In The Spotlight: Sneeze Fever

Spring has officially began last Sunday and so is allergy season. According to clinical studies the chances of a person having allergies are about 15% if neither of the person's parents has allergies and about 60% when both parents do (stat c/o of Gurunet).

In my case, I have the worst allergies. Regardless of the season, air temperature, environment, humidity level, pollution level, or whateverelsehaveyou, I sneeze continuously for at least 30 minutes to 3 hours every morning after waking up. My friend, Myra, who was often my room-mate when we used to travel together, called it my "morning sickness." But that's not the extent of it. The tiniest of dusts will have me sneezing my brains out any time of day. My other friend, Beth, with whom I shared an office for almost 2 years, can attest to that. In fact, we often exchanged "bless you's" throughout the day even after she moved to the office next to the one we used to share, which I continued to occupy.

Yesterday (Monday) morning, I woke up sneezing, with runny nose, itching eyes, and a splitting headache. These are symptoms of allergic rhinitis, more populary known as hay fever. And since my anti-allergy medication puts me to sleep, I had to skip work.

This probably explains my being a "neat freak" both at home and at work. My daily morning ritual is to "sanitize" the office in the morning when I get in using sanitation wipes. And at home, I often stayed up until 1 AM just cleaning.

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Quote of the Day: "I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness." -- James Thurber