Allergies and all the attached woes

This has been a particularly weird year for allergies. Those of you in the NW will know what I mean. Summer didn't even start here until well into July.

Yes, that's right. July! Summer in the NW never was kookier.

The good news was we did not have our normal horrible allergy June because it was so wet and cool. The bad news is that now that it is behaving like summer, our grass and pollen allergies are now kicking our butts and winning big time.

The only one who doesn't seem affected is Molly. Go figure! Jake, Shea and I are mucus factories and I fantasize about inventing a tissue box harness so that I can carry a whole box around with me as I try to conduct my daily life. Jake one ups me and decides it needs an i-pod holder with detachable "used" kleenex annex discreetly attached.

I tell him to start sketching, that we may have something here!

Because I have gone through allergy hell for a few years now, I am beginning to notice interesting little things. Like if it rains, our symptoms go away. I guess the moisture knocks the pollen count down or something but it is nice to look outside and be somewhat relieved by clouds and mist in the summer months.

Also, I have eagle eyes peeled on our #1 allergy boy, Shea. Because he is so behaviorally sensitive to his food allergies, I guess I should not have been surprised to find that the environmental allergies have a huge effect on him too. Not just your normal runny nose, scratchy eyes misery but full blown behavior changes.

For example: more clingy, more whiny, less focused, fewer words with a few steps back in his verbal development. I notice that I need to remind him to "Use his words" and that he is reverting back a bit to the crooning and meowing and head butting that he used to do.

Is this all allegy related? I have not the foggiest but it is interesting that it seems to be occurring now.

We are trying something new this year; Claritin and frankly symptoms do seem to dissipate. I feel bad nuking my kid with the stuff but I try to tell myself that the allergies are worse than the cure. If he was a highly verbal little guy, he might be able to articulate whether he feels better or not. But, he is not that fellow.

When asked how he feels he routinely says, "Fine, mom. Good!" Sweet little parrot, spunky positive attitude boy ~ you get my "Put the best face on it" award. But, that is Shea and his life and discomforts are his "normal", miserable with allergies or not.

Unfortunately, our beloved OT takes the summer off and he could be just really missing her and the excellent therapy for Sensory Processing Disorder he usually gets weekly during the school year. Or perhaps his allergies exacerbate the problem? Again, who knows for sure.

So much of parenting is a guessing game. A very humbling, guessing game. I find that I second guess myself all the time, trying for the perfect cocktail of love, work, therapy and play for my kids.

Is it perfect? No. It never is and never will be. It is what it is, as they say.

Wouldn't it be great if we could one day find out if what we did was the right thing to do? Or maybe that would suck! Parents make decisions about raising their children for all different reasons, emotions and situational dynamics. If we found out for sure what did work, we would have to find out what did not work and frankly I am not sure I could handle that sort of reality slap.

So, we skate blind using only intuition, faith, fear, joy and love for road signs. With a bulging box of kleenex in tow. Whatever it takes.

Conifer Pollen and the Neti Pot

You can see the pollen actually floating in the air. It settles like dust on everything.

The car windshield is covered and when I use the wind shield wipers and the squirt, squirt to clean it off it leaves behind a thin yellow paste.

Last night, Jake played tennis. Each time the ball hit the court, there would be an impact mark and a corresponding explosion of pollen.

I wouldn't necessarily know that it is conifer pollen except that Shea brushed against a small pine while we walked in the woods and it puffed out with a large yellow cloud.

Today it is raining lightly, so the pollen settles down and isn't as apparent. But, we are to have clear, warm weather for the next week of so.

Allergy symptoms? Not me. My spring allergies must be something else. Grass? Probably. It hits late May and lasts pretty much all through June. Scratchy eyes, runny nose, itchy sinuses; the whole nine yards. I never had them until I turned about 40, now it is like clockwork every year.

I have tried a variety of naturopathic remedies including the Neti pot. I never thought I would be brave enough to poor liquid up my nose. But, the itchy sinuses were so awful, I gave it a shot. It has to be the most counter intuitive thing to do to yourself but it did actually help. It takes a little practice but I have gotten good at it.

A few tips:

I use a basic saline solution: cup of water and tsp. of salt
Be sure to use warm water, not HOT and definately not COLD
Tip your head slightly away from the neti pot
Do not tip head too far forward or to far back. You will know when it is just right.

It is an acquired skill and does take a little practice. Yes, it is wierd but it does work. And, it is the only thing I have found that sooths my itchy sinuses.

But, honestly, last year it was so bad, I ended up buckling and taking an over the counter allergy medicine anyway. I tried them all and found one that worked for me. I bought a bunch so I could keep it on hand and will probably use it again this year if it is as bad.

There is something pretty horribly debilitating about a good solid month of allergies. And, it's not like I can get away from the grass!

So, we try everything around here.