Allergies

On January 22, 2010, I was tested for 43 different allergens.

I’ve have been battling sinus infections for years and I never seemed to get completely better. Since October 2009, I have been congested and had a sinus infection that didn’t seem to go away. Finally on Monday, January 18, 2010, the PA that I saw at the doctors’ office said that I should see an allergy doctor.

Friday at 8:30 am I went to the doctor to see what she had to say. She suggested that I take a breathing test, then take four puffs of albuterol, do an allergy test and then take another breathing test.

The first breathing test was a little hard, but I did well. The four puffs of albuterol tasted like metal but I felt a lot better after I used it. Then came the allergy test, the nurse drew ten lines on my back to make nine sections of allergens, each section had five test spots. The categories of allergens were trees, weeds, grasses, animals, molds, dust mites, a control and histamine. Twenty minutes later I found out that I had a negative reaction to only 15 of the 45 test spots. I am allergic to nine types of trees, two types of weeds, nine types of grass, four types of animals, and two types of dust mites. The results explained a lot. I then did the second breathing test and did even better that time.

I am now on an inhaler. I call it my unicorn; it is actually called an accordion because of its shape. I am also on a nose spray and Zyrtec. I have to take a lot of precautions so that I breathe normally.