I have been suffering with congestion, headaches, sore throat and general malaise since January. At first I thought I had a cold, flu or some sort of weird jungle-froo froo sickness. But then as the weeks and months went on, I realised that I am most likely suffering from allergies. It's worth noting that Native Americans refer to this area as the "valley of sickness," and for good reason too. The Willamette Valley is a great place to grow things since rain gets trapped between the two mountain ranges enabling plants to grow and pollinate. Also, air gets trapped and circulates the "poisons" over and over. It's not a fun place to live if you have problems with pollen.
When I moved to San Diego, I was tested to see exactly what I was allergic to. Results showed a severe reaction to dust mites (hence my goal to remove all the old carpet from the house) and a few trees but they were So Cal trees so I'm not sure if there's anything here I'm allergic to. The test didn't indicate any real problems with pollen so I thought I'd be ok moving to The Valley of Sickness. OK yes, I had some mild allergies when I last lived in Oregon but I didn't really experience them until we "went to town" to buy groceries (we lived out in the mountains and only went to the Willamette Valley occasionally - those were exciting days). Funny thing is, in my little kid mind I had convinced myself that I was allergic to shopping carts. It made sense to me since every time I touched a shopping cart I got a sore throat and congestion. Oh yeah, I did have some problems in college but I was drunk a lot or staying up all night so obviously, my health wasn't really my first priority.
Digression aside, I'm fed up with feeling like crap all the time. I've taken numerous OTC meds for colds and allergies and nothing seems to really be working, not even the "special" Sudafed I brought with me when I moved from California (I think all the meth heads know what I'm talking about here).
The other day I noticed that since I stopped eating Cheerios and milk every morning, my congestion has decreased. So on a hunch I stopped eating our 50 calorie fudgesicle dessert (so yummy) and noticed again that I seemed to be better! I have decided to experiment and cut dairy from my diet (unless it's already cooked and in my food, like butter or chocolate hahaha!) and see what happens.
I'll be sad if I learn dairy is the big problem. But at least I'll be able to sleep through the night and I won't wake up with crusties around my nose or discover used tissues under the blankets.
So, I thought I'd put it in writing. 'Cause if I don't, I'll get weak and eat some cheese.
Oh my God, that means no pizza!!!
2 comments:
bummer! You can switch to soy. Soy is better for you anyhow (if that makes you feel better about doing the switch)
That sucks. My hubby has had problems with the milk products too, and it's no fun.
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