Janet (not her real name) is open about it: allergies bother her a lot.

She often feels like the world is out to get her, filling the air with things her body treats as foreign invaders trying to annoy her. It seems that her body had decided that it didn’t want her to have just one allergy when it could have all of them!

She took an allergy test where they put a tiny amount of an allergen on the surface of her skin to see what would happen. She had been feeling under the weather for several months, and this was the next step in figuring out what was wrong with her.

The doctor tested about 60 different allergens on her back, including grass, pollen, fur, mold and dust. Her body reacted to nearly half of them.

The allergic reaction to some allergens such as dust mites and pollen were much worse than others. That is how she found out she had chronic allergies.

Fortunately, she was not allergic to food like peanuts which can cause serious anaphylactic reaction and even death.

Up until the time she took this test, having watery eyes, a runny nose, a sore throat or fatigue was just a part of her life.

Over the past couple of years, through trial and error, she has come up with a useful routine to manage these symptoms, which she now shares with fellow hypersensitive people.

Even if a person only has seasonal allergies, there are many ways to keep healthy and experience less symptoms during allergy season.

Posting about how bad allergies are and how much people are suffering seems to be the trend on Twitter these days, so she knows that there are many people with some form of allergy or other.

Janet initially thought this sounded crazy, but the most important step in her allergy routine is to take antihistamine medication regularly. Days are miserable when, on occasion, she forgets.

Not long past the 24-hour dose mark, her body would send her its own reminder: her eyes would water and the sneezing would begin.

She advises that all living spaces be kept as clean as possible. This means vacuuming often, washing bedsheets weekly, cleaning up any dust, and making sure pillows are beaten and exposed to sunlight every day.

Doing these simple chores help to keep dust mites, animal fur and pollen levels down. Eventually daily cleaning will become as much a part of your routine as doing the laundry.

Speaking of laundry, Janet says to make sure your sheets and clothing are washed in detergents which are not too harsh because strong chemicals can also cause skin allergies.

Outdoor allergens like pollen and animal fur are a problem so she takes extra care when storing clothes she has worn outside.

She keeps all her jackets, pants, leggings, sweatshirts and other clothing she wears outdoors separate from clothes worn when at home.

She also keeps her pajamas and bedding separated from everything else, so that when she sleeps, her bed is clean and free from external allergens.

Allergies have no cure, but Janet’s experience is that careful planning and some lifestyle changes can help reduce the likelihood of relapses.

For now, she is free from annoying symptoms on most days and can live a normal and healthy life.

TELEME Healing Life Stories is a collection of inspirational stories of how ordinary people triumph over their health conditions and recover to lead a healthier life after that. Feel free to email [email protected] to share your story.

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