My allergies symptoms are painful. So when I saw this headline, “Do allergy symptoms make you grumpy?”, I almost laughed out loud (only laughing hurt my sinuses) . HOORAY! I’m not alone!
That just happened to be Mother’s day. Both my daughters had called, I’d called my mother and mother-in-law and exchanged loving motherly stuff AND my husband surprised me with beautiful jade earrings. It was even sunny and relatively warm outside.
And I felt like a bear, wanting to yell: “Leave me Alone! It hurts to talk!” When pollen is blowing, as it was in Gloucester, MA that day, my teeth ache and there’s a vise squeezing the front of my head. I don’t feel like making chit chat – I just want to go to sleep.
I couldn’t find the article I read online but found this instead: Allergies: Sneezy, Meet Grumpy (gotta’ love that Grumpy person) in Psychology Today. The article’s point is that the less we identify with our illness, the better we can manage it.
The article offers 4 tips:
1. Don’t self diagnose it (and then treat it) – Make sure you get a diagnosis from a professional.
2. Don’t attribute all ailments to your allergies.
3. Get support from others – family and friends (a tough one for many of us).
4. Don’t dwell on the negative.
Are you thinking, No sh-t, sherlock? But, easier said than done. The 4 tips are helpful — but they can make it sound as easy as swallowing an aspiring (or a benadryl).
And it isn’t. I’ve spent a life time trying to do this better (or 30 years) and I don’t have it cracked yet. It takes a lot of work — on your self — to develop the competencies you need to manage pain, fatigue and debilitating symptoms. One technique I use frequently with clients — and you can learn on your own — is FOCUSING. It ‘s a powerful tool to learn how to separate you from the illness.
Along the lines of allergies/asthma, here’s an article that a client with severe chronic asthma sent me to pass along. It’s called, Healthy Homes Give Room to Breathe.
Do symptoms make you cranky, feel sorry for yourself, wonder if it’s ever going to be different?
Rosalind aka cicoach.com
PS. My book, Women Work and Autoimmune Disease: Keep Working,Girlfriend is published – in bookstores and Amazon.com NOW!
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