Allergy season, that is. The microscopic bits of wind-borne pollen are blowing hither and yon, adding some misery to my life for the next couple of months. Look for the old guy with puffy eyes, drippy nose, and a constant sneezing fit and you will have found me. My worst day ever was in El Paso, Texas, sometime around 1970, when I had a full 12 hour period of constant sneezing (one sneeze every few seconds). Talk about being miserable.
I seem to be immune to most medications for allergies. Claritin? Forget it. This past week I have been trying Zyrtec without any real success. Bendadryl works a little, a bit better if coupled with ‘Sudafed’ (the real deal, pseudoephedrine hydrochloride; ‘Sudafed PE’ does nothing for me). Last year at Sea Otter the allergies were so bad that I had to zip over the local pharmacy and sign my life away for 12 tabs of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride; apparently the feds think I will use them to start a meth lab or something. But even though it helps, some of the side effects of pseudoephedrine hydrochloride do make me relunctant to take it very much (hint: it is used as a first course of treatment for priaprism). So rather than take a daily chemical cocktail I will be suffering, though not so much in silence.
Now to find that extra box of tissues.
