Life with RIA

Growing up, I was sickly with lots of allergies and hypersensitivity to weather changes. I had rhinitis almost everyday and would have fever or flu when the weather changed, especially during the rainy season. Being asthmatic and allergic to a lot of things -- shrimps and crabs, chicken, chocolates, dust, and pollen, among other things -- any minor illness would usually result or snowball into something inconvenient or worse. A simple cough can lead to asthma or can be a symptom of an asthma attack already. Everytime I was sick or suffered from asthma or eczema attacks, my mother would use a combination of synthetic and herbal medication. She would often have soup with malunggay prepared. And for my skin allergies, there was always boiled guava leaves. I had to undergo these herbal medications alongside synthetic drugs such as salbutamol for my asthma, antihistamine and ceterizine for my allergies, and paracetamol for my cough and colds. In college, I developed hypersensitivity to pain relievers and became allergic to it. So now, I am very careful with choosing the kind of medicines I choose. While I can take cough medicines, decongestants and antihistamine, I can't take medicines combined with paracetamol, aspirin,…