Dry, desert allergies attack

When I was 15 I was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. I have an emergency inhaler and a daily inhaler and my asthma is under control.
Many people who have asthma have allergies or vice versa.
When I was 19 I was diagnosed with environmental allergies. (That was a tough semester in school as I couldn’t stay up past 9 most nights. I saw the beginning of a lot of movies but missed the end of most.)
For many years I have taken Zyrtec, which for the most part has kept my allergies manageable.
I was 23 when I left Tucson (Arizona) where I was born and raised.
After leaving I went back regularly to visit home.
One visit I had about three years after leaving Arizona was the worst allergy attack I’ve ever had … still to this day. I had a terrible cough, I could hardly breathe, my head felt 10 times as big as it actually was, I could hardly hear, I was so congested. It was awful. I was miserable.
Allergies regularly make me tired and wear me out. Most of the time I have a little congestion, some sneezing …
When living in Arizona (I moved back a second time for 3 ¹⁄₂ years in my late 20s), summer was the worst time for allergies. For many, it is the best time. But for some reason it was the worst for me.
I was in Arizona last month and had a minor allergy attack. I had some congestion and a super dry nose. My nose was dry for a month.
Things finally got back to normal and then we went to Las Vegas.
At first it was just the sneezing, congestion and super dry nose, which sucks, but I can handle. Well, the allergies got worse and by Sunday I had a little bit of a cough, a scratchy throat, I could feel it in my eyes and was just wiped out.
Ugh. By Sunday evening I was actually looking forward to the cold and rain again. I can’t believe that. But if it means these allergies will clear up soon, then great.
I have known people who have had asthma attacks in drier climates when they visit from other places.
I feel a lot better this afternoon.
Years ago my doctor at the time told me that when we live somewhere for a period of time your body becomes immune to the allergies to a point. If you leave and come back … well, that’s when the attacks can happen.
I tried to see if I could find something specifically to that online and didn’t.
But I did find a transcript of an interview with Dr. Pramod Kelkar, a board-certified, practicing allergist from Minnesota St. Paul and founder of the National Cough Clinic and chair of the Metro Asthma Coalition, that mentions adults developing allergies to dogs and cats later in life, which happened to a friend of mine.
Dr. Kelkar said, scientifically speaking, there are some things we do understand and some things that are still unclear. This is one that is not yet completely clear. One of things we understand scientifically is that allergies can manifest at any point in life. Also, there are quite a few people in whom allergies may have started early in life, but the symptoms may not have been bad enough that they noticed them or they remember them.
At the airport yesterday I decided I needed some Benadryl to help with this attack.
I woke up this morning pretty tired. But I’m slowly starting to feel better.
Next time I will be better prepared for an allergy attack, especially when visiting the desert.