So Elfie has been sneezing her bloody head off for the last few weeks. I’m a terrible mother so I haven’t really been paying a ton of attention to it, except the few times she’s been on her way out and I’ve noticed that she’s had snot crusted under her nose.
But recently it’s gotten a lot worse. We’ve started giving her local honey every morning (“people” tell me this helps with allergies) and now we’re resorting to Claritin. Then the other day she dropped the bomb:
“I wonder if I’m allergic to Jasper.”
Crap.
Again, being the super-observant and attentive person that I am, it never occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the dog could be the cause since the kid wakes up a mess, improves at school, and gets worse at night. And yes folks, I was a science major in college. Clearly it was money well-spent (sorry Dad).
So because I’m a reactionary, panicking freak, I went into DEFCON 5 and vacuumed the entire house (I don’t even want to tell you how many times I emptied the canister…), washed all the linens, dusted, blah, blah, blah. And surprise — it helped.
Like we could ever get rid of this.
But here’s the problem — the dog, it turns out, keeps shedding. It’s not a one-time thing (I know! Who knew?). So I’ve been vacuuming every other day. And now it’s looking like I might have to do it every day. Keep in mind that this is coming from a person who doesn’t vacuum until something obvious gets dropped and cleaning becomes sort of required.
This morning, Elfie woke up so stuffy that I went into hyper-cleaning mode, ripping all the stuff off her bed, throwing her stuffed animals in the dryer (that doesn’t work, by the way), lint-rollering the stuffed animals after the dryer (which helps but is a huge pain-in-the-ass), and washing everything else. The problem is, this has become a part-time job.
It’s almost as bad as the time we tried being gluten-free. I can feel the walls closing in as I carve out time for cleaning. And washing. And internet searches about cleaning and washing…
And then there’s poor Jasper. It’s like he knows something’s up. He even let me vacuum him, which pretty much blew my mind.
But I guess that’s what we do for the ones we love. We endure miserable allergies. We find time for yet another job. And we even tolerate being rubbed with a noisy machine that pulls off our fur.
But it all, in one way or another, does kind of suck.
*Any fabulous ideas on how to handle this would be most appreciated. And possibly rewarded with chocolate. Although probably not.
Tammy Soong is a writer, wife, and mom from Reno, Nevada. She takes an absurd amount of pain medication, but not enough to have actually named her children "Newt" and "Elfie." She spends most days stressing out over clutter, writing stuff for this place, and working on podcasts with her gal pals, the Blogging Betties.
Claritin does nothing for our allergies. Nada. One zyrtec every day. Allegra for peak seasons (like when the dog is shedding, pollen is bad). Benadryl for days when people just can’t take it anymore.
We heart antihistamines.
I could write books about it. BOOKS.
Okay, the things you could write books about actually scare me. I was telling my husband about your E.R. record today…
Zyrtec is the only one clinically tested for pet allergies. I’m allergic to my cats (and yes, we still have cats!) and Allegra and Claritin didn’t work as well for me.
Some people are rare and need to switch brands every few months, since that drug will stop working and they need to “reboot” with something else before the old one will work again (I do this with my shampoo. Works great!)
I too have to do that with my Shampoo/Conditioner otherwise my scalp gets itchy (which is apparently not dandruff) but I have found head and shoulders with almond oil is great and haven’t had to change for a while now and smells awesome the only downside is it strips your dyed colour from your hair quicker than other shampoo/conditioners.
Isn’t that weird how that happens with shampoo/conditioner? I mean, it seems to make a difference on my actual hair, which makes no sense since it’s dead. But maybe the build up does something.
I’ll have to check out the almond oil head and shoulders. That sounds lovely.
I agree with Kelly. Claritin didn’t work for us, but Zyrtec does.
Also, you could rip out all of your carpet and put in hardwood floors. I know, I’m such a huge help. You’re welcome.
I’ve heard the hardwood thing from so many people, but I feel like all I do is sweep my kitchen 20 times a day, so how does that help? Because I can see it better?
You are in luck…I have tons of allergy-related experience when it comes to kids and pets (and some foods).
Long story short – my son had Reactive Airway Disease (ya know Asthma before they can call it asthma, because the medical profession needs to make things more complicated than they need to be) and funny enough “grew” out of it when he was 6, coincidentally the year after our cats died.
I ended up taking him to the allergist for testing though after that just for the heck of it to find out what type of springtime pollen allergy he had…and she tested (skin tested) for all the big offenders. Funny enough he was allergic to CATS and that is why his RAD was awful in the spring. Pollen + Cats = Son who has to go to the ER to breath.
So…I guess this wasn’t very SHORT…but your best bet would be to get him tested at the pediatric allergist. Skin testing is more accurate from what our allergist says.
In the meantime – keep the pets out of the kids room, get rid of carpets (if you can), HEPA filter in the room, and keep the windows closed (in case its seasonal allergies too). So basically live in a carpet-free, pet-free, air conditioned, bubble if you can.
Keep us posted!! And let me know if you have any other allergy questions 🙁 Sorry you have to go through this. it stinks!
That’s a really funny/not funny story. I mean the part about the cats. It’s a miracle! He’s cured!
Maybe I could just put the KID in a bubble.
Lol…Tara just said pretty much everything else I was going to.
You two could collaborate on your book…
Ok, I’m game. Let’s start writing it and then we can rake in those millions! HEH.
so, we have a golden as well. and my allergies have been awful this year and i know he has everything to do with it. i wear contacts. i take them out at night. sometimes i wake up with a masking of eye goo that would piece back the liberty bell. i take zyrtec now. it works. it’s 24 hour. we take the off-brand version from costco — allertec. it’s great.
hey, ya wanna know what’s worse? the dog now has allergies too (common in goldens). he has to take zyrtec at night now as well.
the dog: totally worth it. good luck!
Okay this is funny — Jasper’s eyes have been a little gooey. I wonder if he’s allergic to Elfie…
I had terrible mold allergies in the winter in Sac (which magically cleared up in the spring when everyone else got hay fever). I got “the shots” which gradually increase one’s resistance and while they warn you (“they”=medical pros) that they don’t work for everyone, they worked great for me. And they aren’t exactly deep muscle shots; they go just under the skin.
I was thinking about shots, but she HATES needles. However, if it meant losing her Jasper…
Get her tested. You might be barking up the wrong tree. My ragweed allergy is going apeshit now. I know it isn’t our dogs because they are pekies and not allergenic.
Good point. In fact, my husband said the same thing. I, however, have to go with the overreaction that makes my life much more difficult.
I’m allergic to my cats AND have seasonal allergies. My cat ones are pretty mild, and my daily Zyrtec is all I need. Until the pollens and molds come out! Then I become a walking pharmacy with all my additional meds; additional allergy pills (Benadryl,) decongestants (Sudafed – the original, not that new PE crap; plus a prescription nasal spray,) and pain meds (my allergies give me migraines. Joy.)
Okay, that really is a disaster. And here I thought I was the walking pharmacy.
So, as a person allergic to ALL pet dander (if it has any kind of fur I’m allergic to it) I speak from experience.
I’ve getting allergy shots for as long as I can remember (I’m also allergic to everything outside, too.) and the shots have helped A LOT with seasonal allergies and I can usually control them with Zyrtec.
However, the pet thing kept throwing me for a loop. Almost all our friends have pets of some sort so being invited over always had me showing up with a pharmacy in my pockets (backup benadryl, sudafed, inhaler, kleenex, and the Merck pharma catalog just in case). Then I spoke with a neighbor who had similar issues and he suggested Singulair. It blocks the something or others that trigger different response.
I’ve been conducting my own trial by taking one pill the night before going to a home with pets…and so far the results are encouraging!
The downside is that Singulair is WAY expensive (about $200 for 30 pills), and there’s no generic yet because it’s relatively new. If your insurance covers it you might want to give it a try and see if it works or how Elfie reacts to it.
Of course, you could also keep her drug free and get rid of Jasper. I know, I know…crazy talk! 🙂
That is crazy talk.
$200 for 30 pills? We’re really in the wrong industry.
Also I dont know what age they give allergy shots to kids. For my 7yo it wasn’t even an option – I guess they didn’t wanted to wait to torture him.
Elfie HATES shots. But I’d be interested to see what she’d endure for Jasper.
Sorry I’ve not got any advice for you because I am not a person who gets allergies and luckily my family also hasn’t had too many problems with it either.
The things we do for love, was anyone else singing this song as they read the title or was it just me 😀
Sorry, I know — every time I do a post with a song title, I feel a little guilty because I know it’s sticking people with something for at least part of the day. Could be worse. Could be…I won’t say it.
http://www.naet.com. Eliminates the allergy through acupressure. It REALLY works…forever!
Dena, I thought that was you, but I actually had to go and research to double check that you weren’t some crazy spammer! And you’re not — you’re one of us! I’ve been getting SOOOO much spam, you wouldn’t believe it. Anyway, thanks, I’ll check it out. Elfie already goes to the chiropractor, so maybe I’ll ask him what he thinks, too.