I've suffered from hay fever for as long as I can remember, but last year - my first summer in LA - was by far the most severe and prolonged I'd had it in many years. To make things worse, being in the throes of breastfeeding meant there wasn't any medication I could find to help. None of the pharmacists I spoke to here were willing to recommend a brand of anti-histamines that were classified as 'safe' for breastfeeding. Frustrating, because I was able to get a particular brand in Australia (Polaramine) that is considered A-okay when pregnant or breastfeeding. Maybe they're too scared of lawsuits here? But after showing pharmacists my empty Polaramine packet, I was told there is nothing on the market here with the same ingredients. Cuh-razy.
Anyhow, Miss Pie is down to only one feed a day, and we'll be doing away with that in the next few weeks, when she hits eighteen months of age. We've had a good run. Then... bring on the drugs, baby. I will be doping myself up to my eyeballs to be rid of the itchy eyes and constant sneezing. Yay.
The mountains in these pictures are normally clear and immediate. They never appear as mere background - instead, it often feels like you could reach out and touch them. They're rather special... but the haze which envelopes them now gives them the illusion of being somewhat distant. I miss them already.
My allergies have been killer here lately too. I absolutely hate it!! And since I am pregnant, nothing, It really does suck!
ReplyDeleteIt's awful when you can't take anything for it, huh?
ReplyDeleteThe stuff I could take during pregnancy in Australia was brilliant, and completely safe. It's been on the market for decades without any side effects in babies. Such a shame the pharmaceutical companies here don't make anything like it.
That is the only thing about being pregnant or breast feeding you have to becareful what you put in your body because of what will be passed to the baby. Mom has to endure and suffer. My daughter has allergies and had bad hip pains that she just had to deal with in misery.
ReplyDeleteLight is at the end of the tunnel and it is coming up fast!!
The light is indeed fast approaching. Thankfully!
ReplyDeleteYes this is a killer. I had the desensitisation before both pregnancies in the hope that it would help and it did to a degree. Still there are some times when you really need instant relief.
ReplyDeleteI had one that I used to use too when I really couldn't stand it. Otherwise, saline was the only choice. It was okay but really is not so good as a curative measure.
I remember my hayfever being really bad over there too. J's mother lives near Sacramento and I was visiting in May/June which is peak hayfever season apparently. Snot city (me, not Sacramento).
I can't do saline. My nose (the inside) is so sensitive that that sort of thing triggers even more sneezing. Even in the allergy off-season, something silly like bumping my nose will have me sneezing for a solid ten minutes - it's very weird! I'm sure it's an entirely different issue to allergies, though. A strange thing to mention to the doctor, which I why I haven't...
ReplyDeleteYou poor love. That smog is ferocious.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I so remember the pharmacists in the US being ultra-catious and ultimately, unhelpful. I am sure it is fear of litigious retribution. Sigh.
Meanwhile, I had to laugh at the ten minutes of sneezing nose bump that's too embarrassing to share with a trusted physician. Ha!
You should have seen the look I got the first week we were here, when I asked for something like Panadeine, and the lecture that followed - about how codeine is not available in any shape or form in the US without a prescription. I clarified I was only after a diluted version like I would get over the counter in Australia, mixed with paracetamol or ibuprofen... then had the lecture repeated to me, as if I was a junkie, and told to go to Canada if I want easy access to those kinds of drugs. Really.
ReplyDeleteYeah, when it comes to sneezing, I am a freak of nature. I've had the nose bump trigger as long as I can remember...