Rant #1,063: Attack of the Allergies

I have allergies.

I have had them my entire life.

I remembering suffering as a kid, and back then, the science of allergies wasn't as known as it is today, and I suffered, and suffered some more.

Today, the study of allergies has been well refined.

I have been getting allergy shots, continuously, for 41 years, since I was 15 years old.

They have helped me immensely. I am allergic to the usual stuff-dust, ragweed, and believe it or not, the season of fall, when everything, well, falls off the trees.

But there are days and instances when the shots don't help at all.

Last night, I got an allergy attack, and let me tell you, I am still feeling it right now.

I was watching WWE Raw with my son, which I do every Monday night.

And it was so exciting that I think I dozed off about 90 minutes into the three-hour show.

I was fine as I dozed off, but when I woke up a half hour later, I was wheezing and coughing like it was nobody's business.

It was time to go to sleep, and I couldn't even talk. I made sure my son was in his bed with the lights out, and then I went into my bedroom.

With my wife asleep--she dozed off watching her shows after working late--I was wheezing and coughing so that I figured that I was in for the long haul, and I was.

I was making so much of a racket that I thought I was going to wake her up.

I tried everything to return back to normal--blowing my nose, clearing my throat, turning over from side to side--but this thing was not going away so quick.

Finally, after about an hour of total discomfort, I guess I fell asleep, pretty soundly asleep after my struggles.

But as I am typing this, I am still feeling it.

It is in my throat, and really, it is just going to have to peter out on its own.

I have these types of attacks probably two or three times a year, and while I wouldn't call them scary, they do put me ill at ease, because they have to play themselves out on their own. There really is nothing I can do about them.

I have struggled with allergies my entire life, and one guarantee is that no matter how old I am, I am going to struggle with them.

That is just how my body is put together.

But hopefully, these types of attacks will be few and far between.

I am happy to say that my daughter does not have allergies, and my son apparently doesn't, either, so I guess I didn't pass what I have along to them.

Good. This is one character trait that needs to stop with me.

Why I am an allergic person is anyone's guess, because nobody in the family has what I have.

But happily, the buck--or more precisely, the allergies--stops with me.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone.