Coughing in public in a post-H1N1 world

To the woman who was standing in front of me at the front cash last Saturday afternoon: I don't have H1N1. Promise!

I'm really sorry for the coughing fit. I'm sure you were really nervous and annoyed at me, but it couldn't be helped. These coughing spells of mine happen usually out of the blue, without much notice. I'm sure you were pretty happy to get the hell away from me when the second cash opened. I'm so sorry for my choking performance. I would have left the store when my coughing fit started, but wool yarn is on sale this week and it was too much of a bargain to pass up.

To back up, last week I spent the entire week inside because I was showing cold-like symptoms, congestion and a cough. I didn't even venture out to the gym because I was too scared to cough in public. But as the week wore on, I concluded I didn't have a cold. I have allergies.

While this may sound like good news, it isn't. At least a cold ends. My allergy attacks take forever to disappear. I was dreading this may happen. Five years ago, I had a horrific allergy attack that lasted from the end of December to April. I was severely congested and I had a terrible seal-like barking cough. A couple of times I even lost use of my voice. The culprit, you ask? Dust mites.

I've never seen a dust mite. They are too small to be seen by the naked eye. But they make my life miserable. I wait for the day when they are officially on the endangered species list. But I doubt that will ever happen. It is estimated that 10 per cent of the population are allergic to dust mites. Those who aren't allergic to dust mites aren't allergic to the actual mite per say, but they are allergic to their feces. And my allergic reactions to dust mites seem to be the worst in the winter when the house is closed and the humidity is high.

I won't get into the details because they can get quite sickening, but dust mites are everywhere. The only thing that "cured" me the last time was allergy needles. The last time I got a shot was two years ago around the time I got pregnant with darling daughter. Since that time, I've had my fingers crossed that I would never experience anything like that again. But it looks like my luck has run out.

To get me through the last week, I've been using my neti pot constantly and now I'm taking over the counter allergy medications. I'm not too sure how long I can keep up this regiment up. I'm tired because I'm not getting any sleep because I have coughing fits. I'm afraid to go out in public in case I have another coughing fit. But thanks to the neti pot, at least I can breath. Last time this happened it sounded like I had a perpetual cold.

Living with allergies is not fun. The snow has yet to fly and I'm already looking forward to spring.