Reducing My Allergy Symptoms

There was a time when this blog was monopolized by a detailed account of my struggles with environmental allergies. I rewrote training plans, made a complete tour of the antihistamine section at the pharmacy, tried every reader suggestion, avoided running on trigger days and nothing seemed to help. I even went so far as to try allergy shots. Allergies triggered asthma and certain times of the year, I was left feeling rundown, overwhelmed, and frustrated.

The only thing that has ever truly helped was a daily nap. Since I can't nap every day, this bit of information wasn't all that useful in treating them, but it got me thinking about what exactly it was that provided relief. Then, like a light bulb illuminating a dark room, it hit me: Stress.

What did I have to be stressed out about? I found myself asking that same question. Even though my daily life doesn't include children, work, or social stresses, nearly all my stress comes from a place I cannot control. Due to a the thirteen intensive rounds of chemotherapy, my immune system is easily stressed without the usual culprits. Add in daily pollens, dust, and marathon training and my stress levels rise much more quickly than the average person. At the height of my struggles, minor depressive episodes and anxiety also present. From there, things snowball and I enter a perpetual cycle of mounting stress.

I took time to think about why the nap was so refreshing. Deep breathing. Stillness. Relaxation. I needed to find a way to incorporate those aspects into my daily life without having to devote an hour to QT with my couch. I decided to try meditation.

The first time was uncomfortable. Just a few minutes into it, I fidgeted, my thoughts drifted to the things I needed to do next. My body ached in its inactivity and I literally could not sit still.  I tried again the next day, this time setting a timer to keep myself from glancing at the clock. I had several moments free of thoughts, just me and the sound of my breath, in between those moments of noisy thoughts.

I repeated this cycle for a couple of weeks and was finally to find that calm place within myself that could let some of the tension go. Just ten minutes a day, or twice a day if I need it, seems to help. As granola hippie as it sounds, forcing myself to relax has reduced the stress enough that the overwhelmed, frustrated, and exhausted feelings have become manageable. I’m still on a cocktail of expensive medications and use my Neti Pot. But the regular napis not quite the necessity that it has been the last few years.
What do you do to reduce stress? Do you love naps as much as I do?