Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)

[Arcadia]

It's chilly here, too. And windy. Not my favorite combination. But at least it will dry out the leaves faster. We've had so much accursed rain, I can't get out there and rake leaves. Although by the time they're dry enough to rake, it will start raining again...

Remember my photo of my driveway buried in snow? Now imagine the snow has turned to leaves......

[Artemis]

Is it this many leaves?

Neither can I rake any leaves, because the ground is covered in snow.    It's snowed a few times this last week, and since it shows no sign of climbing above freezing any time soon, I fear it's here to stay...

 

[Arcadia]

Eh, that's a mere foothill compared to the mountain of leaves in my yard.

The only reason I worry about it much is because it drives my Mom batty to see leaves on the ground. They belong in trees, dammit, not on her yard! But last year I never did get to them all before snowfall, and guess what? The yard was still there this spring! The flowers still bloomed! The grass still grew! Who knew?  

I do like to get them off the driveway because, y'know, slick. And also because one time they got so deep I literally couldn't figure out where the driveway was and drove off into the yard. Not much harm done (if you don't mind tire tracks in your flower bed), but it was embarrassing.  

[Arcadia]

By the way, it appears I have developed an allergy to our leaves. I used to dig around in them, or pick them up, etc. without any ill effects. The past couple of years, though, my hands, arms, face … anything that comes into contact with them … breaks into horrible itchy red spots. If I dove into a pile like that, I think I might end up in the hospital. Possibly in the mental health ward, going crazy from the itching.

[Carol the Dabbler]

59 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I used to dig around in [leaves], or pick them up, etc. without any ill effects. The past couple of years, though, my hands, arms, face … anything that comes into contact with them … breaks into horrible itchy red spots.

I'm the same way with the live leaves on tomato and green-bean plants.  Never have figured out whether it's an allergy or just an irritation from the teeny little prickles.  But I make a point of washing my hands and arms as soon as I'm done working in the garden, and that prevents whatever it is.

[Arcadia]

What I don't understand is why I've had this problem only in the last couple of years. I don't think there's anything different growing out there. Grrrr…..

[Carol the Dabbler]

I can think of a couple of possibilities:

It could be a true allergy.  As I understand it, nobody is allergic to anything the very first time they encounter it (and that includes poison ivy).  Maybe you've simply rolled in the autumn leaves one time too many.

Or it could be that your skin is generally more sensitive than it used to be, due to repeated sun exposure, lifelong use of soap, etc.  In other words, you're getting older.

Whatever the reason may be in my case, I don't recall getting the itchies from picking tomatoes or beans until I was maybe in my thirties or forties.

[Artemis]

41 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

As I understand it, nobody is allergic to anything the very first time they encounter it (and that includes poison ivy).

Is that really true?  I always wondered.  My grandmother was allergic to bee stings and insisted that she didn't exhibit the allergy until the second time she was stung, but everyone else seemed to think that made no sense.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

My father was horribly allergic to poison ivy, so Mom would pull up any plants that she saw -- with her bare hands because she wasn't allergic to the stuff.

But then one day when she was in her forties she got a little patch of rash on her hand, and after that she had to be careful like the rest of us.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure that it's true.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I looked it up, and it's definitely true of one type of allergy.  Here's what the Merck Manual website says:

In many allergic reactions, the immune system, when first exposed to an allergen, produces a type of antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE). IgE binds to a type of white blood cell called basophils in the bloodstream and to a similar type of cell called mast cells in the tissues. The first exposure may make people sensitive to the allergen but does not cause symptoms.

[Arcadia]

Well, that certainly fits with what happened to me. Damn aging! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…...

It's possible to stop being allergic too, isn't it? I had horrible pollen allergies when I first moved here, but after about 10 years or so, it didn't seem to affect me anymore. I suppose it's possible the particular trigger that set me off no longer grows around here (lord knows they've chopped enough stuff down in the intervening years) but it doesn't seem that likely to me, as I always seemed sickest when the oak pollen was the thickest. (She's a poet and don't know it!) And we still have plenty of oak trees. So I'm guessing I just became acclimated, or whatever the term is.

Although come to think of it, we've had oak trees in other places we lived, and I never had allergic reactions until we moved here. Another theory shot down.

[Carol the Dabbler]

When I was hunting around for the info I posted above, I came across what seemed to be a legitimate medical site that said a lot of kids outgrow their allergies.  So congratulations, you've finally grown up!

[Van Buren Supernova]

 You can't seem to decide whether Arcadia is growing too bloody old or just emerge from a pimpled teenager (it's a messed up sentence, I know that).

I remember reading that we are capable of developing new allergies to something we didn't have problems before,  fun eh?

About disappearing allergy, I'm not sure I read about it before, but I know I used to have slightly swollen, itchy lips from eating kiwi and pineapple, but now, I'm okay with both. I used to have outbreak of itchiness and rash from seawater but it's getting less eventhough I still have it (but I guess it depends on what is in the sea), but yes, rinsing with fresh water helps!

 

[Arcadia]

I don't wanna grow up!!!!!!!!

[Van Buren Supernova]

There there.

I said it once and I say it again.

 

Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

 

Don't worry, you can always be that pimpled old teenager.

[Carol the Dabbler]

51 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

I remember reading that we are capable of developing new allergies to something we didn't have problems before....

This may be a sensitivity rather than a true allergy, but I suddenly developed a problem when I was in my thirties.  The symptom was basically a long-term panic attack, sometimes better and sometimes worse, but always there.  I was under a lot of stress at the time, so I took it for an emotional problem, and saw a counselor, who taught me some great coping techniques.

Seven years later (still chronically panicky), I moved into a homey little house and replaced the run-down gas furnace and appliances with electric ones. A week or two later I realized that I hadn't felt panicky for a while.

I had previously noticed that my panic got worse if I ate onions, and a friend who worked at the gas & electric company referred to the odorizer that's added to natural gas [so you'll notice if there's a leak] as "onion gas" so I thought aha! and phoned the gas company.  Their chemist confirmed that yes, the odorizer is in the same family of chemicals that give onions and garlic their characteristics odor and taste.

Thinking back, I realized that the problem had suddenly arisen during a time when my sleeping quarters were heated by a gas fireplace.  It's my understanding that the "onion gas" is not flammable, but is generally carried up the chimney by the hot air from the flames.  However the fireplace flame was poorly adjusted, and the damper may have been as well, so that the updraft wasn't as strong as it should have been.  Plus of course the flame was not enclosed like the flame in a furnace, and unlike the flame on a cookstove it was burning most of the time.  And of course I was spending at least eight hours a day breathing those fumes, so I became sensitized to the point that even a far lesser amount would trigger my symptoms.

I still have to be careful not to eat a lot of onions and I won't allow a gas line in my house, but it's worth it not to feel panicky. 

In short, yes I believe it's possible to develop new allergies/sensitivities.  Come to think of it, I could have simply cited my mother becoming allergic to poison ivy in her forties.  Now I'm tempted to delete my onion gas story, but so far have resisted the temptation.   

 

[Arcadia]

I have always been somewhat nervous about gas heat, gas stoves and such. Now I am even more so.  

[Van Buren Supernova]

It's very terrifying actually, that you were unaware something that you breathed contributed to panic attack.  

It's psychologically very disturbing, luckily you found the culprit, I'd imagine if Dr. House wouldn't know what is going on.

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

It's very terrifying actually, that you were unaware something that you breathed contributed to panic attack

I suspect that this general sort of thing happens way more often than most people think.  They assume that they simply are the way they are, whereas they may actually be reacting to something in their environment or their food or even their medicine.  I used to feel a bit groggy all the time till I found out I'm allergic to cow milk (and beef).

[Artemis]

I feel a bit groggy all the time, and I wish I knew the cause.  It could be sooo many things.  I almost hate to mention depression to my doctors, because as soon as I do they always pin it on that and stop looking any further.  And it could be depression, or that could be one contributing factor.  But I'm not entirely convinced it is just that.  In any case, the chronic exhaustion and lack of energy can be really debilitating.

My only known allergy is to dairy.  Drinking it produces a rash-like itch on my neck and sometimes chest, and I overproduce phlegm which clogs my throat, so I'll be heard coughing and clearing it for the next hour or two.  The milkier something is, the more it sticks to my throat going down, the more I'm affected.  A hard cheese, for instance, will do virtually nothing, but a cheese sauce will bother me.  It's a mild allergy, by no means life-threatening; just uncomfortable enough to make most milk products not worth having.  Which is mostly fine with me, because I don't like milk anyway.

 

[Arcadia]

I'm groggy in the summer, when it's so hot and humid. I've mentioned it to doctors several times, only to get a baffled look or assurances that it's normal to be affected that way by the weather. But it  doesn't feel normal to me! It feels like I'm carrying an extra person around, or my head is full of cotton, or both. But I've given up finding a solution for it, since I can't afford to go to doctor after doctor after doctor until one tries to help … and if it's drugs, I don't want to take them anyway. *sigh*

[T.o.b.y]

53 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I'm groggy in the summer, when it's so hot and humid. I've mentioned it to doctors several times, only to get a baffled look or assurances that it's normal to be affected that way by the weather. But it  doesn't feel normal to me! It feels like I'm carrying an extra person around, or my head is full of cotton, or both. But I've given up finding a solution for it, since I can't afford to go to doctor after doctor after doctor until one tries to help … and if it's drugs, I don't want to take them anyway. *sigh*

I was going to say "I feel the same way", but since I can't know how you feel, I'll just go with "I feel like you describe in hot weather too".

As far as I know, some people are just sensitive to heat. I thrive in the cold.

[Arcadia]

4 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:

I thrive in the cold.

As do I. Bring on winter! Although preferably with snow instead of freezing rain, which is what we're due to get tomorrow. I hate freezing rain, it's all the misery without any of the beauty.

[Van Buren Supernova]

But rain can be beautiful too, I actually love watching the rain, and smell those geosmin substance produce by bacteria, mmmm freshhh.

[Artemis]

7 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I'm groggy in the summer, when it's so hot and humid.

Ditto.  Even when I was little I struggled with summertime.  There’s something called Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder/Summer SAD, which can have this effect.  It can also be accompanied by “summer blues” much like winter SAD is accompanied by “winter blues”, but that’s not always a symptom.  I first learned of it 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s really only just begun to be studied.  Most doctors don’t even know about it yet.

I normally look forward to the coming of winter, but last winter was so long and hard that it honestly feels like it just ended, so I’m not really ready for another yet.  Plus, I didn’t get an autumn, which is when I thrive.  We went straight from summer to winter in mid-September, so it’s going to be another long one.  I would mind it less if it didn’t get so cold.  Snow I like.  What I don’t like is when it gets too cold to snow, lol.

1 hour ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

But rain can be beautiful too, I actually love watching the rain, and smell those geosmin substance produce by bacteria, mmmm freshhh.

I think there’s a word for that smell... petrichor?