I. Hate. Allergies.

I was going to try to say something interesting (I just typed allergy instead of interesting… Freud would be proud) today, but instead here I am, doped up on Benadryl, having slept for about 12 hours while doped up on Benadryl, and waiting to go to the doctor’s. Just the week for my allergist to be on vacation. The last time I had a reaction this bad I ended up visiting the emergency room on a Sunday. Nothing like taking your Benadryl before bedtime figuring it might at least keep things from getting worse, and hopefully make things better, only to have your eyes go from somewhat itchy, scratchy, and puffy before bed to downright swollen up, stinging, and burning in the morning.

I’m more than a little burned out on going through the endless rounds of trying to figure out what I might be reacting to, eliminating everything possible from exposure until the reaction goes down. The hard part is sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a topical reaction from what’s internal, and I’ve been known to develop sensitivities to things I’ve been exposed to for years without a problem. So—the new shampoo I switched to after reacting to the last one? Unlikely, since my scalp doesn’t itch. The strawberries or raspberries I’ve been eating a lot of the last few weeks? Likely, since I can get sensitized to fruit. The new sunscreen I used recently? Normally I’d say likely since I’ve reacted to sunscreen in the past, but a reaction wouldn’t wait several weeks to set in, an I’d expect a rash on my arms, too. So, very unlikely.

Tomato? Possible; I’ve had a lot of tomato with eggy breakfasts lately in addition to my morning V8. It seems odd that it would have taken this long to show, so I’ll put it behind strawberry and raspberry in possibility, but it’s likely enough that I might want to cut it from my diet just in case. Avocado? Maybe; I’ve had a lot of it with breakfasts as well lately, but again, it seems to have taken a while. I’ll put it just behind tomato for likelihood.

Then that leaves all the random “who knows” things. Maybe I’ve gotten sensitized to coffee. Perhaps its the cats’ new litter—we ended up with a scented (ick) version because the store didn’t have unscented, but that would be more likely to kick off asthma, not swelling. Oh, wait—there’s the lip balm I switched to a month or two ago; better stop using that for now.

Urgh. I hate Benadryl when I have to take it during the daytime. I can feel my brain getting all woozy.

So for the moment, unless the doc tells me it looks topical rather than internal, I’ll cut strawberry, raspberry, and perhaps tomato from my diet and see if it gets better. If so, I’ll try at least reintroducing tomato since it’s such a staple ingredient, so it would be nice to find out I’m not reacting to it. It’ll take quite likely another week before I know if it’s working, though, even if the doc gives me some heavy-duty meds.

Party line is, if there’s facial swelling, call 911. I’m weird in that facial swelling for me doesn’t mean I’m having an anaphylactic (potentially fatal) reaction; that’s just my normal reaction to almost anything. So it’s a waste for me to do that.

I think I’ve hit the rambling part of the Benadryl dose, so time for me to sign off.