One of my good friends asked me if there was any significance to my not writing much here for the last six weeks or so. I fessed up that I'd been up and down with allergy issues and the desire to do much writing just went out the window.
So here's what's been happening. August and September are always my worst months allergy-wise: plants are putting out their last best effort to seed the world before the coming frost. Unfortunately their sex lives wind up in my nose! I went in for my annual check in late August. My internist told me my lungs were fine, but my head was a mess - for this I need a doctor? I monitor my lung function daily with a peak flow meter and knew I was fine. He insisted on giving me a shot of Depo-Medrol, an injected, long-acting steroid (methylprednisolone). He got into scare stories about not wanting to see my asthma get worse. I didn't want the shot, but I caved in.
About six hours later I started feeling miserable - I always do when I'm on systemic steroids. Forty-eight hours later I started feeling decent again - the two-week shot having worn off in about two days. I checked the prescribing information for Depo-Medrol: apparently it has an extremely variable half-life of between two days and two weeks. I got the bulk of the agent in my system immediately, which is why I felt so miserable. So I wrote him a letter never to push me again to take a course of therapy that I don't want to take - and no more injected long-acting steroids. I've heard nothing back, so I may be seeking a new doctor.
About the same time I had nagging foot pain - my right foot's a mess biomechanically, with very weak tendons. I wound up in a podiatrist's office for a consult - and got some good advice. I was very impressed with this guy's office: I was in for an x-ray, a history, and a consult in no more than thirty minutes start-to-finish. He headed in with the films, and took the longest time just looking at my feet. He found the spot immediately. It was a stress fracture too small to see on the film, but he localized the pain to a single spot. Prescription: stay out of sandals (my fault for wearing them too much during the summer!). I stayed laced-up with my shoe inserts for three weeks. Problem completely resolved.
The head stuff isn't so easy to fix, though. I revisited all my old notes from my California allergist. I'm extremely sensitive to the house dust mite (off the scale sensitivity the report says...) and to certain molds (Alternaria spp.). I've been using mite-resistant bedding for years, and all our floors are hardwood - meaning they can be cleaned effectively, unlike carpet which can't. I stepped up my cleaning program in the bedroom, though, including mopping the floors weekly after vacuuming. Things are tending a bit better, but it'll be after the first frost and after the leaf mold vanishes that I start feeling better.