Itchy, Sneezy, but not Dopey

For reasons that some of you are already aware of, my zyrtec is all gone.

Why is all the zyrtec gone? (Oh, I think I’m funny, you bet I do.) You’re going to have to ask me; I’m not going to tell you here. But it’s gone. And that, my friends, puts me in a particular sort of spot.

When I moved to Austin, land of allergies, I knew I would be just fine – there would be a period of adjustment, even living with a dog and, horror of horrors, a cat, I would be okay. Having tried every allergy medication on the market, I had discovered that a regular daily dose of zyrtec, or cetirizine, which is the generic brand, took care of my allergy and sinus issues almost entirely. And without any wacky goddamn side effects! I just had to stay on it, take one every day, and I was pretty much fine. No problem.

Being that the zyrtec, the cetirizine, and anything like it, is now poofed and currently unavailable to me – for reasons financial and otherwise – I’m going to have to think of something really freakin’ clever. Because I’ve been without it a day and a half now, and I am not looking forward to the next week, when it finally runs out of my system entirely.

Man, just talking about this is making me itchy.

The last two mornings, I’ve used my neti pot to try and cut down on symptoms… it’s weird, but it grows on you. And it seems to be doing something. I don’t know how much of something, being that I’ve used an obscene number of tissues in the last few days and have recently started sneezing my fool head off at the drop of a hat, but something. I was going to take a benedryl last night, but now I’m glad I didn’t – my dreams were weird enough as it is, and I wouldn’t be awake now if I had.

From past experience, the over-the-counter stuff available here doesn’t work, or wires me up, or makes me sleepy. I’m afraid of those side effects – I have a hard enough time regulating my work schedule without having to factor in a mess of allergy drugs. But I’m not sure I’m going to have a lot of recourse – that is, if I can find the money to use over-the-counter medications in the first place. And that might be my only option, because if my eyes start to itch, I have to tell you, I am going to go berserk.

But I do need to make a decision sometime soon… because in the meantime, it’s going to be difficult for me to do anything, including work (hell, imagine trying to sing in the midst of a 24-hour allergy attack!), and that doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun for me… or anyone who lives with me. Heh!

Mrr. What a mess. Think, Megan, think!

Tagged as: Blog