YA....YA...YA-CHOOOOEEE! Whew!

I consider myself an extreme allergy sufferer. Make that an extreme seasonal allergy sufferer. Extreme enough that in the past, I have been forced to leave or miss work because of allergic reactions. Extreme in the fact that I am sure I have taken WELL in excess of my own body weight in hay fever medications.

I've also been vaguely aware that an excessive amount of sugar in my diet during those spring/summer months will cause an especially severe reaction. During my youth, I thought I was allergic to chocolate, because every time I ate it during allergy season, I would go CRAZY. My eyes would pour forth tears and my nose would leak so bad that I would stuff tissues up my nostrils, only to replace the soggy mess with more tissues in 5 minutes.

After my mission, the allergies took a very strange turn. Instead of watery eyes and such, I would ITCH. Insanely. So badly that I missed even more work because the doctors were mystified at this strange condition. Turns out I had developed Chronic Urticaria, which was treated VERY effectively with Hydroxizine Hydrochloride. Turns out it is also higly effective on hayfever...and some forms of psychosis. Seriously. Anyhoo, I digress.

I also have to steer clear of certain foods during those months, or my throat swells and breathing becomes a little labored. Foods like watermelon, cantaloupe, corn-on-the-cob, and avocados.

So last spring I decided to do something about it. I went to an allergist just to get an idea of the exact things that cause my allergies. The nurse poked my back with about 60 needles that were loaded with various pollens and food concentrations. And gee, surprise of all surprises, my back lit up like a Christmas Tree. The doctor told me that unless I was willing to undergo some seriously intense Gene Therapy treatments, I would be forced to continue treating my hay fever like every other person in the world. I didn't like that. I wanted a PERMANENT solution to the problem that I'd suffered with for 33 years.

I put a LOT of thought into it myself and decided to try a sugar fast. I'm not sure where I encountered the idea or notion, but I decided to stay away from sugar for 30 days. By 'sugar' I mean things like candy, cookies, ice cream, cake, etc. I continued to eat things with natural sugar in them like fruits, honey, etc. The results?

Not a sniffle.
Not a sneeze.
Not a single teary eye.
Not a single drop from my nose.

So I'm in the middle of my sugar fast for 2008. It's going well, except for those crazy days where the dust is so thick in the valley that you can't see the mountains. But that might have something to do with those Whoppers I had the other day....