April showers, May flowers, and horrible allergies

Last year it was the month of April that kicked my ass with allergies and migraines galore.  This year though, April was relatively good to me.  That's probably because of the cold, rainy weather, which delayed a lot of the pollen, and the stuff that was out was being hampered by the rain.

And we certainly have enough trees and flowering plants near our house to produce plenty of pollen.

But now it's May, dry and sunny, and although I love the weather my sinuses do not and I have been suffering in many ways.

First of all, remember that horse breathing problem I mentioned a few weeks ago?  Multiply that by about 100.  I wake myself snorting or gasping for air.  My throat is constantly dry and sore from sleeping with my mouth open and I've had more bloody noses in the past three weeks than I have ever had total in my entire life.

Perhaps the hardest thing about all of this is my inability to self-medicate.  Thus far, I felt really proud of myself for completely cutting out over the counter drugs for minor inconveniences such as headaches, mild colds, and stuffiness.  But I'm having a harder time doing that with these allergies.  Twice this week already I have given in and taken a Benadryl to help me breath and sleep.  I shouldn't feel bad about this - Benadryl is one of the few over the counter medications on the "safe list" provided by my doctors office of things that I am allowed to take as needed.  But still, after going for so long without taking anything, I still have some weird resounding guilt every time I ultimately give in.  I definitely do sleep and breath better though, so it's probably a good thing for all of us.

The good news is that I have not had a migraine in a couple of months.  Allergy season is usually the time of year when I suffer from migraines the most, so I feel extremely lucky to have been spared so far.  Of course, spring isn't over yet, and I have been known to get migraines at other times as well.  But for now, I almost feel like my body knows that it can't let me get a migraine right now because it would be an unbearable experience.  Or perhaps it's just the power of positive thinking - something I've been buying into more and more over the last few months.

In any case, as much as I love all that spring represents and bring with it, I will be happy when it's over and summer is finally here.  First, because it means that the pollen and allergies will be gone.  And second, because it means that I'll be that much closer to finally meeting my little Critter.