Waist = 39.75"
Height = 5' 9"
References:
- Wikipedia BMI page
- Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
- Javascript must be enabled to view the data.
Showing posts with label Allergies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Allergies. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Wednesday Weigh-In 20140903
I've started to use Flonase, a steroidal nasal inhaler. This has eliminated the nasal congestion that prevented me from using the CPAP machine at night to prevent sleep apnea, so I'm sleeping better than before. I wish I'd done this sooner, but I was "between" doctors -- my regular PCP died, and it has taken me a long time to start up with a new one.
Waist = 39.75"
Height = 5' 9"
References:
Waist = 39.75"
Height = 5' 9"
References:
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Wednesday Weigh-In 20140821
I've been plagued by allergy symptoms lately. This happens to me toward the end of every summer when the nights get cool. The nasal congestion makes it difficult for me to use the CPAP machine effectively. I've had to leave the mask off a few nights and breathe through my mouth! I'm now aware of some instances when I wake up because of breathing obstruction.
Waist = 40"
Height = 5' 9"
References:
Waist = 40"
Height = 5' 9"
References:
- Wikipedia BMI page
- Tanita Scale with Body Fat monitor
- Javascript must be enabled to view the data.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Low Normal Body Temperature and Hypothyroidism
Chronic low body temperature is related to many syndromes and symptoms, including: allergies, apathy, chronic fatigue, "brain fog", "personal failure", depression, dizziness, hypoglycemia, lethargy, passive/aggressive syndromes, skin and joint conditions, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunction, past sexual abuse, yeast problems, porphyria, and many other poorly-defined chronic low health states.from http://www.diagnose-me.com/symptoms-of/hypothyroidism.html
I became interested in the topic of low body temperature last week. I felt feverish, but my temperature was barely 99.1F, which is considered a low grade fever. However, I felt that my fever was stronger, higher than that. My normal body temperature is 1.8F lower than the 98.6F that's considered normal. So I wondered if I should consider my personal fever to be 100.9F, or 1.8F more than the actual reading of 99.1.
It took five days for the fever to break. I started to feel better (as in "less bad") over the weekend, so I did some research on body temperature.
I've had low normal body temperature all my life, yet no doctor or nurse has ever commented on it. Body temperature is one of our most basic measures of health, and mine was ignored. If someone had bothered to take an interest in my low readings, I might be in much better shape today. Instead, my doctor complained about my high cholesterol, putting my on Vytorin. "I'd rather find out why my cholesterol is high and correct that condition," I'd say. "It's genetic," was always his reply.
No, that's not entirely true, Doctor. If you paid attention to my consistently low body temperatures of 96.8F and followed the diagnostic guidelines for Wilson Syndrome, you'd treat me for hypothyroidism, which can explain my high cholesterol and my many other problems!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Is It Selfish To Choose A Life Without Prescribed Medications?
This is in response to the post on Blogher, "Is It Selfish To Choose A Life Without Prescribed Medications?" as well as some of the comments that follow it.
Consider the following scenario:
An individual with a history of allergies, including cat dander, has been prescribed two different inhalers to control asthma. The patient has also reported effects from eating certain foods, but the allergist refuses to test for food-related allergens. The patient pays attention to the effects of foods on his own. After a few years of conscientiously using the inhalers, the patient finds out about a Naturopathic Doctor who has been able to "cure" patients of their allergies. After consulting with this new doctor, the patient undergoes the recommended diet plan and supplement schedule. After only one week, the allergy symptoms have improved remarkably. About six months later, a cat is introduced into the household with no adverse effects. A few years go by with good results except for some difficultly breathing in the fall when not adhering to the diet. The patient now shares a home with four cats and one dog. One fall day, the patient is working outside in the yard and inadvertently inhales a dense cloud of dust from a moldy pile of grass clippings. Later that night, his breathing is labored even though he self-medicates with Benedryl and Sudafed. Finding no over-the-counter rescue inhaler, he decides to go to the walk-in clinic for a breathing treatment.
Should the insurance company pay for the breathing treatment? One could argue that if the patient had been taking the prescribed medication, the breathing treatment would be unnecessary. Another could argue that by carefully seeking alternative treatment, including diet changes, the patient has saved the insurance company the cost of years of medication, which more than offsets the cost of this one treatment. Who's right?
How about this:
At a wellness visit, a primary care physician advises his otherwise healthy 35-year-old patient of "dangerously" high cholesterol. The patient says he will alter his diet in order to try to reduce it. At the next visit, the doctor finds that the cholesterol has lowered several points but is still way above the upper limit of 200. The patient agrees to take a statin drug to lower the number. After three months, the patient's cholesterol has been lowered successfully, but liver enzymes are off, so the doctor adjusts the medication. After one more adjustment, the blood tests indicate an acceptable level of both cholesterol and liver enzymes. After a few years, the patient seeks the advice of a Naturopathic Doctor for fatigue, brain fog, weight gain and increased appetite. The doctor implicates metabolic syndrome (the patient does have a family history of diabetes) and suggests that the patient discontinue the statin medication, which can result in insulin resistance as well as weak and damaged muscles (including the heart muscle) even though blood tests do not show the damage. The patient goes on a special lo-carb, anti-inflammatory diet as advised by the doctor. The diet is intended to address the fatigue and brain fog, but because it will promote a much lower insulin response, it should also prevent arteriosclerosis. After one week, the patient notices remarkable improvement. The brain fog is gone, and he's quickly gaining strength at the gym. Further along, he notices that he awakens refreshed in the mornings, his elbow and knee pain is gone and he has almost no allergy symptoms. However at his recheck he finds that his cholesterol has returned to its "dangerously" high level. The new doctor says not to worry about this. The LDL is high, but other risk factors, such as triglycerides, HDL, C-reactive Protein, are all good, and there are no symptoms of heart disease. Besides, high cholesterol on its own isn't correlated with heart attack, and statins are remarkably ineffective at preventing heart attack while they promote diabetes.
If this individual should require a stent or bypass surgery, should the insurance company pay for it even though the patient ignored the advice of his PCP? If the patient should die of something unrelated to a heart condition, can his life insurance company refuse payment on the grounds that the client changed his treatment plan? Suppose the patient continued the statin and wound up with diabetes. Can the patient sue his PCP, the AMA or the drug manufacturer?
Consider the following scenario:
An individual with a history of allergies, including cat dander, has been prescribed two different inhalers to control asthma. The patient has also reported effects from eating certain foods, but the allergist refuses to test for food-related allergens. The patient pays attention to the effects of foods on his own. After a few years of conscientiously using the inhalers, the patient finds out about a Naturopathic Doctor who has been able to "cure" patients of their allergies. After consulting with this new doctor, the patient undergoes the recommended diet plan and supplement schedule. After only one week, the allergy symptoms have improved remarkably. About six months later, a cat is introduced into the household with no adverse effects. A few years go by with good results except for some difficultly breathing in the fall when not adhering to the diet. The patient now shares a home with four cats and one dog. One fall day, the patient is working outside in the yard and inadvertently inhales a dense cloud of dust from a moldy pile of grass clippings. Later that night, his breathing is labored even though he self-medicates with Benedryl and Sudafed. Finding no over-the-counter rescue inhaler, he decides to go to the walk-in clinic for a breathing treatment.
Should the insurance company pay for the breathing treatment? One could argue that if the patient had been taking the prescribed medication, the breathing treatment would be unnecessary. Another could argue that by carefully seeking alternative treatment, including diet changes, the patient has saved the insurance company the cost of years of medication, which more than offsets the cost of this one treatment. Who's right?
How about this:
At a wellness visit, a primary care physician advises his otherwise healthy 35-year-old patient of "dangerously" high cholesterol. The patient says he will alter his diet in order to try to reduce it. At the next visit, the doctor finds that the cholesterol has lowered several points but is still way above the upper limit of 200. The patient agrees to take a statin drug to lower the number. After three months, the patient's cholesterol has been lowered successfully, but liver enzymes are off, so the doctor adjusts the medication. After one more adjustment, the blood tests indicate an acceptable level of both cholesterol and liver enzymes. After a few years, the patient seeks the advice of a Naturopathic Doctor for fatigue, brain fog, weight gain and increased appetite. The doctor implicates metabolic syndrome (the patient does have a family history of diabetes) and suggests that the patient discontinue the statin medication, which can result in insulin resistance as well as weak and damaged muscles (including the heart muscle) even though blood tests do not show the damage. The patient goes on a special lo-carb, anti-inflammatory diet as advised by the doctor. The diet is intended to address the fatigue and brain fog, but because it will promote a much lower insulin response, it should also prevent arteriosclerosis. After one week, the patient notices remarkable improvement. The brain fog is gone, and he's quickly gaining strength at the gym. Further along, he notices that he awakens refreshed in the mornings, his elbow and knee pain is gone and he has almost no allergy symptoms. However at his recheck he finds that his cholesterol has returned to its "dangerously" high level. The new doctor says not to worry about this. The LDL is high, but other risk factors, such as triglycerides, HDL, C-reactive Protein, are all good, and there are no symptoms of heart disease. Besides, high cholesterol on its own isn't correlated with heart attack, and statins are remarkably ineffective at preventing heart attack while they promote diabetes.
If this individual should require a stent or bypass surgery, should the insurance company pay for it even though the patient ignored the advice of his PCP? If the patient should die of something unrelated to a heart condition, can his life insurance company refuse payment on the grounds that the client changed his treatment plan? Suppose the patient continued the statin and wound up with diabetes. Can the patient sue his PCP, the AMA or the drug manufacturer?
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Blood Type Diet
It's been two years since I first heard about The Blood Type Diet, or BTD.
I was at my first appointment with a naturopathic doctor. I was concerned about excessive appetite and sugar cravings, weight gain, plus brain fog, especially after lunch when I'd sink into a semi-vegetative state. I had already started to buy pants two sizes larger.
But I knew a bit about nutrition. I had already realized that cereal for breakfast was not good enough. It was pretty obvious, actually. I'd eat breakfast and then shower and shave. By the time I was heading out the door, I'd have a terrible empty gnawing feeling in my stomach, plus a case of the shakes. I figured my blood sugar was on a roller coaster ride.
When the ND found out that I have type O blood, he urged me to try the Blood Type Diet. I borrowed his copy of the Peter D'Adamo book, "Eat Right 4 Your Type," which described this new way of eating, which involved red meat and fish and certain vegetables and a little bit of "ancient grains." Some foods such as beef, lamb, cod, broccoli, kale, were classified as "Highly Beneficial;" others such as wheat, diary, corn, were classified as "Avoids."
The first change I made was to eliminate bread. Lunch changed from a sandwich to some slices of roast beef and salad greens. The result -- I no longer dozed off after lunch.
As I avoided wheat and corn, the pain in my joints went away. Without dairy, my sinuses were clearer and my allergy symptoms were much milder. We decided to get a cat, and, with the help of "Allergies: Fight Them with The Blood Type Diet," the usual symptoms of watery eyes and runny nose and asthma failed to materialize.
Best of all, my waist line shrunk. I lost a little weight and had fewer cravings. The weight-loss increased the more compliant to the diet I became.
I feel like I've gotten my life back. I managed to reverse a collision course with decrepitude, and I'm looking forward to living out my best years with health and strength!
I was at my first appointment with a naturopathic doctor. I was concerned about excessive appetite and sugar cravings, weight gain, plus brain fog, especially after lunch when I'd sink into a semi-vegetative state. I had already started to buy pants two sizes larger.
But I knew a bit about nutrition. I had already realized that cereal for breakfast was not good enough. It was pretty obvious, actually. I'd eat breakfast and then shower and shave. By the time I was heading out the door, I'd have a terrible empty gnawing feeling in my stomach, plus a case of the shakes. I figured my blood sugar was on a roller coaster ride.
When the ND found out that I have type O blood, he urged me to try the Blood Type Diet. I borrowed his copy of the Peter D'Adamo book, "Eat Right 4 Your Type," which described this new way of eating, which involved red meat and fish and certain vegetables and a little bit of "ancient grains." Some foods such as beef, lamb, cod, broccoli, kale, were classified as "Highly Beneficial;" others such as wheat, diary, corn, were classified as "Avoids."
The first change I made was to eliminate bread. Lunch changed from a sandwich to some slices of roast beef and salad greens. The result -- I no longer dozed off after lunch.
As I avoided wheat and corn, the pain in my joints went away. Without dairy, my sinuses were clearer and my allergy symptoms were much milder. We decided to get a cat, and, with the help of "Allergies: Fight Them with The Blood Type Diet," the usual symptoms of watery eyes and runny nose and asthma failed to materialize.
Best of all, my waist line shrunk. I lost a little weight and had fewer cravings. The weight-loss increased the more compliant to the diet I became.
I feel like I've gotten my life back. I managed to reverse a collision course with decrepitude, and I'm looking forward to living out my best years with health and strength!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Next Pet Is Not a Cat
This is a continuation of My First Pet and My Second Pet...
One lovely fall day, my wife and daughter and I went hiking. We had been without Twinkie for only a short time, a few weeks, perhaps. A woman was approaching with her two daughters and dog. My wife was attracted to their dog, a calm, friendly Golden Retriever. So we stopped and talked to the woman and asked about her dog. She told us that the dog came from a nearby breeder who just happened to have another litter available. She gave us her number, and then we called to get the name and number of the breeder.
The breeder had only one dog left from a litter of eight. We visited and found a huge puppy with enormous paws. He felt heavy in my arms, and he shivered. His breath stank of skunk. We decided to make a home for him, our first dog.
He grew very quickly, like a real-life Clifford. At first, he couldn't walk the entire neighborhood circuit, so I'd pick him up and carry him after 2/3 of the way. He upset my wife a few times, once knocking over a potted plant and ripping it out of the dirt, another time eating some wild creature's poop and vomiting on the floor, plus all the chewed up chair legs. He'd pee on the floor when visitors came over.
But he settled down as he continued to get bigger. He started to have problems with his left front leg. Then one day he couldn't get up without help from us. We managed to lift him into the car and get him to the vet who diagnosed Lyme disease. He got better quickly with the antibiotic.
A pack animal, he always wanted to sleep in our room. But my wife started to have breathing problems. She visited an allergist for the first time. He tested her and set her up with asthma medicines and a nebulizer. He said she was allergic to dog dander. The best thing to do was to give up the dog. We actually contacted one of our neighbors who recently lost one of her Goldens. But we never went through with it.
After my wife's hospitalization for Myelitis, she started to go to a naturopathic doctor who put her on supplements to support the thyroid and adrenal glands. Her allergy symptoms vanished. Imagine giving up the dog when a simple remedy solved the problem!
One day in May the dog really hurt himself, charging at something at the bottom of a hill. He hurt himself so bad he couldn't put weight on that paw. He hyperflexed the carpus joint and damaged the tendon. He needed a splint and a diet. He got both. Plus acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, glucosmine and Prolotherapy.
He's seven years old, now. He lost about 25 pounds. He still walks with a slight limp, and he wears a bandage to support the joint. Some gray is starting to show around the muzzle. He can't go for long walks without the limp becoming pronounced. But he will not hesitate to charge at invaders to our property. Crows, deer, bunnies -- no matter how fierce, he will go after it. But he's meek with our cats.
And those cats are the subject of another post.
One lovely fall day, my wife and daughter and I went hiking. We had been without Twinkie for only a short time, a few weeks, perhaps. A woman was approaching with her two daughters and dog. My wife was attracted to their dog, a calm, friendly Golden Retriever. So we stopped and talked to the woman and asked about her dog. She told us that the dog came from a nearby breeder who just happened to have another litter available. She gave us her number, and then we called to get the name and number of the breeder.
The breeder had only one dog left from a litter of eight. We visited and found a huge puppy with enormous paws. He felt heavy in my arms, and he shivered. His breath stank of skunk. We decided to make a home for him, our first dog.
He grew very quickly, like a real-life Clifford. At first, he couldn't walk the entire neighborhood circuit, so I'd pick him up and carry him after 2/3 of the way. He upset my wife a few times, once knocking over a potted plant and ripping it out of the dirt, another time eating some wild creature's poop and vomiting on the floor, plus all the chewed up chair legs. He'd pee on the floor when visitors came over.
But he settled down as he continued to get bigger. He started to have problems with his left front leg. Then one day he couldn't get up without help from us. We managed to lift him into the car and get him to the vet who diagnosed Lyme disease. He got better quickly with the antibiotic.
A pack animal, he always wanted to sleep in our room. But my wife started to have breathing problems. She visited an allergist for the first time. He tested her and set her up with asthma medicines and a nebulizer. He said she was allergic to dog dander. The best thing to do was to give up the dog. We actually contacted one of our neighbors who recently lost one of her Goldens. But we never went through with it.
After my wife's hospitalization for Myelitis, she started to go to a naturopathic doctor who put her on supplements to support the thyroid and adrenal glands. Her allergy symptoms vanished. Imagine giving up the dog when a simple remedy solved the problem!
One day in May the dog really hurt himself, charging at something at the bottom of a hill. He hurt himself so bad he couldn't put weight on that paw. He hyperflexed the carpus joint and damaged the tendon. He needed a splint and a diet. He got both. Plus acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, glucosmine and Prolotherapy.
He's seven years old, now. He lost about 25 pounds. He still walks with a slight limp, and he wears a bandage to support the joint. Some gray is starting to show around the muzzle. He can't go for long walks without the limp becoming pronounced. But he will not hesitate to charge at invaders to our property. Crows, deer, bunnies -- no matter how fierce, he will go after it. But he's meek with our cats.
And those cats are the subject of another post.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Simple Relief of Asthma and Sinusitis
You can relieve asthma and sinusitis simply by using a Neti Pot to irrigate your sinuses.
You fill the Neti Pot with warm salt water, turn your head to the side and just slightly face up, and place the Neti Pot tip into the upper nostril. Press it close and then tip the pot up so the salt water flows into the upper nostril and then back out of the lower.1 The water will loosen mucus2 and wash away dust and pollen.
It's a relief to expel the thick mucus and to be rid of the pressure it causes. This helps keep away chest congestion, too, because there's less mucus and pollutants draining into your bronchial tubes.
You can buy a Neti Pot on Amazon.com. I use a ceramic pot from Himalayan Institute. Mix a quarter teaspoon of salt with 8oz. of warm water to make the salt water. Be sure to use iodine-free salt. Kosher salt and sea salt work well.
1 It might take a little trial and error to get the head and pot positioned so that the flow starts. You could be so congested that the water can't get through, in which case you might take a Sudaphed to open things up a bit.
2 "Mucus" has got to be the worst word I've used in this blog so far. I hated writing this post because of it. I almost stopped writing because I figured people would stop reading at about this point.
You fill the Neti Pot with warm salt water, turn your head to the side and just slightly face up, and place the Neti Pot tip into the upper nostril. Press it close and then tip the pot up so the salt water flows into the upper nostril and then back out of the lower.1 The water will loosen mucus2 and wash away dust and pollen.
It's a relief to expel the thick mucus and to be rid of the pressure it causes. This helps keep away chest congestion, too, because there's less mucus and pollutants draining into your bronchial tubes.
You can buy a Neti Pot on Amazon.com. I use a ceramic pot from Himalayan Institute. Mix a quarter teaspoon of salt with 8oz. of warm water to make the salt water. Be sure to use iodine-free salt. Kosher salt and sea salt work well.
1 It might take a little trial and error to get the head and pot positioned so that the flow starts. You could be so congested that the water can't get through, in which case you might take a Sudaphed to open things up a bit.
2 "Mucus" has got to be the worst word I've used in this blog so far. I hated writing this post because of it. I almost stopped writing because I figured people would stop reading at about this point.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
My Second Pet
This is a continuation of My First Pet...
About two years after giving away my first cat because of asthma, my cat-loving girlfriend and I got married and moved into a house. At first she was resigned to not having a cat. But after trying to put up with me for a few months, she was clearly unhappy.
So we struck a compromise. We would get a cat and keep it in the lower level of the house. I figured that by being in a house that was larger than the apartment in which I couldn't breathe, I might not have trouble with allergies. Also, I had been getting allergy shots for two years, and I was taking medicine to control the allergies. Besides, the woman we bought the house from had a cat in the house.
This actually worked out pretty well. My breathing wasn't as clear as it should've been, but I wasn't laboring to breathe. And the cat spent time outside, from mid-morning until dusk.
The cat was our baby for a couple of years, an orange and white tabby with white paws. My wife called her "Twinkie." When our real baby came along, Twinkie finally realized that the crib wasn't for her.
The cat didn't like our daughter too much. Our daughter's attempts at petting the cat were met with flattened ears and extended claws.
One windy October day, about one month after 9-11, our daughter came home from pre-school. The cat was not there. But she didn't ask about it until she was a bit older and saw pictures of the cat. By then it was easier to say that the cat was hit by a car and killed. I didn't tell her how the neighbor walked over to tell us. Or how upset her mother was. (My wife vowed she'd never have another cat in that house again.) Or how I placed her stiff body into a copy paper box and then into a hole I'd dug into the ground.
I showed our daughter the grave, which I marked with a small cairn. It was in the center of a square formed by four small trees, except that today only two of those trees still stand. When we would walk by, we'd say a small prayer, "Please God, welcome Twinkie into your Kingdom." I'm not too good with prayers, but our daughter liked that ritual.
Five years later my wife's legs started to feel numb, and she had trouble walking. She was soon admitted into the hospital and treated for transverse myelitis. She was released after four weeks. It was a strange time in our lives. The birds stopped showing up at my wife's bird feeder. But a skittish cat started to show up and run away when we approached it. It was an orange and white tabby, with white paws. I told my second-grade daughter that it was Twinkie, looking for mommy.
That cat visited us every few days, but it would always run away. After my wife came home and resumed walking, the cat stopped showing up.
That's the story of my second pet. But it wasn't the last pet....
About two years after giving away my first cat because of asthma, my cat-loving girlfriend and I got married and moved into a house. At first she was resigned to not having a cat. But after trying to put up with me for a few months, she was clearly unhappy.
So we struck a compromise. We would get a cat and keep it in the lower level of the house. I figured that by being in a house that was larger than the apartment in which I couldn't breathe, I might not have trouble with allergies. Also, I had been getting allergy shots for two years, and I was taking medicine to control the allergies. Besides, the woman we bought the house from had a cat in the house.
This actually worked out pretty well. My breathing wasn't as clear as it should've been, but I wasn't laboring to breathe. And the cat spent time outside, from mid-morning until dusk.
The cat was our baby for a couple of years, an orange and white tabby with white paws. My wife called her "Twinkie." When our real baby came along, Twinkie finally realized that the crib wasn't for her.
The cat didn't like our daughter too much. Our daughter's attempts at petting the cat were met with flattened ears and extended claws.
One windy October day, about one month after 9-11, our daughter came home from pre-school. The cat was not there. But she didn't ask about it until she was a bit older and saw pictures of the cat. By then it was easier to say that the cat was hit by a car and killed. I didn't tell her how the neighbor walked over to tell us. Or how upset her mother was. (My wife vowed she'd never have another cat in that house again.) Or how I placed her stiff body into a copy paper box and then into a hole I'd dug into the ground.
I showed our daughter the grave, which I marked with a small cairn. It was in the center of a square formed by four small trees, except that today only two of those trees still stand. When we would walk by, we'd say a small prayer, "Please God, welcome Twinkie into your Kingdom." I'm not too good with prayers, but our daughter liked that ritual.
Five years later my wife's legs started to feel numb, and she had trouble walking. She was soon admitted into the hospital and treated for transverse myelitis. She was released after four weeks. It was a strange time in our lives. The birds stopped showing up at my wife's bird feeder. But a skittish cat started to show up and run away when we approached it. It was an orange and white tabby, with white paws. I told my second-grade daughter that it was Twinkie, looking for mommy.
That cat visited us every few days, but it would always run away. After my wife came home and resumed walking, the cat stopped showing up.
That's the story of my second pet. But it wasn't the last pet....
Friday, October 3, 2008
My First Pet
This post was inspired by Cardiogirl's post, "I will not experience the dog days of Summer, Fall, Winter or Spring"...
I was allergic to cats ever since I can remember.
One day my girlfriend convinced me to get a cat. I told her that I was allergic. She didn't believe me and she insisted that we go to a pet store to at least see if I was still allergic.
So we did and I felt okay. I thought that being in my own apartment (rather than my mother's moth-ball infested house) made me somehow less allergic. One of the kitty critters seemed real interested in me, poking his paw out at me and giving me kitty love eyes. He was a gray tabby fur ball with yellow-green eyes.
So he came home with me. He would sit on my lap and eat supper with me. He insisted on eating everything I ate, even broccoli. I kid you not.
I was glad that I didn't have the itchy watery eyes and the runny nose that I usually get around cats. But every day I found it a bit harder to breathe, even though I kept the cat out of the bedroom.
By the time I started taking Claritin and allergy shots, it was too late. I gave kitty up a month later to a nice young couple.
I felt the heaviness in my chest for a long time. But it was not so much asthma as a broken heart.
I was allergic to cats ever since I can remember.
One day my girlfriend convinced me to get a cat. I told her that I was allergic. She didn't believe me and she insisted that we go to a pet store to at least see if I was still allergic.
So we did and I felt okay. I thought that being in my own apartment (rather than my mother's moth-ball infested house) made me somehow less allergic. One of the kitty critters seemed real interested in me, poking his paw out at me and giving me kitty love eyes. He was a gray tabby fur ball with yellow-green eyes.
So he came home with me. He would sit on my lap and eat supper with me. He insisted on eating everything I ate, even broccoli. I kid you not.
I was glad that I didn't have the itchy watery eyes and the runny nose that I usually get around cats. But every day I found it a bit harder to breathe, even though I kept the cat out of the bedroom.
By the time I started taking Claritin and allergy shots, it was too late. I gave kitty up a month later to a nice young couple.
I felt the heaviness in my chest for a long time. But it was not so much asthma as a broken heart.
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