Brace Yourself…It’s Allergy Season

I have never had allergies. Pretty sure that I was the only one in my family that didn’t. My dad is allergic to dust. Which is everywhere so not quite sure how he deals with that! And like my husband, he reacts when grass is being cut. My sister on the other hand, was allergic to so much. Dogs, cats, horses, trees, grass and the typical seasonal allergies. Needless to say, we never had any pets growing up.

Besides seeing them pop a Reactine almost daily, I never knew anything first hand about allergies at all, and when I became a mom, I was nervous that my kids would have some sort of reaction to something. Besides my oldest having an adverse reaction to Penicillin, neither of my kids were allergic to anything. Until now.

Z woke up the other morning and his eye was quite pink. He said it was bothering him and he kept rubbing it. After close examination we realized it wasn’t pink eye (thank god), but we weren’t quite sure what it could be. Maybe something was in it, or he scratched it. Who knew? We decided he was okay, sent him off to school and that’s that.

But when he came home it was still pink and his eyelid was getting red too. He was rubbing it and saying it was a bit itchy. His other eye was fine so it was a bit odd for me to know what it was. With me not ever being an allergy sufferer, I had no idea what to look out for.

And then the sneezing started. And the sniffing. Was he getting a cold? He’s never had irritation of his eyes with a cold. And then I had the “ah-huh!” moment. Nothing could explain what it could be besides it being an allergy. It came out of nowhere (which now I realize is how it happens), and I needed to get on it.

By the time I figured out that it likely was an allergy, it was Saturday night at 9pm. Made a quick call to my brother in law who is a doctor, told him what I think and asked what I needed to get. He gave me two suggestions and out I went to the nearest “Open till 10pm” Shoppers Drug Mart.

Since I knew the name Reactine over any other allergy medicine out there, I purchased Reactine Children’s Liquid. Got home, gave him the dose and he went to bed.

When he woke up in the morning, his eye was so much better. It was still not 100% and he was still sneezing alot, so we gave him another dose that day too. By the third day his eye was completely normal. He still had minor sniffing and sneezing, so he kept taking his daily dose. I guess the good thing about this is that we can give it to him daily without worry.

I know it is allergy season but now we have to determine exactly what it is he’s allergic to. There are so many types of allergies so figuring this out will be interesting. And we have decided that we should get him tested too.

There are so many factors to look for in determining if you or someone you know is having an allergic reaction, so get to know the signs because some can be quite severe.

Some common reactions are: Itchy or water eyes, sneezing, runny nose, scratchy/itchy throat or nose, sinus congestion.

More severe allergic reactions (that likely need immediate medical attention) can be: mouth/throat feels fuzzy/itchy/closing, hoarse, wheezing, hard time swallowing/breathing, dizzy or lightheaded, fainting, nausea, diarrhea, rash or hives.

He also questioned alot why he has it and what exactly allergies are and we tried our best to explain it to him. It’s good to arm your kids with all of the facts so that they can be prepared for what might trigger the allergy(ies). We also thought it was best to tell his teachers so that they can keep a closer eye on him in case anything appears at school.

And now before bed, we know that he needs kleenex next to him on his nightstand for those middle of the night sniffles and sneezes that seem to have started. Poor kid now feels like his mommy….can’t get a decent night’s sleep! 😉

So there you have it. Anyone can get allergies. It can develop in kids anytime and usually by the time they are 10 years old. Luckily I’m an MD and caught it almost right away. And by MD I mean ‘mom doc’ 😉

So parents, brace yourself…cause it’s allergy season!

Do you or your kids have allergies?

xo

D

(This post is not sponsored. I believe in this product and just wanted to share my experience and thoughts with you!)