Allergies so Debilitating they Adversely Affect Me

At work, I am lucky enough to have an office to sit in so that I am away from everyone and their perfumes, body deodorants, lotions, shampoo, even laundry detergents.

Yesterday and today I have had my door closed, because I cant handle the aromas from people's personal products.

Today someone came to sit with me, but whatever he was wearing (even though I couldnt smell it, obviously I did react to it) was enough to send me into convulsing fits of coughing, slight head hurting and itchy nose. This was just being exposed to whatever he was wearing for about two minutes! Just two minutes.

The coughing is so horrible, because it is so terribly tiring on my body. All that racking coughing to the point of convulsions of my diaphragm is not healthy at all.

On the weekend, I went into a shop which was almost closing. The young workers were throwing buckets of water which had bleach on the floor, in preparation to sweep the floor clean. The bleach they had used wasnt even that strong, as it was mixed with the water, so it was diluted quite a bit. I couldnt smell it that much.

I was exposed to the bleach / water mixture on the floor for maybe 1 minute, if that.

I immediately started coughing a lot and had to leave the shop. I continued to cough and cough and cough like an asthmatic.

I took some of my herbal medicine when I got home so it made it a bit better.

Now you may ask, why dont I use an inhaler for asthmatics. Well, that is because I cant take anything with adrenalin in it because I get abnormal heart beats (ectopic heart arrhythmias) and while they are not associated with any serious health condition, any time I take any medicine with any type of ephedrine or other stimulant like adrenaline, those ectopic heart arrhythmias get worse. And if they continued too long in the same vein, I would most likely have to get heart surgery to correct the incorrect electric pathway.

It's just such a no-win situation for me.

And tonight, my head hurts so much. It's due to my sinuses getting all inflamed from the allergies affecting me.

Allergy Queen of the World

Ernst, Rodolphe - The Perfume Maker

I havent posted in quite a while.

I have been busy with work, moving to a new place and trying to get my life together.

At the moment, it is spring time, therefore it is the time for major allergies for me. I am like the woman in the bubble who cannot be around anyone.

I am really allergic to a number of trees, bushes and grasses. Severely allergic that if I came into close contact with them, I would surely lapse into anaphylactic shock. Just being around the pollen is enough to create such allergic reactions in me.

From the red itchy eyes where no white is visible, to the itchy and blotchy face, to the blocked and itchy nose, to the headache and pain, to the inability to breathe, to the dry cough so bad that I almost start to convulse because I cannot cope with coughing so much.

I dont have asthma. I have severe allergies.

Now if that wasnt enough, but of course it's not. I have multiple-chemical allergies too.

Just being around any type of chemicals (cleaning or others with strong smells), perfumes, deodorants, body sprays, makeup, shampoo, conditioner, body or hand lotion - anything that has any type of chemicals / perfumes in them - I react in exactly the same way as if I am exposed to an allergen, but worse. My lungs cant cope with these strong smells and again I start coughing so badly to the point of convulsing and it hurts so much to breathe.

I cannot even be around anyone with a strongly smelling anything. Even if I cant smell it, if they have used anything I react.

Most of the time I dont like being around people because they dont seem to understand that I react this way. And they get offended thinking I am telling them that they smell bad or something. No! My immune system is hyperactive and is not functioning properly.

And to top it all off, no medication seems to work for me very well or at all. Even if the medicine does provide a little bit of relief, it also brings with it a number of side effects that require further medication, again which brings yet more side effects and the circle of never-ending inability to get better continues.

The only thing that helps even a little is some herbal medicine I have, together with vitamins and minerals for the immune system.

This year, my hay fever and other allergies seem to be the worst in a very long time and I have almost two months of it to go. And very little understanding or compassion from anyone, because they cant seem to understand that I am so badly affected and think I am making it up! Great! Like I would make up coughing so much that I convulse to the point it hurts my lungs and I cant breathe. Like I would make up my nose and face getting itchy.

I have been tested and the tests have confirmed my allergens exist - some worse than others.

I am so sick of being sick like this.