neti nasal doucheI use my Neti pot about once a week and don't even sneeze anymore.
The prescription nasal sprays worked fine for me. Almost anything in my nose is hyper irritating but they worked OK. Didn't like to take them longer than say 3 months at a time. And, they take some time to build up effectiveness.
Reading up on them and the research around them on the web might clear some anxieties about them though they are not without some risk. They are evidently a lot less hazardous than other types of steroids.
And, as I recall, they didn't render me drowsy.
I think I preferred Beconase more than some other varieties.
Prescription Astelin nasal spray.
I've found pharmacists about as helpful as MD's.
There's a limited number of options.
I tend to rank my oral meds in terms of effectiveness over all and duration in weeks/months of such effectiveness before habituation.
And, I may rank them in terms of drowsiness and how much of their stated period of effectiveness is really effective for me.
And, some combo allergy/sinus/headache meds I try to avoid a lot of because of some risk of blood pressure hazard.
Chlorphenamarine maelete is an old one and tends to be drowsy inducing. I may use it only at night or weekends.
Get an appointment with an honest-to-goodness ALLERGIST asap. Regular docs are typically not up on the latest and greatest strategies for dealing with allergies. You are making yourself unnecessarily miserable with every day you wait to see an allergist who can actually help you.
Re taking the steroids: back in the days when I had horrible allergies (oh, the stories I could tell! I had bronchitis every time I turned around, and ended up with pneumonia once), I got my steroid shot from my doc every spring and was darned glad to have it. The steroids they use now are very low-key, not like the stuff they used to give you that would rot your bones. TAKE the steroid shot. And in terms of a long-term approach to a cure, if your new allergist recommends shots, go for them. I took allergy shots for a period of two years and it was a pain to go in every week ... but they eventually cured my allergies and set me free!
Hie thee to an allergist! :)
ACTIFED, brand name or generic should give you some temporary relief.
Try to sleep in a room with a SHARPER IMAGE QUADRA air purifier.
For long term results, more in the preventive vein, you might want to look into Pycnogenol, the original formula. I have been taking 100 mg twice a day for a few years, and my allergies have almost totally disappeared.
I got off caffine ~6 years ago, and it's really helped my sinuses. (It seems that I'm part of the 2% club that reacts to the caffine by stimulating my mucous membranes, and giving my worse sinus drainage.)
Now, with exercise, diet (not a great one) and one generic claritin a day, I'm right as rain.
Advise worth the cost. I'm not a doctor, but I play one on FR. Your mileage may vary. See store for details.
First, stay indoors, run your central airconditioner. It has a filter to keep the air clean. IF not strong enough, invest in an air purifier.
Second, buy Clariten. It's cheap if you buy generic loratidine...but very weak. About five percent of people get sleepy on it. I'm one of the five percent so I don't use it.
Third, for nose stuffiness, try sudafed. The druggies use it for crank, so you might have to sign for it. I use 30 mg since it makes one jittery, but it comes in higher once a day doses, and is often mixed with anti histamines. Don't use if you have high blood pressure.
Four, the stronger antishistamines like Benadryl or Chlortrimeton or mixtures like Dimetapp etc...they put me to sleep, so I usually just take Chlortrimeton generic chlorpheniramine at night.
Five, see your doctor.
He/she can prescribe non drowsy anti histamines. Allegra is strongest, but lots of people prefer zyrtec. again, they make some of us sleepy.
Six, nasal spray. Saline washes out the pollen. Nasal crom has to be used four times a day, but works without side effects. And your doctor can prescribe cortisone nose spray like Nasonex or Flonase. I use flonase, and it works fine, with no side effects although they are expensive.
Finally, if you don't want to use all this, you could find an allergist to give desensitization therapy. We used to use this back in the 1960's and it works fine, but takes six months for the body to become immune to the allergy...and takes a shot a week to do it...expensive, but "natural"...
Hope this helps.
IF you are not too sick and don't want to see a doctor, try Sudafed/pseudoephedrine during the day and chlortrimeton at night...works for me except for the three weeks in August when I need the sterioids.
I used to get shots every month along with taking Clarinex, and using Afrin nasal spray but I found that although it helped, I felt that puting those chemicals in my body was not the best idea. And the Afrin was ruining my sense of smell.
So I heard an advertisement on the radio for an air purifier and called.
It was the best call I could have ever made.
In about 1 hour after pluging that thing in, my nose cleared up. And I noticed that those white speckly things floating in the sunlight no longer were there.
In a week I noticed that there was a lot less dust in the house.And I no longer put all that junk inside of me in order to keep myself from sneezing and getting itchy eyes.
And here is one other thing. My house no longer smells like a dog!
Assuming you have a controlled environment available to you (air filtered/conditioned house) to sleep in:
as soon as you come in for the evening, wash any area that has been exposed - head, neck, hands, arms, etc. thoroughly, with soap (not just 'rinse off'). Wash out your nostrils with saline solution or soap (yes, stick your finger up your nose). Brush your teeth, including gums, roof of mouth and tongue, with peroxide solution (Mentadent is good) then gargle with an alcohol solution (most mouth washes).
Depending on other sensitivities, dress in 100% cotton and sleep on 100% cotton; strictly avoid all cigarette smoke and cats - they are aggravators!
For Springtime allergies to pollen, etc. I've had good luck with Zicam Allergy Relief. It takes a few days for it to take effect, but sneezing, watering eyes, and other allergy symptoms are greatly reduced. The Zicam products are homeopathic, which is nice, so they don't give me side-effects.
Consumer Report Online reviewed aircleaners. Ionic Breeze by Sharper Image got poor ratings. Ionic Breeze has very little air cleaning ability. Here is part of what happened next ((taken from their report)
____
In 2003, The Sharper Image tried to silence us by filing a product disparagement lawsuit in California after we rated the company Ionic Breeze Quadra air cleaner ineffective. We fought back. We filed a motion to strike the suit under California Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute. Such statutes protect against meritless lawsuits designed to chill constitutional rights, particularly the right to free speech.
Im proud to say that we prevailed.The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case, rejecting all of Sharper Images claims and thereby powerfully affirming Consumers Unions reputation as an objective, unbiased testing organization. Under Californias Anti-SLAPP statute, CU is now entitled to reimbursement for legal fees and expenses incurred in its defense. So, not only did we win, but we won with a decision that sends a strong message to deep-pocketed interests, who should think twice before dragging honest critics to court.
______
We bought one they recommended. It is called Friedrich. They also recommend Whirlpool.
Sorry you're suffering!
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!
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.
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.
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.
I was like you until 1991, when I got a cortizone shot. Three hours later, the symptoms disappeared and have never come back.
Standard advice: push fluids, saline spray if the nose gets too dry, Prilosec for the reflux, keep the airconditioner on, change its filter.