Allergy Alert:Need Freeper Advice On Seasonal Allergies (Dyin Over Here)

My Nose,My Throat | 5-7-05 | my favorite headache

[My Favorite Headache]

I never thought I would be doing a vanity on this but here it goes.

I am interested in knowing how people cope with Spring allergies. I have never had them until this year apparently. I have had a sore throat now going into day 18,I have seen the doctor twice where once gave me Ketex and decongestion meds and those did nothing,so they ruled out the common cold or flu or any bacterial infection.

My throat is still red,I still am congested,I have regular acid reflux (gerd) to be exact so when I sleep at night all of the congestion and post-nasal drip about drowns me. I am miserable to say the least.

I feel physically fine half of the day and then all of a sudden it feels like I have zero energy. I wake up and my eyes are dry as can be. So I went back to the doctors yesterday and they believe it is really bad allergies and want to put me on some kind of steroids which I am not crazy about. I usually stick to eastern medicine i.e. acupuncture and that sort of thing but even that is not working. My blood work came back fine so I know it is not anything serious of nature causing it.

I just need some kind of relief and remedy as I have never had Spring or any kind of airborne allergy. Supposedly the Pollen and Oak count is the highest its ever been in Central Florida mainly due to the 3 hurricanes that came through my town this year and what it did to the trees,everglades,and ocean air flow.

HELP! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Hot Tabasco]

I am interested in knowing how people cope with Spring allergies.

I use nasal plugs which are actually those spongy earplug things. You roll them in your fingers then put them up your nose and once expanded, they block any pollen and stuff from entering your sinuses.

You won't be able to smell flowers and things but at least you wont be sneezing anymore.

Word of caution, they should be replaced every 7 days or so. Good luck and let us know how they work out!

[reformedliberal]

This has been a terrible year for pollen/mold allergies even up here in Wisconsin, at least for me.

For eyes: try TheraTears eye drops. They have no drug in them, but they are a gel that stays in the eyes and really helps with the irritation. I have not been able to wear contacts during the day and usually for only 4 hrs or so at night for a couple of months. The TheraTears at night and often throughout the day often allow me to wear them them earlier and for longer.

People are correct about keeping your hair clean. Even if you don't have the ability to take 2-3 showers a day, at least take a damp washcloth and wipe through your hair several times a day. In summer, swimming has been a real relief for me.

Riccola (sp) original herbal cough drops are the only thing I have used that will stop the post nasal drip.

I have started using Mucinex.It is an expectorant in pill form. It thins the secretions, makes them less choking and helps bring up whatever gets down into the lungs.

I try to sleep in a semi-raised position (which I hate) to limit the amount of secretion going down into my lungs. Recliners are good for this. They are more comfortable than a couple of extra pillow, for me.

Lots and lots of water. I can drink more of La Croix carbonated lime flavored water than plain water and so I do.

I have increased my ingestion of hot sauce and horseradish. It helps. It seems to stop the mucus drainage down the back of the throat for several hours. I have been taking the hot sauce on celery sticks or I mix horseradish with something bland like sour cream and put that on celery.

Antihistamines help some. I have tried everything and am now using a generic that is to be taken every 4-6 hours. That way, some days I can lessen my intake. They dry your eyes out, which is counterproductive for me.

Windy days seem to be the worse. I read an article that stated that 25% of airborne particles are animal or human dander or skin debris. I have begun to wonder just what is in the air. It may not even be something local. I know my screens are full of dust and other debris and seem to need to be cleaned more often than in the past.

When all else fails, I retreat to an area w/filtered airconditioning. I also have been using those electrostatic dusters that remove the dust instead of just moving it around. Clean the air conditioner filter often.

I work with wool and have stopped using raw wool totally, as it is full of dust, mold and who-knows-what. Even with clean wool, the air is full of particles. I keep a dust mask handy and will use that if I have to be in the fiber area more than a few hours at a time. I take breaks, wipe off my hair and try to work around the problems.

You have my sympathy, FWIW. People without these problems have no idea how they sap your energy and just how miserable they really are.

[reformedliberal]

I was told that some people have them as children, as I did. Then, in your 20s-50s, they seem to lessen or go away. I know that for 20 years or so, I never had to take anything at all.
Then, in your 60s, they can come back and be worse than the childhood form. The same is true for some forms of asthma, or so I have been told.

The past 3 summers I have also had fungal ear infections from swimming, something I recall from childhood, but had not experienced for decades, even though I would scuba, snorkel and swim a lot in summer.

Mine have become really vicious in the past 5 years. I had a slight cold in 2000 and then took a 30-hr plane trip to the Pacific. This, of course, made everything worse and I ended up with a raging sinus infection. It took 3 months to clear that up, but the past few years allergy seasons have been the worst I have ever experienced and this year is the worst of all.

I agree with preemption.

[mewzilla]

The saline spray is a great idea! I'll second that :) In addition to thinning the nasal secretions, it'll also help wash out anything in your nose, like pollen, that might be provoking an allergic reaction. I wouldn't worry about the steroids if it's a steroidal nasal spray you're using, you won't turn into Mark McGuire :) Good luck.

[B.Bumbleberry]

You've probably got more advice than you ever wanted, but here's my two cents from someone who developed allergies later in life, coupled with chronic sinus infections and an onset of asthma, which is a progession of allergies. I've had sinus operations and shots, all to no long-term avail. Of course everyone's different, and my experience may be useless for you, but it will be inexpensive and harmless to try it.

Here's what has helped more than anything: during the times that you become congested start taking generic Sudafed morning and night, along with Mucinex. Do this very faithfully, during the whole season. You can do this for weeks or months with no serious side effects.

The Mucinex seems to be the key. Taking Mucinex, which increases mucus, seems counterintuitive when you are already producing a lot of drainage, but I think it has something to do with moisturizing and soothing inflamed tissue that is causing your immune system to charge up mucus membranes to overproduce, but who knows. Use only Mucinex. You can get a generic version, but Mucinex is time released.

None of the above actually treats the allergy itself, just helps control the symptoms, which are worse than the allergy.

For the allergy, I find Flonase as helpful as anything. Sometimes when I get really bad, I take generic claritin. In my eyes, I occasionally use Naphcon A. The key here is to only use these medications for a few days, and only when the allergies are raging. I think the body becomes used to these remedies, and their effectiveness wanes, then when you go off of them, the allergy becomes worse. Plus, they dry out your mucus membranes, which traps mucus and intensifies congestion. So try to do without the antihistimines when you can.

If you are stilll having allergic flareups that you can't live with, find a good doctor who can get you hooked up with a nubulized steroid. You can use a nebulizer for a month with none of the risk of taking prednisone internally. This should get your system calmed down. Then keep it calmed down with the above self treatment.

That's it. Good luck.

[Kieri]

I have to take a 24-hour Claritin-D first thing every morning or I get screaming sinus headaches behind my eyes. I do have to take a break every week or so or I get a sore throat that feels a lot like heartburn.

I live in Michigan and my allergies are giving me absolute hell right now. I woke up with a nasty headache this morning and know that sneezing isn't far behind. The Claritin HAS to have the decongestant in it or it won't work.

[mhking]

A clove or two of garlic (cut 'em up into more manageable size) just before you go to bed will help, as it's a natural antibiotic.

A few years ago, I had a major sinus infection tied to my allergies, and ended up on a combination of Congestac & Allegra. Finally backed off of the Allegra since it was so damn expensive and such a pain to get constant refills, and found that the Congestac worked wonders by itself for the allergy, plus Advil Migraine for the pain (my allergies trigger my migraines, which, as I'm sure you can imagine, makes springtime miserable for me).

The active ingredient in Congestac is Guaifenesin, which works on mucus. How that relates to clearing your head, I'm not sure, but I know it works. Congestac isn't available in a lot of the chain drug stores, which leaves me looking at other Guaifenesin-based products, most recently Mucinex.

Like I said, I don't know WHY it works, but it works.

Good luck, and let me know how it works out.

[B.Bumbleberry]

Mucinex ping. See my post just ahead of yours.

[savedbygrace]

For the long term, find a local RAW honey producer and take 1-2 teaspoons daily.

The key is to make sure he is selling local honey. I know you wrote "local honey producer" which covers it, but sometimes the local honey seller will look like a local honey producer, but he is also selling honey from two States over or someplace.

[hummingbird]

Thanks, ConservativeMind. I need to subscribe to CR online (don't need any more magazines in the house!) and I will bookmark ConsumerLab.com.

I suspected this mercury gambit was part of the sales pitch so thanks for your info.

[Wombat101]

Don't know if anyoneposted this yet, but have you tried a daily bowl of oatmeal? Oatmeal is a natural anti-histamine.

I never knew jusy how powerful the stuff was vis-a-vis allergies. Use to do a lot of hiking and camping and, of couse, oatmeal was always on the menu every morning because it was easy to make and didn't take up a lot of space in your backpack.

I always suffered from horrendous hay fever, but I never had a problem when hiking. Turns out the oatmeal did the trick. Also warded off the poison ivy/oak, believe it or not.

Hope this helps....

[Ditter]

Life long allergy sufferer here, reporting for duty sir, or madam. One steroid shot a year won't hurt you and might get you past this discomfort. After you get over it allergy testing is in order. It is a bother but not painful. You may have developed some allergies to things in your house (dust, feathers, cats) and that is the reason it is not going away, or to things you are eating. You need to know what is causing it so you can avoid it. If it is spring pollen it will go away........ until next spring.

[hummingbird]

"...The research is published in the journal Gut...."

LOL...How could you possibly be making it up....it has been published in GUT, for Heaven's sake!

Very interesting research...photo is kind of icky. Maybe if you just don't think about it, ingestion would be easier....

Thanks, R!

[Crawdad]

I was like you until 1991, when I got a cortizone shot. Three hours later, the symptoms disappeared and have never come back.

[hummingbird]

...or I get a sore throat that feels a lot like heartburn.

You might want to get an ENT doctor to check you out for acid reflux what with the heartburn feeling. You might be reacting to the Claritin-D or to the reaction of C-D's effects. It might be totally unrelated to Claritin-D, but that heartburn feeling could signify GERD. Best wishes!

[NonValueAdded]

MFH, you too??? Maybe it is the Brevard crud. Day 12 for me. I already take Zyrtex for my allergies. I've found it to be the most effective allergy medicine. You will need an Rx. Sinuglair is another approach your doc might use. I learned about it for asthma but it's now indicated for allergies. Ketex seems to be making a difference for me, though.

Standard advice: push fluids, saline spray if the nose gets too dry, Prilosec for the reflux, keep the airconditioner on, change its filter.

[society-by-contract]

neti nasal douche
I use my Neti pot about once a week and don't even sneeze anymore.

[Rockingham]

My joke miscarried. The source is impeccable, of course, and I was borrowing the line Dave Barry customarily used when he took an odd but true news story and made it the basis for a wild parody.

[hummingbird]

Mucinex has worked very well for me, too. Mucinex used to be prescription. Guess insurance companies were losing out on that one so it suddenly became OTC.

Wonder if there is a generic that is just as efficacious? Not only do I have allergies, but I'm cheap, too!

[hummingbird]

LOL...I think MY reply miscarried! I understood you, R. I love reading Dave Barry so I got the connection.

Read the other day that his wife is a sports' writer...don't know who she is but apparently she's the "smart" one in the house, at least sports-wise!