Nose wipes, allergy meds, perfectly drawn cup of water, what appears to be a Madkatz controller. Made by me in Paint
Whenever I suffer from an allergy attack and have to take medication I know my focus and attention aren't going to be 'all there', because the motto of almost every allergy medication is "You can't suffer from allergies when you're in a coma!", sleeping it off is a huge waste of time and the day will practically be over once I wake up. I like to keep active and playing a game checks off that list as it is stimulating enough to help combat the sleep and it offers a great distraction from the allergies. Though because of the medication I know I won't have the attention span to play something too in depth. So what are my options?
Single player are easy to hop in, play for an hour or so and if I am feeling better and more coherent afterwards I'll switch to a more interactive thing. But that first hour after taking medication I feel absolutely exhausted from the allergies and medication beginning their battle to win and I am sometimes forced to lay down. This is where I'll turn on my Switch and do some solo hunting in Monster Hunter Rise or catch some critters in Pokemon.
Monster Hunter Rise. Gunlance makes solo hunts easier.
Pokemon Shield. I chose some interesting nicknames for my pokemon.
The ability to pause the game whenever is such a huge factor whenever the itching and tingling feeling reaches absurd levels across my face and I just need to stop and wait for it to pass.
After that initial bout, if I feel slightly better I'll move to my desk and turn on some games that require a minimum amount of concentration to play.
Faerie Solitaire. Lucky or unlucky cards?
Warhammer 40k: Inquisition Martyr. One click and the waves of enemies are gone!
I can just sit back in my chair and click across the screen and feel a slight sense of progression as I match the cards up or slay hordes of enemies. I know the action in these games will prevent me from falling asleep and eventually I will be alert enough to move on to the next set of genre and turn on some action games with match making capabilities.
Rocket League. I often forget to take a photo during gameplay.
Gundam: Evolution. I often take too many photos during gameplay.
I can play without having to worry about too many specifics and there is an excitement that occurs when the timer gets closer to zero and the match is at the tipping point of winning or losing that helps keep me awake and alert. No matter what happens though I can easily hop into another game and start again until the allergies are gone and I can finally move on to other tasks for the day.
So that's how I deal with allergies. I know I SHOULD be resting but the feeling of waking up after suffering and feeling drained from the effects of the allergy medication while realizing the entire day flew by is a horrible feeling. It's like wasting a day and that sucks! So I would rather stay awake feeling dreary for a bit while the medicine works and playing some games rather than wasting a day every time I have allergies. Gaming offers me a chance to fight back against both the pollen and the medication. I'm glad there are many types of games that allow me to play in various states of coherence and feelings of any type.
I think trying to eke out at least one gaming session while not feeling tiptop is worth it. No sickness should keep a gamer down! I hope you enjoyed the post and if you have any comments or stories of similar situations please share them!
Happy Gaming!