Office temp from heaven (or hell?)

[anikadicara]

Funny you should say that... we had a whole conversation about it today.

John was already wearing a mask when I got into the office today, and had a small pile of used tissues next to him.  

After only a few minutes, John lowered the mask to sneeze into a tissue and groan.  "hutTTSSshh!  Uuhhhh..."

Later this morning I walked toward the office to see John walking toward the trash can with a handful of tissues - not sure if he'd sneezed into them or they were fresh.  I walked in as he was blowing his nose over the trash, depositing the tissues immediately after.

John told me that last night his allergies never went away - usually they get better after he leaves work, but last night he felt like he had an "allergy hangover".   He takes benadryl most nights to fall asleep, and today he said he thinks his body's gotten so used to the antihistamine that it's not helping his allergies anymore.  I'm not sure if that's science, but he smarter than me and it sounded plausible.  He's so anxious that it's hard for him to get to sleep otherwise... so I'm not sure where that leaves us.  Except that there are definitely other (and more legit) sleep medications.

At lunch John sneezed once as he was throwing his trash away - he was a bit far from me but even so it sounded like a pretty loud "hatTCHH!"

Back in the office, John didn't put his mask on right away.  Pretty quickly, as we were talking with a few other people, I looked over at John to see him with his head tilted back, eyes closed and nostrils flaring.  After one of his lengthier buildups, he threw himself forward with a giant uncovered "hihIISSSHHHUHH!", banging his legs on the underside of his desk in the process.  A colleague who was standing next to him grabbed a nearby box of tissues and handed it to John, who pulled a few and wiped his nose.

A few minutes later John blew his nose and put his mask back on, which seemed to calm his nose down - nothing but a couple of soft blows for the rest of the day.  

[solitaire-au]

Aww, the poor guy.

Benadryl only works for about 6 hours. Even without the drowsiness, the very short duration of action is why it’s been superseded by so many other antihistamines.

As for his body “getting used to” antihistamines, I see that myth so often, and it’s propagated by many health professionals, which doesn’t help.  When someone is bombarded by a ton of allergens, even the best antihistamines can’t counteract the flood. So they *are* working, but it’s now like trying to put out a forest fire with a glass of water, when previously the flames was just a a candle or a campfire. You need a bigger volume of water, or a more powerful source like a fire hose.

He needs to consider a longer acting antihistamine, and possibly a corticosteroid nasal spray as well to prevent the inflammation occurring in the first place.

If you feel too uncomfortable to talk to him, you could try anonymously printing out some information and leave it flying around the office. (Although he may get upset or offended.) Or talk about a relative/friend who says such and such a drug helped them. Alternatively, you, or “the office”, could try buying some antihistamines for him, and just bring them out the next time he has a bad allergy day.

He needs to understand he’s not doing himself any favours by continuing to suffer unnecessarily. His anxiety is almost certainly made worse by his allergies, so if he tackles them, he will be less anxious as a result.

From a fetish point of view, he will probably still sneeze a fair bit because there’s a high chance has non allergic rhinitis as well. Or even just sneezes from vasomotor triggers like bright light, cold temperatures, changes in humidity etc.

[kathleenh4656]

Is it time to tell him you don't mind hearing the sneezes and see what happens next?

People can be self conscious about their sneezes and other quirks.

[anikadicara]

John is maybe the least self conscious sneezer I've ever heard!  Like, he'll occasionally apologize for it when he's sneezing a ton, but he does it very loudly and dramatically and certainly seems unembarrassed to blow his nose or talk about it.  

It was a lighter day for John's nose today - maybe he's getting re-acclimated to the office after the Christmas break.  He only sneezed twice.  The first was in the morning, while his back was to me.  John sneezed an uncovered "huhRuUSSHH!" into his hands with a few soft sniffles after.  A bit later he grabbed a handful of tissues, got up, and blew his nose while standing over the trash can.  He blew it again a few minutes later mid-conversation with me and another coworker.

In the afternoon I walked into the office at one point to see John wiping his nose, and a bit later he pulled a couple tissues from a box beside him (there are currently two) and sneezed a loud "huhISSHhhuh!"

[anikadicara]

This morning John sneezed at his desk "hahCHHOOSHuh!" into a tissue, followed by a somewhat rare "excuse me."  He blew his nose softly.

On our way out the door for lunch John sneezed a big "huhRUSSHHhuh!" into his hands, bending at the waist.  It was followed by some wet sniffling as we walked.

Back at our desks, John sneezed "huhESHHhh!" into his hands.

About an hour later John sneezed another very loud "huhRUSSCHHahh!" into his hands - the sound of this one was quite dramatic, ending in something of a yell. 

A little while later John pulled a tissue and blew congestedly a couple of times, a few minutes apart.  After the second blow he groaned, and as one of our colleagues left for the day John said goodbye to him while holding the crumpled tissue to his nose.  His eyes looked watery and irritated.

Shortly after this John pulled yet another tissue and sneezed "huUUSHHhhuh!" into it, followed by "ugh.  Allergies."  That seemed like an opening to chat so I looked up at him, and John said that he'd woken up with "stuff going on" this morning (at a raised eyebrow from me, he clarified "allergy stuff").  He complained that he's been taking benadryl every morning this week and it's not helping.  Then, John took a large handful of tissues from the box beside him, walked to the trash can, and gave a very long and congested noseblow into the stack, complaining "by dose...." in a stuffy voice.

Just maybe ten minutes later John blew his nose very congestedly as his desk.

[anikadicara]

John only sneezed once today while I was around - a quick "huhUUSSHH!" into his hands.

At one point in the afternoon John got very sniffly, but after wiping it with a tissue his nose calmed down.

[anikadicara]

The end of last week brought (relative) quiet for John's nose - meaning a couple of sneezes per day.

The same can be said for today, I suppose.  This morning John sneezed a loud "huhCCHHHhhoo!  Uuuh." into his hands while sitting at his desk.

John sat across from me at lunch, and at one point raised his t-shirt over his face, pinched his nose in it, and sneezed a very wet "HutCCCHHH!"  He was sniffly for a few minutes after that.

In the afternoon John asked me for something, and as we talked about it he swiped at his nose with a crumpled tissue.

A bit later John sneezed "UhhRUCHHhh!" into his hands.

[kathleenh4656]

Before he leaves for another temp job, if he does....give him a number to call if he ever wants to chat. That way the door is open to just be friends. Sometimes friends can become really good friends😃. Both of my husbands were friends first. Both were pretty good sneezers, but I never thought to record them😟 

[HooverAlbus]

This is amazing! I just posted a obs about my own office space and saw this posted right after. What are the chances? Love your story and style. Maybe we will see some more from John. 

[anikadicara]

I'm back y'all.  John and I continue to be in a weird, tenuous place friendship-wise.  But, here we are with some sneezes.

This morning John and I were sitting in the break area having a serious conversation, when I noticed a squinty look in his eyes.  With much less buildup and drama than usual, John let loose an uncovered "HuTCHHoo!" over his shoulder.  Because the sun was behind him, I could see a big cloud of spray - kinda funny.  And just minutes later, John got the same irritated look and sneezed another identical "HuTCHHoo!", this time into his hands.

On our way to lunch John sneezed a loud "HuhISSHHoo!" and then complained that his allergies felt bad today.  The moment we got back to the office, he sat down as his desk and snapped forward with an extremely loud "HuhTSSCHHHahh!" followed by "sorry, guys."  Later I was telling him that I thought the office smelled bad but felt crazy because nobody else seemed bothered, and John said "I can't smell anything today but I bet I could smell it if I wasn't stuffed up."

[AceUpYourSleeve]

I just read through this. Oh wow, I'd be unable to do any productive work if I were there 🫣

Still, I love the descriptions!

[solitaire-au]

Aww, poor John. Bless him.

He needs to understand that a single Benadryl is NOT going to get him through the day, especially if he takes it first thing in the morning. It only lasts 6 hours and as he’s allergic to something in your office, the antihistamine is going to be wearing off when he’s still at work right when his symptoms will start to ramp up.

It sounds like that’s why he often feels worse in the afternoon. He needs to use a more effective, longer acting antihistamine.

[anikadicara]

Some notable moments from John this week!

On Tuesday a few of us decided to have lunch outside.  It was a little chilly and John didn't bring a jacket.  I had an extra in my bag, a really fuzzy green fleece, and I leant it to John.  It looked ridiculous on him - it's a womens small, and he's a jacked crossfit bro.  Already an A+ look.  But then a little bit later John announced "I need to sneeze."  He waited a moment, eyes squinting, then relaxed and was like "nope."  But only a moment later John bent his face into the collar of my fleece (which barely covered his shoulder) and sneezed a wet "huhTTSSHHH!" into it, followed by "You shouldn't have let me borrow your jacket."  Um, I absolutely stand by my decision.

I wore the jacket for much of the afternoon.  It smelled good, which sucked.

At some point recently John used up the last of our office tissue stash, and nobody seems to know where they came from (they predated John, and honestly there were so many boxes that we probably all assumed they would last forever.)  When he ran out of tissues and found no replacement box, John grabbed a box of lab wipes.  They're these really rough single-ply pieces of paper that would be absolutely horrible on your nose.  He's been using them constantly, and I haven't been brave enough to say anything because like... I'd have to admit to watching him blow his nose all the time?

Then yesterday morning John was working on his computer when he sneezed a loud and sudden "huhTCHHahh!" followed by "oh man!"  (John's commentary on his own sneezes is my favorite).  He grabbed two papery wipes and swiped at his nose, but apparently that didn't do the job because he pulled another and blew his nose with a groan.  In the afternoon we were talking when he pulled two wipes and sneezed a wet "hutTSCCHHH!" into them.  It was my opening.   

Me:"Are those lab wipes?" 

John: "Ya." 

Me: "Do you want some real tissues?" (I held out the box of Kleenex Ultrasoft that I've had on my desk for ages). 

John: "It's fine."

I didn't push the issue, because I didn't want to be weird about it.  But several times after that I saw him wipe at his nose with the lab wipes, which can't have been comfortable.

Today John sneezed "huhTCHHAh!" followed by a bunch of wet sniffs.  He then complained "my nose is starting to go.  It hurts."  So then I offered him the box of real tissues again, and this time he accepted it, put it on his desk, and proceeded to not touch it - spending the next half hour sniffling loudly instead.  So that's where we're at. 

Edited April 20 by anikadicara

[kathleenh4656]

On 3/14/2024 at 1:12 PM, solitaire-au said:

Aww, poor John. Bless him.

He needs to understand that a single Benadryl is NOT going to get him through the day, especially if he takes it first thing in the morning. It only lasts 6 hours and as he’s allergic to something in your office, the antihistamine is going to be wearing off when he’s still at work right when his symptoms will start to ramp up.

It sounds like that’s why he often feels worse in the afternoon. He needs to use a more effective, longer acting antihistamine.

We can build up tolerance for most medication and that's a good reason to switch type or brand occasionally. Not a myth.

[solitaire-au]

15 hours ago, kathleenh4656 said:

We can build up tolerance for most medication and that's a good reason to switch type or brand occasionally. Not a myth.

It is a myth.

”There is no scientific evidence that you can develop a tolerance to oral antihistamine pills (such as Allegra, Zyrtec and Claritin.)”

https://www.texashealth.org/areyouawellbeing/Allergies/The-Most-Common-Allergy-Myths-Debunked

Common reasons a medication seems to be less effective:

1) changes in the environment,

2) development of new allergies,

3) existing allergies have increased in severity,

4) changes with age,

5) increase in stress levels,

6) skipping doses/poor adherence in using it,

7) rebound congestion.

8 ) development of non allergic or mixed (allergic & non allergic) rhinitis

https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/allergies/reasons-why-allergy-medicine-stopped-working

https://www.thermofisher.com/allergy/us/en/living-with-allergies/understanding-allergies/why-arent-allergy-medications-working.html