If I could only breath.

Eight months out of the year, from about March to November I live my life in a world of agony. I generally want to scratch my eyes out with sand paper, put cotton in my tear ducts to stop them from watering, attach a Brillo pad to the back of my tongue to make scratching my throat easier, and find some mid evil torture instrument to stick in my ears all in hopes of relieving, if only for a moment, the constance itching I experience from allergies. If this sounds simply horrendous to you then I can assure you that you have never suffered from seasonal allergies.

I've suffered from seasonal allergies since I was a child but as I've grown older they seem to be getting worse. I never new what exactly I was allergic to. Just that I AM allergic to something cause I'm completely miserable. A few years ago I found a fantastic coupon in the back of the "Bridgerland" phone book. The coupon was for an allergy test at Summit Clinic for only $10 bucks! I made an appointment straight away.

The coupon was for a skin prick arm test of 16 different common allergy causing agents found in Cache Valley.

Eight agents were put on each arm. On my right arm I had such things as, trees, molds, cats, & dogs. On my left arm I had mostly different types of pollen. The tech puts these agents on your arm and then makes you sit still for an eternity. I think it was 10-15 minutes to wait for the results.

My right arm had absolutely no reaction at all as I'm not allergic to any of the agents I was tested for on it. My left are was a completely different story. About half way through the test my arm was inflamed and itching like mad. Of course you're told "don't scratch." By the end of the test I was begging the tech to just cut my fucking arm off!! Surprisingly enough with such a dramatic result you'd think I was allergic to all 8 agents but nope. I'm just extremely allergic to 2 of them.

The offending culprits were "Timothy grass" & "False Ragweed." As I'm sure you're thinking this very moment as I was all those years ago "what the fuck is Timothy grass and False Ragweed?" I've never known the answer to that question until this very morning when I decided to write this brilliant post about the things that haunt me. Don't think I don't know when I'm around them cause that I do! I just never knew exactly what they looked like. I Googled images to post here & now I finally know exactly what it is that makes me so miserable. Good thing both Timothy grass and False Ragweed are so abundant in Cache Valley!!

The offending Timothy grass:

Great news: Timothy is the grass that grows so nicely and COMPLETELY surrounds my apartment! Fanbloodytastic!!

The hideous False Ragweed:

Don't worry, False Ragweed is also interspersed among the Timothy that is considered the "landscaping" surrounding my apartment.

After finally seeing these pictures all I can say is thank God for "Clairatin", & "Puffs Plus" with lotion. Both of which I buy in bulk at Sam's Club! Only 7.5 months left to go.....