Allergic!

Yesterday, I went to the allergist for the first time. I am the worst about putting off going to the doctor. It's because I'm busy being the doctor for other people.

Anyway, I have become very tired of my nose running all of the time, so I went to the allergist, Dr. Schatz (no lie, that's his name--Dr. Shots). The nurse started me out with the scratch test. She poked my forearms with solutions of various allergens--dust mites, cat dander, dog dander, roach, feathers, molds, pollens. Within seconds, I had a big wheal at the "cat" spot, followed closely by dog, dust mites and pollens. The cat allergy is no suprise to me, but I was surprised at how quickly and strongly I reacted to dog and dust mites. It was very, very uncomfortable, and my upper lip started to tingle and swell. She gave me 60 mg of Allegra, which made me feel a little better.

Then I went into the exam room with Dr. Schatz, and as we chitchatted, my lips began to feel tingly again, my throat was a little bit tight, and my chest was a little tight. That resulted in a very painful shot of epinephrine in my left deltoid. Can I just say that getting epi is very unpleasant? It's very unpleasant. I spent the next 10 minutes or so of the appointment lying on the exam table. To compound this discomfort, I was starving, having gone to my appointment straight from work with no lunch.

I am feeling much better now. I will definitely take Flonase and Claritin as directed from now on.