Tribute In Light 2006

Allergy Day

I woke up this morning with a head that felt stuff with cabbage. Or wool. I can't quite decide on an appropriate metaphor.

So, I've sequestered myself in our bedroom, cranked up the A/C and the Vornado AQS Hepa air filter we have and taken a generic Claritin knockoff.

I didn't have allergies as a kid, or if I did they paled in comparison to my parents' ailments.

Some time after starting at IBM I started on a once-a-day Actifed regime. I don't know if it was the air at Myers Corners Lab, the profound levels of dust that accumulated around the terminals and PS/2s, or the cat at home for a couple of years but I developed a mild but irritating case of sinus congestion that I found was only cleared up by the Actifed.Fast forward years. Skip over the mild panic about importing pseudephidrine into Singapore. I kept taking the Actifed nearly daily. When I was in Australia I switched to Claritin, it was available OTC there and though it took longer to take effect, lasted longer as well.

I stopped the Actified regime in 2004 after my doctor said to kick it, that it was raising my blood pressure (sure enough, with no other change to diet or exercise my BP dropped by about 10 points within a month of kicking the actifed). Luckily Claritin went OTC in the U.S. and generic Claritin (loratadine) became available.

I don't know if there's more crap in the air, or if I'm more sensitive (does exposure to airborne crap make you more sensitive?) but the only time I've felt "clear" this summer was the ten days in Ireland. Since I don't plan to pack up and move there (the lack of broadband and the distance from a decent bagel being two critical issues), I guess I'll have to keep the Claritin stocked up and the air filters at the ready.