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April 15, 2009
Why After a Year-and-a-Half I Have Decided I ♥ My Allergy Shots, or My Transformation into ROACH GIRL is Complete
So a year-and-a-half ago, I started weekly allergy shots. I didn’t write about them much once they got going because they were uniformly depressing. I got one shot in each arm every week, and, invariably, one of my arms would swell up and be sore for two days, and it was really no fun. As a bonus, I didn’t even notice my allergies getting better. My allergist and I agreed that our goals with these shots were twofold: to get me off one of my allergy medicines and to improve my general quality of life. At my one-year checkup, I was still on two allergy medications and noticing no difference in anything.
In sharp contrast, once my allergist got over the disappointment that my cats hadn’t died since I’d last seen him (“How are those cats, Adrienne? Still in good health? Oh, too bad.” As if I wouldn’t get a new cat, anyway, Dr. Q. Bah.), he was thrilled with my progress. When you’re asthmatic, doctors give you something called a pulmonary function test every single chance they get. It basically measures how well you breathe. I have years’ worth of them on record, and I was forever flunking them. Perhaps you’ve been led to believe that breathing is an autonomic function, but I can tell you from a great deal of experience that when you flunk one of these tests, the doctors and nurses all cluck their tongues and make you do it again, encouraging you to TRY HARDER, as if you are breathing poorly on purpose. Anyway, at that one-year visit, I, for the very first time, passed my pulmonary function test.
Dr. Q was so pleased about this development that he decided to bump me down to getting a shot every two weeks instead of every week. I was skeptical about how well this was going to work out for me allergy-wise, but I was really okay with the prospect of having to deal with my arm swelling up once every two weeks instead of once a week, so I agreed to this plan. Dr. Q must not have been as confident as he sounded, though, because he decided he needed to see me again in four months.
Well, four months was in January. My pulmonary function test was again improved, and something else odd had happened. When I was on my trip to California in January, I didn’t have to take Benadryl even once. You see, even though I have been on two allergy medications on a daily basis for years, when I travel, I’ve always needed to take a third—Benadryl—to get through sleeping in hotels. Dr. Q says this is partly because of my dust allergy but way more due to my roach allergy (which is gross). Dr. Q’s a serious sort, but he was practically bouncing up and down at this news, and he decided to move me to once-every-three-weeks shots. I found myself once again skeptical but also unwilling to argue the counterpoint.
Since then, I’ve decided that Dr. Q is freaking brilliant. A few weeks ago, I tried going off my second medication (again), and I’ve been fine—in early spring, one of the most difficult times of year for almost anyone with allergies. What’s more, yesterday I went to visit my eye doctor, and he said the undersides of my eyelids (an area that gets red and blotchy-looking pretty quick if you have any kind of allergy thing going on) looked better than he’d ever seen them, “almost like you don’t have allergies. Are you on a new medication?”
SCORE!
This is some kind of lesson in the value of tenacity or maybe listening to health professionals or whatever. All I really care about is the fact that I haven’t had to use my inhaler in a month. Rock on, medical science!
Posted by adrienne at April 15, 2009 09:48 AM
Comments
I'm glad you're progressing so fast! Uh, Roach allergy? I have to stay in a hotel tomorrow and roaches never crossed my mind. Now I can see I will have to look in all the dark icky places in the room before I can go to sleep...
Posted by: Heidi at April 15, 2009 10:49 AM
Oh, YAY! This kind of happened to me in high school. I was asthmatic and always kind of a wheezing disaster, especially this time of year (although I don't think I flunked those pulmonary tests quite so frequently -- they do get all weirdly disappointed like you haven't TRIED hard enough, don't they!?) -- and then my body decided to adjust itself, or finally the medications worked, or something. In the end they decided it had been a vicious cycle, with the inhaler use stimulated by everything else -- which isn't an answer, but I said, "Whatever," as long as I could cut down the drugs.
May medical science be more coherent for you! Hope it lasts forever!
Posted by: tanita at April 15, 2009 11:08 AM
Congrats! I even made it past "roach allergy," which still shocks and amazes me, all the details of that. (Is there a term for phobia of roaches? I hyperventilate and stuff if I see one.)
Very great news! Go celebrate by having a Throwing Meds in the Trash Party.
Posted by: jules at April 15, 2009 08:16 PM
Horray for you Adrienne, glad to hear that those allergy shots really did help you out! Anytime you can take less medication is good.....I took allergy shots for almost 3 years without any satisfactory results(less coughing),so I just stopped completely,no sense wasting money or time.
As for your cats, you obviously love them as we do Boomer(and I'm allergic to dog dander)so we just deal with it right?? I should try benadryl for sleeping,might work, thanks.
Posted by: Bri's Mom at April 15, 2009 09:52 PM
Thanks all!
Heidi, Oh, sorry! Maybe the hotels there are different?
Tanita, Basically, when I start to feel better, I stop asking questions. :)
Jules, From my extensive research via Google, I've learned that a fear of insects is called "entomophobia," but I find no term for a fear of roaches. Anyway, I think a fear of roaches is fairly reasonable. I mean, they're gross.
Linda, I agree, our pets are totally worth a little trouble. :)
Posted by: adrienne at April 15, 2009 10:40 PM
SURELY there is a term for it. But, hey, I believe you, as you're a good librarian and good librarians know how to search for info. I'm just AMAZED a word doesn't exist.
Let's make up our own term. OHMYGODYOURVERYAPPEARANCEANDQUICKSKITTYBEHAVIORACROSSTHEFLOORFREAKSMEOUTophobia. They. are. evil.
Posted by: jules at April 16, 2009 01:48 PM
Excellent word!!
Posted by: JJ at April 17, 2009 07:14 PM