I’m so glad I found the true cause of my “hay fever”, and got rid of it. Years ago I used to dread spring time because of the flowers and pollen. It used to be so bad. I walked around, when I had to, with bloodshot eyes and runny nose, sneezing once every 2-3 minutes. My entire head felt heavy and my face and throat were itchy all day for weeks. It was terrible.
It turns out that I actually, perhaps, didn’t have hay fever at all. What I had (have) is milk allergy. I accidentally discovered this when I stopped drinking cappuccino and cereal in favour of a proper breakfast and black coffee/tea. That spring I had no hay fever symptoms, well, not until I tried a Magnum White ice cream and boom! The symptoms came back. It dawned immediately what was going on.
I remember sharing this with my mother who didn’t seem too surprised. Apparently as a baby I couldn’t be fed milk-based formula, or any milk at all for that matter, without breaking out in serious skin issues. I’m sure I also exhibited respiratory issues but weren’t so obvious since most babies tend to have runny noses anyway. This bit of information would have saved me a couple of decades of suffering but my mother thought I’d outgrown it so never said anything to me about it.
Anyway, these days I’m glad I can walk around amongst entire trees full of blossoms without consequence. Sometimes I even forget that I used to suffer in the hands of these otherwise beautiful creatures. March and April are no longer dreadful but beautiful.
And, yes, sometimes I still indulge in a little bit of milk, but not directly. I love ice cream and I’m willing to take a few hours of an itchy throat now and again 😂
Peace & Love,
Adé