Pollen - sick in Charlotte, NC

I have traveled as an outside sales rep - multiple state territory and quite often for almost 14 years. I have never been sick until I got to Charlotte, NC this week - this pollen has slapped me hard and I might be calling in sick tomorrow and hanging out at a Holiday Inn.

Never got the flu or anything until I got slapped hard this week. Has anybody else survived being sick and living in a hotel room?

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/pendulum/issues/2004/5_6/news/pinkeye.xhtml

Charlotte ranks #4 on worst city for pollen according to the list in the link above.

I had food poisoning on a business trip in CA once. Worst part was, we were on a vehicle evaluation trip on mountain roads with about 5 cars. Drive a loop, switch cars, drive a loop, switch cars.... It was not a fun trip.

It's actually the stuff you can't see that causes the allergies. And it might actually get worse a few hours after it rains. Seems that when the rain knocks it out of the air, the plants respond by pumping out more pollen.

Sine_Qua_Non wrote: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/pendulum/issues/2004/5_6/news/pinkeye.xhtml Charlotte ranks #4 on worst city for pollen according to the list in the link above.

We're #1!

berkeleying_dying for the last three days, and I don't normally have problems with allergies. Claritin makes me sick to my stomach and sleepy. Benadryl and sudafed don't do berkeley all. Dayquil + expectorant are getting me through the day. Copious amounts of whiskey at night. It's berkeleying horrible. Best of luck. I feel your pain.

Dang! We're listed between 15-20 and it's killin' me. I've had a constant severe headache, daily bloody nose issues, and crappy sleep for the past week. I'm gonna vote for the poopshovel method tonight and see if I can get a decent night's sleep...where's that Bourbon thread?

I've had horrible allergies most of my life. Reactine works better than either Sudafed or Benadryl. As a horse owner, I'm often at a farm fully of hairy, smelly critters that live in barns full of hay. Can't get much worse than that - and I used to look after farms when I worked with horses full-time. Here's a tip that's worked better for me than anything. Get yourself one of those "nasal irrigation" bottles from the drug store. They generally come with some pre-mixed saline, but a teaspoon of sea salt from the bulk store, mixed with water works just as well. It will flush most of the irritating pollen out of your sinuses – and it relieves the itching, burning and swelling.

Think of it more like dust, clogging your eyes and lungs and causing an allergic reaction in some.

I'm ~100 miles south of Charlotte and it's damn miserable down here too. Everything is coated with yellow pine tree joy juice. I'm not susceptible to it myself, but the kid's not feeling well at all.

Secretariata wrote: Dang! We're listed between 15-20 and it's killin' me. I've had a constant severe headache, daily bloody nose issues, and crappy sleep for the past week. I'm gonna vote for the poopshovel method tonight and see if I can get a decent night's sleep...where's that Bourbon thread?

Have I introduced you to my good friend Evan?

Houston is not good right now. I've had a bad week. Benedryl is the most effective thing but it hits me like a hammer.
I did get sick while working on the road once. We were processing data out of the back of a semi trailer (long story) and there was no bathroom. If you had to go you had to drive 4 miles down the road to the pizza place or 12 miles to the hotel. I had an intestinal issue and 4 miles was too far and 12 was way way too far. Sat in my hotel for two days until I was empty. Boss was pissed but what could I do? If you're sick, you're sick, geography doesn't matter much.

Pollen? I am still waiting for buds on the trees and the last of the snow to melt. I actually want the grass to grow for once. Tired of winter.

Secretariata wrote: Dang! We're listed between 15-20 and it's killin' me. I've had a constant severe headache, daily bloody nose issues, and crappy sleep for the past week. I'm gonna vote for the poopshovel method tonight and see if I can get a decent night's sleep...where's that Bourbon thread?

That 15-20 is looking good right now. The pollen count for Atlanta today was 4121 and the stuff you can actually see has barely started.

I dunno, on the south side today it was blowing around like a dust storm. My black dog (an indoor pet, mind you) was nearly completely color changed to yellow after about 15 minutes outside. I'm lucky I don't have allergies, but I want to be able to ride with the top down without choking on tree sperm...

goddamn tree sex is messy my black car turns yellow every morning

My car is now green with a little bit of black showing thru.

The worst part is taking a sick day and spending it at a Holiday Inn 750+ miles from home.

Here in Ft.Lauderdale we generally have very clean air. No real dirty industry, prevailing winds off the Atlantic, etc., so I kind of chuckled at these stories. Then I checked what the air ratings were here and was surprised that we have a lot of that crap too. Not as bad as Atlanta, but still rated high.

So as it turns out, plants in Florida are doin' it too?

I'm starting to think maybe this is not allergy related and is just a really nasty cold. Congestion is all up in my chest now. I've got that gnarly death-rattle cough.

At allergies dr right now. F u E36 M3 that grows. Curl up and die.

poopshovel wrote: Have I introduced you to my good friend Evan?

Yes, and I thank you! Had some of the green label mixed with cola and got a good night's sleep. Miserable again today, but got a solid 6 hours of sleep last night.

Supposed to rain tonight, hope it does and knocks down the tree goo for a few hours.

Datsun310Guy wrote: The worst part is taking a sick day and spending it at a Holiday Inn 750+ miles from home.

Yeah, that would be pretty crappy. Hope you either feel better or get home soon!

Yay for steroid inhalers