What is it like having allergies?

[extreme]

To any of those who suffer from allergies, what’s a day of ‘my allergies are really bad today’ like? And when does it occur? Can it be any day? Or only during certain periods of the year?

Probably sounds stupid but I don’t have hayfever or any allergies and I would love to hear a detailed story about it. I don’t know if I should consider myself lucky or unlucky that I don’t have any lol. 

[Anyone]

I never had hay fever until I moved to the city where I live now. I have pretty bad allergies in the fall, but also occasionally in the spring. My eyes get very itchy, watery and irritated. Sometimes it looks like I have pink eye and they burn and itch like crazy. The roof of my mouth gets very itchy and sometimes I get a sore throat. I also tend to have a perpetual tickle in my nose. I feel like I'm on the verge of a sneeze all day. 

[Guest]

I have a friend who suffers from pollen allergies. He says that, in spring, his eyes and nose itch, he gets a sore throat and he has some headaches.

 I, myself, suffer from dust allergies, and my nose really, REALLY tickles, my throat itches and my eyes get watery.

[facet]

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Edited December 1, 2019 by facet
Removed by user.

[blowlovinaspiegurl]

I know or have known some people with allergies. My third grade teacher, some people I went to school with and my dad,  along with a woman I know and her younger grown son (she has 2 grown sons, but I know only the younger) are ones I can name off the top of my head. There's also a couple YouTubers (young grown up guys) I watch that have allergies. Btw, one's a college dropout and the other I don't think ever went to college,  just got work.  And I've read books that mention characters' allergies. Sneezing, blowing, allergy eyes and allergy speak (stuffy or perhaps raspy) are what I know. Like with the woman I know's grown son talked about the high pollen count in spring and was a little raspy voiced and one of the YouTubers I mention (the college dropout)  was raspy in a video and said something about "my allergies". The one  I think just went to work after school graduation talked about " I have allergies that are preventing from breathing through my nostrils" and being a mouth breather a few months ago in a live video. Somebody asked him via live comments "Are you sick" and that's how come he talked about his allergies. He gets allergy eyes that make people think he looks high, but when asked about being high in a comment on one of his videos "Nah, man. Allergies", he said. I've heard him sneeze or sniff in videos and have heard and seen him comment about his allergies, so I believe in his allergies.

[Oceanmountains]

16 hours ago, Anyone said:

I never had hay fever until I moved to the city where I live now. I have pretty bad allergies in the fall, but also occasionally in the spring. My eyes get very itchy, watery and irritated. Sometimes it looks like I have pink eye and they burn and itch like crazy. The roof of my mouth gets very itchy and sometimes I get a sore throat. I also tend to have a perpetual tickle in my nose. I feel like I'm on the verge of a sneeze all day. 

Perfect explanation. Except for myself, I have a really bad mental block and I'm around people most of the day so that tickle drives me absolutely insane because I just have to ignore it and can't sneeze when I need to. I also cough constantly which is super annoying. The more I cough the worse it seems to get. 

[NoV]

I don't suffer from allergies, but I can only imagine it must be an utter nightmare. I despise having a cold, so the idea of being stuffed up, itchy eyes, generally feeling under the weather seems pretty horrendous to me. Which is why I always get a guilty twinge about enjoying allergy sneezes in others, because I certainly wouldn't wish it upon them if I couldn't take it myself!

[snzmn2016]

I love the sneeziness a lot, but other symptoms can be annoying.

[Shay]

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that allergies don't always involve sneezing. These days none of my allergies really cause sneezing most of the time. Most mornings I wake up with an annoying cough that eventually goes away after awhile once I've gotten a decent amount of water into me. Then I could get coughing fits later in in the day when exposed to certain allergens. Other common symptoms I get are clogged sinuses/ears which can be painful at times. It tends to come on very quickly and could linger for hours after exposure to the trigger. The ear thing also sometimes causes dizzyness/nausea sometimes. Headaches and asthma flareups can also happen. Lately I've also been getting stuff with my eyes where I'm not sure if it's allergies or something else, but they'll kind of feel dry but also with the sensation that they're gunk in them which is uncomfortable. So yeah, all of that sucks, and I don't even get sneezing most of the time to make it more enjoyable. I'd probably like having allergies quite a bit more if I could trade some/all of those for sneezing instead.

[extreme]

10 hours ago, Shay said:

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that allergies don't always involve sneezing. These days none of my allergies really cause sneezing most of the time. Most mornings I wake up with an annoying cough that eventually goes away after awhile once I've gotten a decent amount of water into me. Then I could get coughing fits later in in the day when exposed to certain allergens. Other common symptoms I get are clogged sinuses/ears which can be painful at times. It tends to come on very quickly and could linger for hours after exposure to the trigger. The ear thing also sometimes causes dizzyness/nausea sometimes. Headaches and asthma flareups can also happen. Lately I've also been getting stuff with my eyes where I'm not sure if it's allergies or something else, but they'll kind of feel dry but also with the sensation that they're gunk in them which is uncomfortable. So yeah, all of that sucks, and I don't even get sneezing most of the time to make it more enjoyable. I'd probably like having allergies quite a bit more if I could trade some/all of those for sneezing instead.

This was a really good explanation thank you! I’m sorry you have to go through all of that, it sounds stressful af

[Shay]

2 minutes ago, extreme said:

This was a really good explanation thank you! I’m sorry you have to go through all of that, it sounds stressful af

Yeah, it is, and has made life difficult in a lot of ways. Unfortunately you don't get to pick and choose your symptoms.

[SneezyKateM]

My allergies are very bad in general, and a ‘my allergies are really bad today’ day can happen almost any time of year as I’m allergic to most pollens.  Winter isn’t quite as bad since there is no pollen, but I’m also allergic to things like dust (well, I guess more dust mites technically) and molds, and of course if I’m around animals that will make my allergies really bad too.

A bad allergy day:  I’m extremely congested, so my voice sounds weird and I feel pressure in my nose and sinuses (I usually don’t feel actual sinus pain unless I have an infection).  My nose is constantly tickly and itchy which can be distracting, and I keep having lots of sneezing fits.  My nose is excessively snotty ( I know...’how can you be both congested and snotty at the same time?’  Belive me, it happens!), I feel worn out, my eyes are red and puffy and itchy and all watery.  I use a lot of tissues between wiping my eyes and my nose and my sneezing fits.  Make-up just runs so I don’t wear it much, especially on bad days.  I have the ‘allergic face’ - red puffy eyes, allergic shiners, red nose and flushed cheeks, etc.  I used to have that ‘allergic salute’ crease on my nose all the time when I was younger, but as I got older it only will show up sometimes when my allergies are bad.  I get pretty embarrassed by my allergies, and even though i can't do much about people seeing me all allergic, but I put alot of effort into at least keeping them from seeing me being snotty.  I try to go off to the bathroom or something if it gets especially bad.  My ears can feel clogged and itchy.   I feel ‘foggy’ and get very worn out, yet have trouble sleeping.  The only lucky thing is that I don’t really get any throat symptoms – no post nasal drip (it all seems to go out the front) or coughing, or itchy throat.  The roof of my mouth gets itchy, but its not as annoying as my eyes and nose.  If my allergies stay really bad for a while I can get wheezy too.  

[Bless Boy]

Some of you might know me as Bashful Bless Boy on YouTube. All I can say about allergies is that, luckily for me, all of my symptoms involve sneezing, and an itchy runny nose. I almost never get headaches from them, and only suffered one sinus infection as a teen. 
 

    So for the most part they are more exciting then miserable, though they can be pretty awkward to experience when I’m out shopping, or in a work environment. They do make it easier for me to record fits, especially in the spring and summer. Pollen is my primary allergen, but dust, mold, and a lot of other indoor triggers also tend to stir me up. 
 

    I’d say on my worst days it’s like having to sneeze with every light inhale, on an average day it’s just a handful of sneezes every few hours or so. For the most part I’d say they are more a blessing then a curse.😅🙏 I almost never catch colds, which I feel are far worse given that they do involve aches and pains, but I also understand that for some allergies can be just as bad, which must be pretty awful. 
 

 

[Travel]

In my case, they're annoying because they can be very unpredictable as to when they could happen and very debilitating. I tend to get sinus headaches because of my allergies. I'm I'm lucky they go away on their own. If not, I have to suffer them as I feel pain below my eyes or between my eyes. The between my eyes one is the worst. If I'm talking to people I sometimes have to squint just to get through the main. It makes me look dumb. After that, I get a really runny nose, congestion and lots of sneezing. The only silver lining I see is in the pleasure that could bring to people in the forum 😆, but when they're bad, I can end up feeling like lying in bed until they pass and more often than  not I can't do that. Unless I knew I had a cold or the flu, that gives me a better chance of skipping work but allergies don't seem like a good enough excuse. 

[Juniebee]

On 7/25/2020 at 3:26 AM, Travel said:

In my case, they're annoying because they can be very unpredictable as to when they could happen and very debilitating. I tend to get sinus headaches because of my allergies. I'm I'm lucky they go away on their own. If not, I have to suffer them as I feel pain below my eyes or between my eyes. The between my eyes one is the worst. If I'm talking to people I sometimes have to squint just to get through the main. It makes me look dumb. After that, I get a really runny nose, congestion and lots of sneezing. The only silver lining I see is in the pleasure that could bring to people in the forum 😆, but when they're bad, I can end up feeling like lying in bed until they pass and more often than  not I can't do that. Unless I knew I had a cold or the flu, that gives me a better chance of skipping work but allergies don't seem like a good enough excuse. 

Painkillers or sudafed don't help? I know some people say antihistamines aren't that helpful but I can't see why sudafed or advil wouldn't be. 

I think bad enough allergies could excuse you coming to work, so long as you stay within your sick days. Saying " I have atrocious allergies, a raging sinus headache, and medications aren't helping me."

[Shay]

Not everyone can take advil or sudafed depending on what other health conditions or other meds they might be on and I'm not sure there's any medication that exists that's guaranteed to help everyone that takes it. I agree that bad allergies are a valid excuse for not going to work if it's bad enough that you can't really be productive. However, many people aren't given enough sick days or any sick days at all depending on where they work, so it's understandable that someone might not want to take a sick day if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Sometimes when I'm feeling like no medication is helping my sinus pain/pressure I'll use heat and/or ice. Heat can help break up congestion, especially with steam, so a cup of tea is nice and you can also press the warm mug against the affected areas which can feel very good. Then applying an ice pack to the affected areas can help reduce inflammation. However, in my experience, I can only keep the ice on for a few seconds otherwise it can trigger brain freeze just like if you eat ice cream too fast. So I'll put it on for a few seconds leave it off for a bit, put it back on, and so on. It's a bit annoying but it really does help sometimes.

[Travel]

1 hour ago, Juniebee said:

Painkillers or sudafed don't help? I know some people say antihistamines aren't that helpful but I can't see why sudafed or advil wouldn't be. 

I think bad enough allergies could excuse you coming to work, so long as you stay within your sick days. Saying " I have atrocious allergies, a raging sinus headache, and medications aren't helping me."

Oh yeah, I take painkillers and stuff like Allegra but I try to not let myself be too dependent on painkillers or any medication. I don't take it now unless it's really bad and don't think I can pull through the day. But overall the whole sick days thing is also me being strict about not missing work and/or school.