I am a college student and have lived in
the same house my whole life. I smoked
cigarettes for two years and have now
quit. I've also had cats my whole life.
For the last 6 or 7 years (after our cats
had a lice problem) my mom has not allowed
them upstairs for long periods of time.
They live in the basement. so I was never
around them or their dander for prolonged
periods of time for as long as I could
remember.
The summer before I left for my freshman
year I felt I would do them a favor and
bring all their things into my bedroom and
keep them in there. I never experienced
any problems. At the end of August they
went back into the basement, and I went
off to school. The following summer I did
not give them refuge in my bedroom, and
returned for my sophomore year.
...It is now the present summer and I've
been home since the beginning of May. On
May 31st I moved my cats into my bedroom.
They are 13 years old and you can even see
the dry skin on their fur, so they are
dander machines. On June 9th I went to a
wedding, got drunk, and smoked a pack of
cigarettes after having quit for 2 months.
(oops) and developed a cough. I guessed
this cough was from the cigarettes but
unfortunately it is STILL with me along
with never ending post nasal drip which
began a few days after the cough did. Its
clear and thin most of the time but
sometimes there's yellow in it. Every
morning I do cough and as soon as I get up
a glob or two of mucous (probably from the
post nasal drip) I'm better, and the only
cough I have for the remainder of the day
is in order to clear my throat, OR when
I'm around cigarette smoke (which is maybe
2 or 3 times a week) my throat gets very
irritated. I have not smoked since that
wedding. My eyes had been dry a lot and in
July I began to officially notice that
they were always mildly bloodshot and
itchy. As well as my nose and throat
sometimes. I also sneeze, but not
excessively.
So here's the thing. I've been to my
family doctor 3 times. I've been on two
separate antibiotics because he said there
was "pus" behind my nose so he thought it
was a sinus infection. I asked him if he
thought I had an allergy and he said my
throat did not suggest the typically
allergic throat (white lining of the
throat?) sooo both times while on the
antibiotics I didnt seem to improve, at
all.
So, I decided to go to an ear nose and
throat specialist who ct-scanned my
sinuses. He told me that my sinuses are
clear! Yet I still have these symptoms.
He has given me nasacort to take once
daily and referred me to an allergist for
a skin allergy test which unfortunately
won't happen for another week.
The main thing that frightens me is
sometimes when I cough OUT I can hear a
little tiny wheeze when I position my
throat the right way. this also happens
when I laugh a certain way (like, a
strained laugh forcing the air out when my
chin is bent toward my neck) I did have
acid reflux which pepcid took care of, I
havent had a chest xray nor do the docs
think the cough has anything to do with my
chest, but the little wheeze which has
happened only maybe 3 times is very
frightening because, well, let's face it
I'm a paranoid person. I immediately worry
that I have some deadly lung disease that
no one will catch before it's too late. My
mom is a nurse and she told me its
probably just a strand of post nasal drip
vibrating... but I still get scared.
I've removed the cats from my room,
regrettably putting them back downstairs
(but I built them a fun little playhouse
because I love them and I'm still going to
play with them even if it does turn out
I'm allergic).. and vacuumed as much of my
room as I could. I moved my bed and
vacuumed under there (I had to empty the
vacuumed like 3 times because of all the
hair and dust) and I had been sleeping on
our pullout in the living room, taking my
nasacort, and trying to avoid mycats...
=(
I feel like my symptoms have actually
improved! But this could so easily be in
my head.
I spent the night at my boyfriends last
night and he doesn't have any pets. I woke
up and coughed up the usual stuff when I
brushed my teeth but I felt GOOD and I
realized what not being itchy feels like
and I noticed a great difference in the
amount of coughing I've done today.
ALL the signs probably point to me being
allergic to my cats except for a few
things...
I have lived with cats my whole life in my
house. Ive had contact with cats almost
every day until I went to college.
Now, I've heard of college students going
away from home and suddenly developing an
allergy to their cat or dog which they've
been away from for so long. Could this
REALLY happen? Has this happened to
ANYBODY out there or anybody who anybody
knows?Has anybody ever read about this? Do
my symptoms sound like an allergy?
I'll know officially on Wednesday! Til
then... let me know what y'all think...
|
yogahoneybunny
Supporter
Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 888 Location: Strumica, Macedonia
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Posted: 08-18-07 15:11pm
Congrats on stopping the cigarettes.
That's a huge battle!
I think you could really benefit from
cleaning out your sinuses with saline
solution. Just add a teaspoon of sea salt
(no iodine in the salt) to 2 cups of water
and you've got it. The best way I've
found to clean my sinuses is a complete
flush with a tool called a "neti pot".
Google it for details. It takes about 2-3
minutes...and I feel wonderful afterward.
Your symptoms could be caused by many
things...so take heart, and let us know
how that allergy test goes.
Please write back...I'm very interested in
your case!