The Carriage Ride

Here are some more pictures from our little 4 day jaunt on the cruise ship before Christmas.



This was one of the tug boats that was docked at Nassau, Bahamas. I loved all of the ropes, the colors, the frayed ends - the whole thing. (You can click on the picture to get a larger view)


Tom was all excited when we arrived in Nassau. He wanted to get off the boat and seemed to have a trick up his sleeve. He was kind of giggly.

As we got closer he said "Let's go on a carriage ride!"

Now, this was rather confusing to me.

I'm allergic to horses. Really allergic. It's my main allergy.
and I forgot to bring my allergy tablets on the ship. So I asked him...

"These carriages - they aren't being pulled by horses, are they?"

Yep, sure are!

Well, I agreed to the 30 minute ride instead of the 60 minute ride. It was a foolish decision on my part, but after the ride we went to the pharmacy and I bought some allergy tablets to help me for the next few days. They weren't my prescription tablets, but they helped. I say it was foolish because I could have gotten quite ill, but I managed pretty well. I started sneezing the last 5 minutes of the ride and found a bathroom and washed up after we got out. We got a cute picture though - and a real nice ride in a carriage, which I have never done before and Tom got to go through with his secret little plan to do a romantic gesture.

XYZAL

I finally broke down and talked to my doctor about allergy tablets. I wrote about my allergies HERE and HERE but after I came back from my road trip last week, the herbal stuff just wasn't working. I was back to not sleeping because I couldn't breathe. Not a good plan. I become really really cranky when I don't get my 8 hours.

My husband and I went to dinner with our neighbors and also another man who lives in our building, but we had only seen once before (he thought he was moving here, but ended up not doing so.) This other man (I have forgotten his name!) is a pharmacist. When he heard my stuffed up nose voice we discussed my allergies...he just couldn't help himself. The first thing he told me was to get rid of my cat. Not an option. Then he suggested that I find a new home for my cat. Again, not an option. Then he suggested that the cat live in only one room of the house. Clearly the man doesn't like cats.

I asked Mr. Pharmacist what allergy medication he thought worked well for pet allergies. He said I need to get rid of my cat.

I was done with him.

So, I went to the doctor and among other things, we talked about my allergies. I told Mr. Dr. that I was not getting rid of my cat and I needed an allergy medication that would work on clearing my nose enough to sleep at night. I said that I used to take...and he interrupted and said "Claritin, right? and it just suddenly stopped working, right?" It was like he had read my mind. That was exactly the case.

He left the room and came back with nose sprays, two of them, and this new allergy medication called XYZAL (zi zal). You are to take it at bedtime. It may cause drowsiness and it is supposed to work on both indoor and outdoor allergies. I was totally drowsy the first day, but haven't been since...thank goodness.

I started taking the XYZAL on Friday of last week and finally on Tuesday I started feeling better. Wednesday I slept the entire night. Thursday I could breathe almost the entire day and today (Friday) I am a new woman.

I do believe that the herbal allergy meds were doing pretty well up until I went away and no housekeeping had been done while I was gone. I will not be finding a new home for my cat. I may consider not getting another allergy inducing pet in the future, but dear Mocha is staying.

I will give another XYZAL update in a month or so just to keep a record of whether or not it is still working. (Cross my fingers it IS still working.)

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

Allergy Update

I just awoke from a nap.

2 hours of solid, put lines in your face from the pillowcase, rock hard sleeping, nap.

Last night I slept from 1am (I was watching some of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics on the DVR) until 5:30am. Then I fell back to sleep at 7am until 10am. This is going real well.

I think I am going to adjust the time that I take the evening allergy tablets. They seem to work real well, but only have a 6-8 hour window keeping my nose fairly clear. (this is only day two though) I'm gong to take that tablets as I'm heading off to bed, so maybe I can avoid that middle of the night awake period.

Have you ever fallen asleep so hard that you don't move the covers? I know I've had a really long hard day or haven't gotten much sleep lately if that has happened. Well, it happened during the 1-5:30 sleeping time.

crawled into bed
layed on my side for a second
went to my back
out

Even the cat was still snuggled up next to my leg when I woke up
We are all very thankful for me getting sleep.

I will continue to update on the allergy medication because it seems important.

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

Allergies

A box of Kleenex. Sometimes I think I am defined by that image. I'm a girl with allergies and my nose is the most affected part of my body.

I went through my high school years carrying a box of Kleenex with me almost every day. I sneezed a lot. I was known for having a red nose. I used to wake up in the morning, sit on the edge of my bed and sneeze a dozen times or more.

I moved to Albuquerque.

I had allergies in Albuquerque, too.


I got allergy shots for years and I suppose they helped some.

Then one day, Claratin became an over the counter allergy tablet.

My life changed.

I could breathe.

I still had Kleenexes in every room of my house and in my car, but I didn't have to have them on my lap.


Fast Forward to February, 2008.

My nose stuffed up. I mean it stuffed up so much that not even a hint of air could get through. It was hard to eat, it was nearly impossible to sleep and it was most certainly hard to breathe. I didn't have a sinus infection, just a very very stuffed up nose.

This situation has not really improved.

I can get my nose cleared up enough to sleep a few hours each night but mostly I'm running around each day in a fog. I'm just sleepy.

I've changed my diet, I've started vacuuming more, I've become very consistent with taking my vitamins each day, I learned how to use a neti pot, I've tried warm compresses and even over the counter nose sprays. All of it works for a few minutes to a few hours but nothing has helped for an entire day...or night.

The other day I went to my local Native Sun health food store and asked a lot of questions, got some answers and suggestions and came home with an arm load of goodness, I hope.

First off, I got a product called "Clear" -- it is a "soothing and moisturizing nasal wash with xylitol" and it can be used as often as I'd like without harming my nose tissue. The OTC stuff can really do some damage & I was starting to get nervous about using it anymore. The "Clear" spray is great. I highly recommend it.

The next thing I got was an herbal allergy system. It's called "100% Natural Allergy ReLeaf System" I've taken it for just one full day, so we'll see how it works. I've been suspecting for quite some time that my body has gotten immune to the Claratin, so I hope this will be a good replacement.

The final product is a probiotic called "Natren, Healthy Start." This product is supposed to contain beneficial bacteria that help with "internal wellness." I've only just started yesterday so once again, we'll see how it goes.

It's 4:20am right now, a typical time for me to be awake, but the good news is that I got 5 hours of sleep (5 hours in a row!) before waking up because of my stuffed up nose. The past few months I get about 2-3 hours of sleep, then am awake for several hours and then sleep a few more hours. None of it has been truly restful.

I just took another round of the allergy tablets and used the nasal spray - I can feel my head clearing up. I should be able to get back to sleep in a little while and probably get in at least three more hours of sleep.

I will be continuing to update on the progress of my new experiment to better breathing.

Have a restful sleep,
Kristin