Allergy Fatigue is a Thing and I'm Learning That The Hard Way

Winter is officially over and I am thrilled about that. But here's what I'm less thrilled about: The onset of allergy season. Yesterday we had beautiful warm weather for half of the day (before a torrential downpour started, of course), but my son and I both found ourselves unable to fully enjoy the sunshine we'd been waiting for for so long.

I typically only have a day or two of allergy symptoms every year. But when those allergy days hit? Oh man, they hit. I'm miserable for 24-ish hours, with itchy eyes, a super runny nose, headaches, and just a general feeling of…blah. Yesterday I was so confused about what I was feeling and I told my husband I almost felt fluish — I was just so exhausted and lethargic. First I wondered if I was coming down with something viral. And then I decided to hit up my trusty friend Google.

Apparently, allergies can do more than make your eyes itch and your nose run. According to material from the Cleveland Clinic, allergy fatigue is a real thing. Your immune system is working overtime to respond to those allergens, and that can cause that sense of exhaustion. It's not surprising that I, like so many others, struggle to distinguish allergy symptoms from cold and flu symptoms. According to the material, your body produces cytokines, which are proteins released by the immune system, when dealing with allergies, just like it does when you're fighting off a cold, a virus, or bacteria.

As exhausted as I felt yesterday, I've also been sleeping poorly because of the discomfort of it all. That's the frustrating catch 22 of it all: It's hard to sleep when your nose is runny, yet your body is craving rest even more than usual. Brain fog is also a thing that happens, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Can confirm.

I'm new to the allergy game, so I am still learning how to manage my symptoms (and like I said, I rarely experience allergies and hope it stays that way), but if you're dealing with them, be sure to chat with a doctor to devise a plan that can work for you.