"A" is for Allergies

Today is the first day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Over the course of the entire month of April, I will write a post showcasing a letter a letter of the alphabet. One letter every day, except for Sundays. That will be a total of 26 posts. It should prove to be a challenging month. Wish me luck. I have most of my posts for the month planned out already and there are several that I am excited about.

Today's letter is A

A is for ALLERGIES

I am a fairly healthy person. My blood pressure is right where it is supposed to be. I almost never get sick and I avoid reality television. However, I do have a few allergies. Like a lot of people, I am allergic to cats.

This allergy is fairly easy to manage. I obviously do not have cats as pets. When I see one of the cats in my neighborhood, I do not kick pet it. If I do make contact with it for any reason, I make sure to wash my hands before I touch anything, especially my face. Otherwise, my eyes get all scratchy and puffy and my nose gets stopped up. Not being able to breath well gives me a headache and makes me cranky and rubbing my itchy eyes just makes it worse.

I can avoid that situation since I am aware of it, but occasionally I get caught at someone's house who keeps a cat inside. Then, I have a problem. I don't have to actually eat touch the cat to have these issues. Cats have a tendency to leave their hair behind every place they go. Kind of like how Liam Neeson leaves a trail of bodies when someone messes with his family, only the cat hair, for some reason, is considered acceptable.

They always sneak up on me!

I try to think of this scenario ahead of time and find out if someone has a cat, so I can come up with an excuse to not go to their event. I have learned that most cat owners take offense if someone does not want to stay in their house because of their pet. They must think I am saying their house is dirty. The ones that don't take offense offer to clean extra well before I arrive and I can never get them to understand it won't be good enough. That cat dander is everywhere. No party or gathering is going to be so much fun that it will be worth how sick and miserable I will be if I step into their home. Unless they are having midget tossing in the living room. I might risk it to see that, but I would double up on Claritin first.

Once again, I can normally avoid this situation from happening if I plan ahead, but my other allergy is pretty tough to avoid. I am allergic to artificial scents. This includes a whole host of things that make me sick super fast

• Scented candles
• Air fresheners
• Hair spray
• Those stupid pine trees people hang on their rear view mirrors
• ALL colognes and perfumes
• Fabric softeners
• Scented body wash
• Carpet shampoo
• Scented fragrance advertising inserts in magazines
• Many deodorants
• Laundry detergent
• Lotions
• Just about anything aerosol (there's something in that too)
• Tons of new things that I discover all the time.

This stuff is everywhere. I almost always hold my breath when I walk into a bathroom because of the number of places that use scented toilet paper rolls or automated aerosol air fresheners. People who have just applied perfume or wear too much I have to step away from. I had to change bank branches a few years ago, because my branch started burning scented candles on the counters.

I get hit with this so often, I recognize the symptoms almost immediately. Most of the time, it is before I have even noticed the smell of whatever is causing it. I get a very specific type of headache that grows in intensity the longer I am exposed. If I get away as soon as I sense it, I will be alright in about 15 minutes, but if I am in a situation where I can't then it is going to grow. Next, my face begins to feel flushed. If it gets to that point, I am going to be sick for the next few hours. There is nothing I can do to stop it. Finally, my nose gets stuffed up and I even have trouble breathing. By this time, the headache is horrible.

Just like with the cats, if I am attentive, I can avoid this most of the time. I keep all that stuff out of my house and I try to make my friends aware of this condition. However, they don't really know how bad it is. Stepping to the other side of the room to spray your poison does not protect me. It just delays how quickly it will take to get to me. The worst is when I am caught in a closed car with someone who felt the need to put on a fresh coat. I don't know how many times I have been headed to a formal event with a group and someone sprays something and then they all yell at me when I roll the window down and hang my head out. I am not suggesting that they stink, I just have to keep myself from getting overly sick.

People who like to bathe in cologne will never get the opportunity to talk to me face to face. Some people wear it so thick, I can't even stay in the same room. When walking in a mall, my kids would warn me if they saw a Bath & Body Works up ahead, so we could walk on the other side while I held my breath. I have walked into job interviews and got smacked in the face with the summertime scent of a Glade plug-in. Within my minutes, I am sniffling and needing to blow my nose as the wanging headache keeps me from being able to concentrate on the questions being asked. That doesn't normally result in me making a good impression.

In the last decade, this has come to be recognized in the medical field and some places even prohibit artificial fragrances from being used on their premises. The University of Portland was one of the first places in the nation to regulate the use of fragrances in the workplace. I had a job once where they suddenly started burning scented candles and would not stop even after I told them about my allergy. It sucked.

I do not find these odors that make me sick offensive. I don't think people's perfumes stink. Although people who wear AXE body spray should know better. Does anybody actually like that stuff?  I am not suggesting that people have bad taste. These are all things I have been accused of. I simply have a nasty reaction. I might even like the smell of someone's perfume, but I will be spending the rest of the day drugged up in bed if I am exposed for too long. In fact, I can get sick even if I didn't notice the 'smell.' And blowing out your scented candles right before I get there does me no favors. You have already put it in the air.

I can avoid these scenarios most of the time, but these are the things that happen when I do get caught. So, if you ever plan to have me over, please keep these things in mind and let me know before I get there…and then don't be offended when I decide not to come.