Spring ... a love/hate relationship

Aaah ... Spring. Flowers blooming. Leaves covering the tree branches that were bare for the past 6 months. Bees buzzing. Baby animals being born at the zoo. The sporadic rain showers. Beautiful garden weddings. The return of sandals and longer days. What a glorious season!



Unfortunately, for me spring also means red eyes, constant sneezing, itchy skin, sinus headaches and the return of allergy induced asthma.

When I lived in San Francisco I did a full round of allergy testing and started getting weekly shots. I am horribly allergic to pollen (specifically grass), dust mites, mold spores and dander. The constant moisture in the Bay Area helped keep my allergies somewhat under control, but a clear and dry day will send me running for the medicine cabinet in a disparate search for an anti histamine.

When I moved down to San Diego then got pregnant with Princess D I stopped the allergy shots. I am on daily medication to keep things under control, but Spring has arrived once again.

The first day we were in San Francisco is was raining, but by middle of the second day the rain let up allowing the pollen to rise and as expected my dreaded allergies kicked in. My eyes started to itch and water. I started sneezing. Then on the drive back to San Rafael from the city I developed a horrible sinus headache. When we got back to the hotel I took a 3 hour nap (something I never do). After taking some Zyrtec D and drinking some caffeinated tea my headache subsided, but I could feel it lingering just waiting for that little bit of pollen to flare it back up.



The past few days the weather has warmed up significantly in San Diego. With the extremely dry weather and the high levels of grass pollen in the air I have begun the battle with my allergies. Time to break out the humidifies, ionizers and change out all of the filters. Time for daily double doses of allergy meds and and Excedrin. And, my accessories will include Kleenex with aloe & lotion.

Spring ... you are beautiful, but you suck.