The Diary of Anne Ku

19 June 2000 Monday hot

HAYFEVER SEASON

The smoky airport in Rhodes, Greece triggered my hayfever in mid-May. It was so bad that I had to buy antihistamines from a local pharmacy. I trusted that it was the right stuff, as the label was all Greek to me.

Just when it finally becomes warm throughout the day, my hayfever returns. I wake up from a bursting sneeze, followed by bursts of smaller sneezes. My eyes are itchy and red. My throat is dry. My head is dizzy. My ears are blocked. I reach for my antihistamines. They save the day, until a friend warns me that they contain steroids. So I visit the health store and buy a natural blocker. Over the weekend, I squeeze Valencia oranges to make Vitamin C - as well as load myself with the 1,000 MG kind, dissolved in water. I take my multi-vitamins. I avoid dairy products from now on. Apparently, milk causes more mucus to be formed. So I switch to soya milk.

My better informed friends tell me to get an allergy test, to find the cause. Antihistamines only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.

Is there a correlation between high pollen count and nice, warm weather? I've waited all year for this wonderful British summer. Why didn't I have hayfever when I was in the US? Why did I get hayfever as soon as I landed at Gatwick airport three years ago? Only my mother sympathizes. She had to leave the country during the hayfever season. Maybe that's what I have to do, too.

yesterday

tomorrow