Austin is one of the worst places in the country for allergies. I never had allergies until I moved to Austin. Oh, I got the occasional sniffle when I hugged my cat, but that was it.
I grew up in Maine, a place with wonderfully clean air. When I moved to Austin for graduate school, my lung function dropped 10%, I started having sinus issues, and I cultured pseudomonas aeruginosa for the first time. My CF doctor even suggested I quit grad school and move away (which I refused to do and I now see a different CF doctor).
After graduate school, I moved to Boston for a job. My lung function went back up 10%. However, I was miserable and missed Austin(oh yeah, and Greg was still here getting his PhD). So I moved back. And my lung function went back down 10% and my sinuses started killing me again.
It’s been five years since I moved back to Austin. Why did I wait this long to be tested? Because I've heard allergy shots only work about 30% of the time, and they are time-consuming. Free time is something a CFer doesn't just doesn't have. But my allergies have gotten so bad lately (night sweats, body aches, headaches), that I finally caved..
So today I had my back pricked with 48 different allergens. It turns out I am very allergic to dust mites, and pretty darn allergies to cats, cedar, juniper, and molds. The allergist prescribed me a new nasal spray and wants me to switch from Allegra to Zyrtec. He also wants me to begin allergy shots.
When I told the allergist that I am TTC, he asked, "Soooo, what do you think yours odds are of conceiving quickly?" (he didn't want to begin shots if I would just get PG right away - you can't increase the dosage of the shots while PG, and if we didn't get too far into them before I got PG, the shots would be pointless). I told him we have been TTC for over six months, about CF causing me to have thick CM, and about how we going in for a consult this week. He wants to wait and see what my OB/GYN says on Thursday before deciding to start the shots.
This was all fine, but when he handed me my sheet to checkout, I looked at the items listed under "Diagnosis": Chronic Sinusitis, Cough, Rhinitis, Cystic Fibrosis, and Infertility. That's the first time I've seen that last one. It didn't make me sad, but, at the same time, I felt like he had written it in big letters with a red sharpie across the page.
I had considered myself as "having possible fertility issues," not being infertile. I mean, we've only been TTC for 7 cycles! How could we even know if we are infertile? Seeing that word written by a doctor about me was like punch in the gut.
So that was a bit sucky. But hopefully the new meds will make me feel better!
{disneyland day one}
6 years ago
5 comments:
Why would an allergist include that diagnosis anyway....he shouldn't be collecting money for that diagnosis.....kind of odd if you ask me!
That's totally out of control. Why would he write that? its not like he diagnosed you as infertile. Annoying, i'm sorry! But I'm glad you figured out what your allergic too. I have the dust mite allergy really bad too and found it helps a lot if you buy those allergy covers for my bed and pillows. Also, consider changing your air filters to ones for allergies. These all made a bid difference for me. There are a lot of products available online. HTH
He can't diagnosis you for that and shouldn't put that as your diagnosis. As you are aware, you'll find out answers to that kind of diagnosis on Thursday. I would call and have that removed. Like pp said, he can't collect on that diagnosis and that could screw up future insurance issues. Liek you said, 7 cycles doesn't mean you are infertile either, many women take a long time.
I'm glad to hear that you're on your way to getting your allergies in check, my brother deals with weekly shots, it's a pain but he feels so much better for it! Goodluck
WHOA! I had no idea that an allergist could diagnose a reproductive issue--especially without some sort of exam! WTF?
Wow...I think that allergist was totally over the line. I wish you all the luck in trying to conceive and I'm sure you will, and if you want to try an all natural medicine for your rhinitus,sinus etc..try an all natural capsaicin based sinus spray. I try to use all natural medicines whenever I can. I prefer Sinol over others, and sometimes use a neti pot. But good luck to you both and get a new allergist.
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