Itchy and Scratchy

I got tested for allergies this morning.  Again.  The last time this happened was about...oh...25 years ago.  The vague memory I have is of laying on my stomach with my shirt off as a team of scary people poked me in the back 80+ times with a safety-pin type thing and then dropped acid on me.  I'm sure that memory is not 100% accurate, but it was a pretty awful experience with the result of it being confirmed that I was, indeed, allergic to everything on earth.  That was followed by 10 or 12 years of allergy shots.  The goal was to eventually declare victory over allergens. 

I kind of thought it worked.  I mean, sure, I still have seasonal difficulties (in 3 seasons), but doesn't everyone?  Also, for the two years I lived in Korea, I was fine.  And the two years in South Carolina?  No problems.  Even the first couple of years back in the midwest were fairly uneventful.  But the past couple of years in Nebraska pretty much sucked.  Actually, it didn't because my head was so congested, I couldn't breathe in or out. 

Today, out of curiousity (and a few other reasons), I got tested again.  It turns out that although I no longer have an allergy to dogs or cockroaches (ew!), I'm still allergic to everything else.  On a good note, I have perfect lung function - at 104% of "normal" for my age, weight and gender.  My super lungs have compensated for the fact that I can't get oxygen in through my nose.  Hopefully, I've passed on that gene as well as my allergy genes to my kids.  I'd hate to have only passed on the allergies and left them with sub-par lungs.

After listening to some interesting information regarding certain drugs vs others, and the fact that the world of allergy research has made some major progress in the last 5 years, I left.  I assured them that I was fine - that I had not experienced any reactions to the tests other than the itching/burning on my fore-arms.  But really, my throat is now a little scratchy, and my head is super itchy - which for me is a tell-tale allergy sign.  Anytime I have itchy head, you can be sure that my allergies are bothering me.

I was given a prescription and a 7 day trial for singulair.  It's actually an asthma preventative (non-steroidal), but they've found that in patients with an aspirin sensitivity (me!), that singulair or any other leukotriene blocker actually works better to control allergies than a standard anti-histamine like zyrtec or claritin.  Awesome news, considering both of those drugs alternatively stop working for me every few months - and zyrtec never works for Scooter.  I'm thinking of taking one right now.  But they told me to take one before bedtime, as it can cause drowsiness.  It also can cause vivid dreams.  And severe reactions (but only sometimes).  Maybe I should take one right before calling 9-1-1 tonight.