Beautiful Nightmare

The blossoms in Albury are In.Credible. Really. They've all started to fall off now to make room for the luscious greenery of early summer but there are still enough around to be gorgeous. Last week I even had the beautiful experience of eating my lunch in the botanical gardens sitting on my quilt underneath a blossom filled tree as the petal softly fell around me. There is nothing like it. It's like a little bit of heaven.

BUT. They kill me. I have had the worst hay fever I think I've ever had this spring. It almost didn't exist for the 2 weeks I was in Adelaide so I know it is all the pollens here (and quite possibly the dust from the farms that are not too far away...) and I'm devastated. Spring is practically ruined by itching, headaches, raw throats, blocked sinuses and a constant pile of soggy tissues. It looks so pretty. And yet it's making me miserable. How unfair is that!

To add to the hay fever symptoms I took some over the counter hay fever tablets thinking they would make me feel better. Instead they took away some of the itchiness (but not all!) and added the kind of dry throat that makes it painful to swallow. The non-drowsy ones made me sleepy (imagine if I'd take the drowsy ones!) and I had even worse headaches. Not pleased at all, and feeling quite the pill popper, I spoke to my Chiropractor and the loveliest lady at the health food store about alternatives to chemicals that weren't doing anything useful anyway.

Here's what I'm doing to manage it:

~ I've cut down (not out!) dairy and grains. Salad anyone??!

~ I'm taking a garlic, horseradish, fenugreek and histidine tablet up to 4 times a day as I need it. It's all natural (and probably has more than those things in it) so my body just gets rid of what it doesn't use instead of building it up like chemical tablets do.

~ I'm drinking many many cups of fenugreek tea. An acquired taste but super effective.

And I feel so much better! I still have a bit of itchiness and stuffiness, especially in the morning but the tablets and the tea work wonders and don't have any side effects. I also feel better knowing only natural things are going into my body. I wish I had NO hay fever but I guess it has taught me to understand my body a little more and appreciate that while nature is attacking me in one way it also has the remedy for me.

I can see the beauty in that too so maybe Spring isn't so bad after all!

{Both pictures and textures by me}