The Dizzy-Sicks, or Suffering for Beauty

When I was a little girl, we had a nice patch of lawn on the north side of our house. It was a lovely place to hang out and to play on hot summer days (definitely no air conditioning to keep us inside in those days). One of the things we sometimes liked to do was to throw our arms out wide and whirl around until we became dizzy and fell to the grass. In a few moments the dizziness would pass and we would likely do it again.

One day I was doing this when the dizziness did not quickly pass. In fact, I felt very sick in my stomach. All I could do was go inside and lie down. It took a long time for the nausea and dizziness to pass. And I was never again able to play that game. I became hypersensitive to dizziness. It takes very little to make me dizzy and dizziness makes me feel very ill indeed. Even watching someone else going in circles makes me dizzy. I've learned to look away from movie or television scenes that involve a lot of rapid, dizzying movement. I don't watch when children start running around in circles.When we played games that involved a blindfold and turning around in circles to disorient the person who was It, all it took for me was two or three turns. I didn't stop playing games like Blind Man's Bluff (or is it Buff--I've never known--we called it Bluff.), Pin the Tail on the Donkey, or Statues, I just was more careful about how many times I was turned when I was It. I am no fun at all at a carnival. The Merry-Go-Round is OK, but that's about it! I'll definitely never get on a Tilt-A-Whirl again.

Unfortunately, the Dizzy-Sicks, as I call it, is not brought on only by whirling around. As my allergy-proneness increased as I grew older, I learned that sinus pressure also disturbed my equilibrium. Sometimes all it takes is a turn of my head and a wave of dizziness, with the resulting nausea overwhelms me. Sitting still and not moving my head much is the treatment, which is sometimes very inconvenient.

Now, lest you think I am just complaining, there is a connection between the two things in the title of this blog. (In church Sunday the sermon was from the second chapter of Philippians, where Paul teaches not to be a complainer. So...I'm just reporting, not complaining!)

Yesterday I decided to give myself a perm. I hate the process, but my hair was driving me nuts and I thought that giving it some curl would make it easier to manage when we go vacationing to Yellowstone Park next week. I lined up my granddaughter to help when it came to the application of the waving solution step.

However, I had forgotten to take my allergy medicine the night before. My sinuses were doing their thing. And the turning of my head this way and that way to get the various solutions applied, and the bending over the sink turning my head this way and that way for the rinsing steps, was just too much. The Dizzy-Sicks attacked. And I could not go sit down and hold still--the process was not finished and it would be disastrous to stop until all was finished! So I was feeling extremely sick, but we got it done.

And I made a decision. A bit hastily perhaps. I may regret it later. But I threw away all my perm rods. I decided that if I ever have another perm I'll pay someone to do it, even if it hurts my thrifty soul to do so. (And even though the pros tend to way over cook my hair--the last perm I paid for absolutely fried my hair and took most of a year to get all grown out and cut off.) Again--not complaining, just commenting!

2011 The Yellowstone River above the Upper Falls

It's Allergy Season

Yesterday was a beautiful day. It was so lovely I opened windows around my house to let in fresh air. By evening, my nose was swelling shut, my throat was itching, and my eyes were swelling and irritated. It's definitely allergy season!

After a long winter I am thrilled to have a real spring this year. Every thing is growing, pollinating, and blooming.  I love it!

But. . .I am one of the many unfortunates who also have many allergies. That means that while I delight in the beauty of the season, can hardly wait each winter for spring to come, and love, love flowers and the flowering trees, I pay for time spent outdoors with allergies.

I have learned to mostly keep my house closed up and depend upon the air conditioner to cool it when temperatures rise. That way I can spend some time outdoors and then come inside to escape the allergens. That, plus Zyrtec, keeps me in pretty good shape. But, sometimes, I just want to open some windows. And then I pay for it.

Some of the swelling and outbreak on my face.

My worst allergy experience of recent years, however, had nothing to do with pollen. Last spring I irritated my back by moving heavy bags of potting soil while planting flowers in my numerous deck pots. It was very painful. I was prescribed a painkiller, Feldene, that was supposed to be better than Ibuprofen and longer lasting. It did warn it could increase sun sensitivity, like so many medications do. I am always careful of the sun anyway, because I am very fair-skinned and sunburn easily. But I learned that the sun sensitivity with this medication was beyond anything I had ever experienced. When I first developed a little rash, I quit taking it. The effects, however, did not wear off for more than a week. The rash kept developing, finally creating spots that I can only compare to the burns caused by hot grease splatters. When it reached that point, with the extra added attraction of generalized swelling on all exposed skin, I ended up in the emergency room. I still have several faint scars from the worst of the burns.

My right hand and lower arm. Thank goodness I was
wearing 3/4 length sleeves!

That medication is definitely on my "Never Take This Stuff Again" list!