nozzle in nose, and squirt. I have never gotten anything running down my throat, but you might because of different internal nose structure. Sometimes the liquid gets in your mouth and you have to spit it out, but it is only mildly saline.

I think I would drown if I tried to use a Neti Pot.

Also, some drugstores carry this product line, so you don't even need to deal with Amazon, maybe.

[azurelunatic]

It works nicely for my partner.

[kore]

I second that. I can't use neti pots because of some weird thing with my Eustachian tubes -- I think one is deformed because it is either clogged or too open all the time (FASCINATING I KNOW) -- and when I try them, the tubes turn to like RIGID IRON BARS in my neck. But the sinus wash thing is a lot better. You can definitely find them in the drugstore too, in various sizes.

[harpers_child]

Fistbump of solidarity for weird Eustachian tube things?

[kore]

Like, ALL MY LIFE I did not know this was a thing, and then one day Google is all "Oh, you have a patulous Eustachian tube! It's annoying as fuck and incurable, but pretty benign! Much like pulsatile tinnitus, which you have also always had, and TMJ-induced tinnitus which is worsened by your sinus infections! And you're also super-aware of tinnitus because of your anxiety disorder, just like with the floaters in your eyes!" Could they not just TELL ME, before now, the people with the fucking medical degrees who are always like "Oh yeah, you, you need to take more hot showers, do hot compresses, steam treatments, humidifiers, just like we told you the last three times you were here with hearing problems and sinus trouble, nah you don't need antibiotics (yes I do) no you don't, bye." ARGH.

//frustrated fistbump

[harpers_child]

I don't have the technical term, but mine didn't shift properly as I grew. I have to be super careful with getting sick because I get ear infections super easy. Which means now I am a pro at spotting an incoming sinus infection.

[kore]

I dunno WTF even happened with mine. I've always had that problem in my left ear, and I've been told the structure is very slightly deformed as well. I don't think I came with a warranty.

The more you know!

[jesse_the_k]

Wait, anxiety is why my floaters are making me wiggy?

[abbylee]

That's also the one I use and recommend!

I also suggest using it when you shower the first few times. If humidity helps, you get that bonus, but it's really because doing it in the shower means you can just focus on finding a comfortable position and angle without worrying about leaning over a smaller sink.

[jesse_the_k]

I've used some other brands as well. They are GREAT!

(I can't use a neti pot because I pass out when I tilt my head back.)

Agreeing with abbylee that using it in the shower for the first time minimizes the 'holy shit I'm squirting water up my nose!' panic.

After I finish my over-the-kitchen-sink squirt, I have a large paper towel square ready. I lean over, and a small waterfall comes out of my nose, and then I blow my nose a couple times and it's done.