Why I hate spring.

It's true that my immune system can find something to disagree with, no matter the time or place. But it's also true that spring, with its orgy-istic plant life, is the bane of my existence.  For the last 3 or 4 years, every year I've felt that it's worse than the last and I can think of several possibilities to explain this:

1. my immune system is getting more sensitive
2. as I age, my tolerance for suffering is dropping (I'm wimping out)
3. there really is more crap in the environment that triggers a reaction
4. some combination of the above

Frankly, I'm not sure which option is more depressing.

Every year, my symptoms vary a little bit - I seem to add more itching lately, which is likely related to the dermatographia.  I've got less nasal congestion this year, but more stuff packed into my upper sinuses; which may explain why it seems like this year there is more mental affect.  I just can't concentrate or seem to think logically.  It's like - I can putter with ideas in the back of my head, but whenever I try to sit down and "figure something out", the process hits this greasy sticky mass at the front of my head and bogs down.  And I just can't push it through or pull it out or anything.  It just stops.

That's likely also linked to the fact that I just don't sleep well like this.  I mean, I achieve unconsciousness without any problem, but I definitely do not wake up feeling refreshed.  That can't help the ol' brain out.

It's particularly frustrating at work, where I'm supposed to be figuring out the next step of our DITA/RoboHelp transition and I can't say I've made any real progress in a couple of weeks.  Argh!

Some mornings, if I scrape myself out of bed, I can get the system booted and basically make it through a day.  And then there's mornings like this one.  I got up, did my stretches, had my shower, ate my breakfast and sat staring at nothing for 5 minutes.  Then I crawled back into bed and slept for 4 hours.  Sadly, I don't really feel better for the extra sleep, but at least I wasn't consciously for it.  It's days like today that I envy my mother's hibernation ability.  I don't know how she does it, but she's perfectly capable of basically sleeping through 3 or 4 days in a row, if she's got nothing pressing to do.  That sounds lovely, right now.

I know that people are sceptical when I tell them that OTC antihistamines don't work for me, but consider this.  I've been on a 10mg daily dose of cetirizine for almost 2 months now.  And I still feel like this.  Yes, it's probably keeping the worst of the congestion away, but I'm FAR from the happy-go-lucky folks in the ads, bouncing through their days with their noses buried in the flowers.  Bah. I have a new dose of homeopathic remedy in the works and I have my fingers crossed, 'cause it usually works much better, but until it arrives... I've used up today's ambition and I'm off to stare at the walls for a while.