MY ANOSMATIC LIFE

It’s been well over 65 days since I’ve been staying inside my apartment. I’m totally losing track of the days. Despite states reopening, I’m still remaining very distant, staying in, and working within these four walls -thankful for being able to do them all. Being home all the time as an anosmic ambivert has been full of video chats with family and friends, webinars, routines, binge-watching documentaries and shows, reading, journaling, and cooking.

I’m cooking more than ever for myself, almost every single day. That means I’m being extra careful in the kitchen and triple-checking that things are shut off and putting that microwave fan on to not sound off the fire alarm. I made a routine to mainly make my meals for the day in the morning so I don’t have to make multiple trips to the kitchen. Of course, I still barely taste my food. But it sure does look good! Someone told me I should share my recipes (ha!). I am contemplating it but won’t even attempt to share measurements because I just dump ingredients in my food. But here are some pictures of the food I’ve been cooking over these past couple of months.

Cooking is definitely therapeutic, especially right now with everything going on in the world.  Everything feels like complete chaos.  Other than cooking, I have been taking the time to ease my mind of all this ridiculousness and sadness happening by practicing more self-care. I’ve been journaling, doing some gentle yoga, meditating either daily or nightly and it’s been amazing. Plant therapy with my 27 plant babies has also been the absolute best. I have a little routine going on. Time alone isn’t so bad. But of course, everything didn’t start off right.

When the lockdown went into effect, my allergies were absolutely out of control because I stopped getting my allergy shots. I tried going in the middle of a pandemic but my anxiety got the best of me with folks coming in at the same time. Yes, they told me that I could wait in my car, but that still does not stop folks from coming in without a mask while I’m getting my shot and have to walk out.

To help manage my allergies, I recently purchased some Xyzal that my allergist recommended. It’s working some magic during the day and keeps me asleep at night. I’m no longer having daytime sneeze fests and itching.  I was a little hesitant to take it after reading some horror stories online. You know there’s a side effect to almost everything and those were a little scary too.  But so far, so good.  I did have one crazy dream that the 911 buzz on my phone went off the other night. It felt so real and loud that I jumped up to check my phone. Let’s hope I don’t experience another one of those. My record of side effects is no good. I need Xyzal to work for me. Benadryl puts me in walking zombie mode if I take it during the day and Zyrtec no longer works.

On top of my allergies, my asthma was out of control as well. Like I was wheezing every day in March and early April and had to use my breathing machine aka nebulizer. Now, it’s under control. I have to take Symbiort twice a day to help manage it. I sure do plan to impress my allergist and knock the spirometry (breathing test) out of the park during my next check-up up whenever that will be. My breathing is so much better and deeper.

There’s nothing like being an anosmic with asthma and allergies in the middle of a pandemic and Spring. But I’m grateful for another day. I hope you’ve been taking the time to take care of yourself too as best as you can and still staying safe when you go out. Together, we can defeat coronavirus by continuing to practice social distancing.