*cough *cough* *wheeze* *sniff*

Random Thought Of The Day: I like that song "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse, but does it really have to be on VH1 every time I flip through the channels? If that video isn't on, then Screech is on Fit Club acting a damn fool.

Just when I thought I had reached my weird occurrence quota, something else popped up. I recently became allergic to my crib. I have had allergies before when I was a teenager, but until last year I thought I was cured. Last year was really messed up, I hope it don't go down like that again. Here is a recap of my weeklong struggle with my allergies.

Day 1: After another long night of not sleeping, I noticed that I started coughing, sneezing, wheezing and I had a runny nose. I figured that it was just a little cold. I proactively went to Walgreens and got some cold medicine thinking that it was just a temporary thing. I took the medicine and felt better.

Day 2: I was in Savannah for the night and didn't have any symptoms so I thought I was all better.

Day 3: I came back home and within 5 minutes of being in the crib, I started wheezing and itching. Then came the black lung cough. I figured it was allergies and took some more medicine. I didn't get any better this time though. I was up all night coughing.

Day 4: I was still coughing in the early afternoon after getting a couple of hours of sleep. I went to work and noticed about half way there, I was no longer coughing. That led me to believe that I was allergic to something in the house. Could it be a result of the dusting from a couple of days ago? Could it be the guinea pigs I am looking after while my sister and her kids are in Savannah for a couple of weeks? I decided after doing some internet searching at work that it was mold. Not just any mold, toxic mold. I know that was an extreme diagnosis, but I did have reason to suspect it. There was a flood in the apartment directly above mine which seeped downstairs and left an ugly brown stain on the ceiling. But that was many months ago and if I was going to have mold, then it would have manifested long ago. Regardless of that, I decided that somewhere in the house there was mold and when I got home from work, I went on mad hunt to find it.

Day 5: I checked all the areas that mold is likely to grow, but I didn't find any. So, I emptied out a can of Lysol disinfectant all over the apartment trying to kill whatever hidden germs and irritants that were making me sick. Again, I was only ill at home. When I was in the car or at work, or at my mom's house, I had no problem. It was only home sweet home that gave me respiratory distress. It was probably psychosomatic, but after spraying down just about every surface in sight, I felt better. I even got a good night's sleep.

Day 6: I woke up feeling pretty good, but by the time I went to work, my allergies were back. This time in addition to the coughing fits and near asthma attacks, my eyes were red and swollen. Good thing I have glasses now, because if I was rocking my contacts, they would have fallen out from all the excess tears I had. I went back on the internet trying to find out what could be the problem. I found a webmd article about indoor allergies and that just made me even sicker. Every thing I read about that causes allergies was just plain nasty. Like pet dander. I found out that its not the fur like I thought that causes it but, urine drying on the pets skin that breaks off and gets in the air. I wanted to put Speedy and Mane (the guinea pigs) outside and let them fend for themselves. Then I read about cockroach debris. And yes it is just as nasty as it sounds. There are dried up dead roach carcasses in the air that we breathe and it supposedly very common in the South, even if you don't see them. At that point, I decided not to read any further because it was creeping me out. I didn't want to know what else is in the air.

Day 7: This is today. I read some more about how to control indoor allergies. I am right now in the process of washing every piece of clothing in the house. They also suggested that I open the windows for at least an hour to let some of the allergens out. That worked well for about 30 minutes until the Mexicans decided to start cutting the grass at 8AM and blew grass and dirt through the window. It seems to be working at least temporarily. I haven't coughed in 6 minutes, so that's a start. I also have to get a new vacuum because apparently my old hand me down only blows the allergens back into the air, so I have to get a specific type of vacuum to get everything out of the carpet and couches. And if none of this works, I might just have to burn this mutha down and start over somewhere else.