Et tu, Alavert? #Life #ooo pretty

I remember always getting a stuffy nose whenever my family went on a trip. It's only in the past year or so that I finally realized it was probably allergies. To what, I'm not sure. At my grandma's farm, it might have been a problem with mold; but I had problems visiting my other grandparents in Phoenix, and mold certainly wasn't an issue there. Never a huge issue (except a few times in Arizona when the combination of dry air and Kleenex overuse led to nosebleeds), but an irritation.

(And no, I'm pretty sure it's not an allergy to cats. My allergies got neither better nor worse when we started amassing felines.)

It's been getting a bit worse over the past year or so — mostly a stuffy nose, but enough to be annoying. First I tried Claritin (not much effect), and then Jennie picked up some Alavert, which works fairly well (and has the added bonus that you can just let it dissolve in your mouth, so you don't need to go find water to take it with — makes it great for on-the-go usage). I can go weeks without needing to take any, but my allergies have been acting up again the past few days, so I've been taking it whenever I remember to.

Well, I took my first Ritalin this morning. And since it's a stimulant, the doctor said I should cut caffeine from my diet, lest I get the "too much coffee" jitters. So I won't be surprised if I get a withdrawal migraine today without my daily 56 ounces of Coke. I'll try to stick it out, so I don't screw with the Ritalin's effects too much... but if I desperately need a fix, there's already a mostly-full 24-pack in my cube. (grin)

He also said that non-drowsy allergy meds can cause problems. He wasn't specifically familiar with Alavert, but said I should probably avoid it. I called the Walgreen's pharmacy this morning, and they confirmed that it can cause problems with Ritalin.

So, not only am I without caffeine, but I have a stuffy nose. How exciting.

On the plus side, the doctor did say that Ritalin does have a bit of an antihistamine effect. But with the low dosage I'm starting at, I don't really expect to see much help from that for a while yet.

I'm just hoping the tradeoffs turn out to be worth it. Stay tuned. (I know I will.)

Oh, and I've created a new blog category: Ooo pretty.