Allergies, reveal thyselves!

Behind Door #1? Miscellaneous grasses!

Door #2? Dust mites.

Door #3? Cats.

Nos. 2 and 3 are no surprise. Three is especially unfortunate, since I do love cats. No matter, I have new Magical Prescription Eyedrops (I think that is their brand name) which should help me in case I get a little overzealous with the petting of cute furry things and forget to wash my hands before I rub my red, irritated eyes.

The tragic part of it is that I am not allergic to dogs. I am only emotionally allergic to dogs. How confusing.

The pathetic state of my nose was confirmed by the allergist, who took one look up my nose and made a sad face. She also said that those coughing fits I've been having while off the claritin are due to some kind of allergic asthma, which sucks balls, though it is seemingly taken care of with simple medications. No nerdy inhaler for me! (Strange that that strikes me as nerdier than the glasses I've worn since I was 5. Cognitive dissonance is a beautiful thing.)

To remedy all these situations, or at least try, I have been given high-dosage allegra; a two-week course of predisone, which is a steroid that should clear up my nose problems enough that I can use the rhinocort aqua (and possibly a second nasal spray, in case just one isn't sufficient!); and the aforementioned magical eyedrops, to be used as needed. After getting sorted with the predisone, it's back to the allergist with me for further consultation and possibly starting allergy shots to rid me of this crap permanently.

Allergy testing was not as unpleasant as I expected, though it certainly wasn't fun. It is amusing to commisserate with your fellow test subjects in the waiting room, however.

To change the tone to something much less mundane and upbeat, if you're a praying soul, or even a "you'll be in my thoughts" type, please send your prayers and good thoughts to my family's close friends, who suddenly and tragically lost their 18-year-old daughter last week.