Rant #3,861: Allergies

It's Thursday!

And today, I have the pleasure of getting my allergy shots!

I have been getting them almost continually--with a brief lapse when I hurt my left leg--since I was 15 years of age, so we are talking about the past 53 years.

These shots have been good to me, as every season is "allergy season" for me.

I used to suffer greatly from my bad allergies.

I couldn't eat, it affected my entire body, and it made me miserable.

Way back in the 1970s, doctors didn't know that much about what came to be called "seasonal allergies," and I had to go through a rigorous "staple gun" test to find out exactly what I was allergic to, which made my left arm look like I was a heroin addict with all the indents that were made.

But I came through that--the test is now a simple blood test--and once doctors found out what was ailing me, I was on a regimen of shots each month--anywhere from one to four, now it is just one in each arm--and I was on my way to feeling much better--physically, mentally and emotionally.

The shots do not bother me at all.

Sometimes it hurts initially, depending where I get the shot in the arm, but it goes away, and I am fine.

I think that that is what prevented me from feeling any after-effects of the COVID shots I received.

I know a lot of people had adverse reactions to these shots--including a lot of pain in their arms--but I had nothing, felt fine afterward, and the three shots I received really didn't affect me in the least.

And I do think the allergy shots--which are steroids--probably protected me from getting a bad case of COVID. The COVID shots, coupled with the steroids in the allergy shots, kind of gave me double protection, and to this day, I think I was misdiagnosed with COVID ... my case lasted about 12 hours, I was diagnosed with the ailment when everybody was being diagnosed with it, and I was fit as a fiddle after a good night's sleep.

So the shots have been a godsend, to be honest with you. 

And the best thing is that at least into their 30s, neither of my kids inherited allergies from me.

Look, I still have good days and bad days with my allergies.

The shots do not take them away from me; they only mitigate, or lessen, the effects of the allergies on my personal well-being and health.

So I look at my allergies as "the curse that keeps on giving," and my mother often said that she thinks I literally had these allergies since the day I was born--based on my early sleeping patterns--and that they won't go away as, hopefully, I reach my 70s, 80s and beyond.

I have learned to live with them, and it often isn't nice or pleasant, but I can navigate around them even when they are at their most miserable.

So, getting the allergy shots have been part of my life for so long that yes, they are a nuisance, but a necessary one, so I manage to take it all in stride.

And as I said, I think they have had some side benefits, so it is not all that bad.

So today, I roll up my sleeves another time, get the shots, and get on with my life--

Until a month later, in February, when I, again, have to get the shots, and into perpetuity each and every month.

Believe me, I am not complaining.

Better to run after the shots than have a runny nose.