Spring Time In Cincinnati.....

Spring time in Cincinnati.

Well if you have never lived in his area, count yourself lucky. Count yourself very lucky if you have seasonal allergies and have never lived here.

How can I explain this, let's see. Everyone in Cincinnati has some sort of environmental allergies this time of year. Even those who have never had sinus issues before moving here, end up having issues. Although I am not completely sure why this happens, I am almost positive it is not because this is the front porch of hell. I think it has to do with the fact, that this area sits in a sort of valley. Everything settles over the top of us, like a thick allergy goo stew.

Every morning this time of year I expect to wake with a sinus headache. Usually 5 days out of the week are started that way.

Then you get the sneezing. Really bad sneezing. No one looks attractive sneezing, and having to sneeze every five minutes is just like rubbing it in. Add to that, that I seem to sneeze in threes--I am not making that up--it makes for the most unpleasant sneeze face ever.

With the sneezing comes either a stuffy snot packed nose, or a running snot filled nose. Either sucks humongo elephant nuts. It makes wearing makeup a challenge. You are constantly blowing your nose either way, so the makeup get rubbed off. Yippee.

Then comes the itchy nose. On the outside of the nose. Sometimes right on the inside it itches. There is no good way to relieve the itch without looking like a booger picker. If you rub the outside of the nose, then it turns red like a bonobo monkey nose. Just no good way to go about taking care of that itch.

The eyes. The eyes. They itch. They water. They feel swollen. Again making it is difficult to wear any makeup, because it gets rubbed off. The itching of the eyes is particularly annoying, and even painful. Sometimes it is your normal run of the mill itch. Other times (like last night before bed) it is this stabbing itchiness. That is the one that is the most painful/annoying. It is usually on the inner lids, by where your lashes come out. So that skin is very sensitive, so scratching it is not always possible. Unless you want to cut that part of your eyes with your nails. By the time you get your eyes to calm down they are red rimmed, like a coke junkie on a 2 month bender. It sucks.

The skin on the rest of your face then decides the eyes, and nose are having way too much fun without them. It decides it needs to itch to high heaven. So you are left to scratch your face, over and over.

Why not take a benedryl you may ask. Well I would like to stay awake, and when I take them, I want to fall asleep for a long, long time. Claritin does not work for me. Nor does allavert. The only thing that works regularly is my Flonase. The person who invented it, should get a noble prize. This stuff works. But because I build up a tolerance to any kind of allergy meds, I have to use sparingly.

So when you hear---aaaachoooooo. Sniff, snuffle, sniff. Scratch, scratch, rub, rub. Mutter, mutter, whine--it is just me. After all it is Spring time in Cinci!