Allergies

[MsPony]

I have horrid allergies too, I live in the worst allergy place in America. 4/5 horses get midline dermatitis that is allergy related, 4/5 get SB itch that allergy related (my pup is itching like mad from the sage blooming) and us humans have it horrible.

I work in a pet store, coicidentally I'm the only one not allergic to timothy...but everything else yes. I take local bee pollen, you start with 1-2 and work your way up. You may experience a surge of allergies until you build up. I take raw local honey every morning. And claritin is my BFF

 

[so lucky]

Regarding taking meds for horrible allergies......Allegra has been the very best for me over the years; I rarely take it tho, due to needing a script and the cost. Lo and behold, recently I saw an ad on TV for OTC Allegra. Wonder if it's the same formula? I'll check it out.

 

[savingdogs]

I don't have much to contribute but have allergies too. Clariton does nothing for me but Allegra is helpful during certain months (June, July August). My doctor was able to get my insurance to cover it by calling it by a generic name. But I was glad to see it went OTC too.

I use the raw honey. I'm not sure if it helps.

I did allergy shots for about five years. It didn't really help much, but I was told I am allergic to more things than anyone they had ever tested before. Lucky me. I actually shocked the allergist. She kept saying, "Well, I'll be!"

 

[so lucky]

I don't have much to contribute but have allergies too. Clariton does nothing for me but Allegra is helpful during certain months (June, July August). My doctor was able to get my insurance to cover it by calling it by a generic name. But I was glad to see it went OTC too.

I use the raw honey. I'm not sure if it helps.

I did allergy shots for about five years. It didn't really help much, but I was told I am allergic to more things than anyone they had ever tested before. Lucky me. I actually shocked the allergist. She kept saying, "Well, I'll be!"

Well, Hey, it's kinda cool to be unique in anything. Not all of us can shock an allergist! I did some price checks for the Allegra. Looks like it might be slightly better pricing; about 30 bucks for 45 tabs. Better than the $3.00 each I used to hafta pay with my insurance co-pay! and when a few generic OTC's come out, it will go down a lot, I hope.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've been getting allergy shots for years. And, they have helped me, which is good. I cannot take most allergy meds. I'm allergic to a ton of stuff. I'm one of a handful of people that get 3 shots at once. :/

 

[savingdogs]

Deb, it makes sense that you and I would be allergic individuals.

I get stuffy more than red-eyed, except driving around in the car with the windows down. Does that bother anyone else? No can do. I always argue with Hubby to roll up the windows. He likes the wind in his hair or something.

 

[PLH]

Greetings,

I suffered for 45 years with terrible sinus allergies; congestion, sinus infections, bad headaches, itchy eyes, and all the other usual symptoms. I also got lots of colds because, apparently, allergies lower a person's resistance to colds.

But those days are gone; I discovered the cure. It's inexpensive and there are no pills; Sinus Rinse 4 times per day. That's it, I'm not kidding. My doctor has been recommending this simple solution to his patients for about 2 years and he told me recently that he is writing 75% less prescriptions for allergy and sinus pills now because his patients took his suggestion and we all now use sinus rinse instead of pills.

The rinse solution is just salty water with a slightly higher pH.

You can buy the rinse bottle and packets of salt & sodium bicarbonate from NeilMed. Check this website:
neilmed.com/usa/sinusrinse.php
The NeilMed bottles are sold at most pharmacies.

You can also make your own salt & sodium bicarbonate solution with 6 parts natural sea salt (iodine free), plus 4 parts of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I mix about one cup of the salt and sodium bicarbonate mixture at a time and store it in a small plastic container.

Mix 2.5cc (half a teaspoon) of the salt mix with an 8 ounce NeilMed bottle of warm water.

To use, simply lean over your bathtub or shower stall, put the bottle to your right nostril and gentle squeze the bottle so the solution squirts into your sinus cavity. The water will exit your left nostril. Then do the same for the left nostril. Repeat until the bottle is empty. It actually feels good after you get used to it, takes a couple days to get used to it.

I do this rinse 4 times per day, morning, noon, dinner time, and bed time.

My allergies are gone and so are 95% of the colds I used to get.

I know this will work for you because it will wash out all that dust and pollen that you are exposed to every day. Good luck!!!

PS - Your Netti Pot is almost the same, but the bottle is much better if used properly, four times per day.

 

[savingdogs]

I wish I could try that, but I'm very sensitive to sodium. I'd have to ask my doctor about it first, and he already cautioned me against using the baking soda toothpaste so I don't think he will let me. Oh well, that will probably work for a lot of other folks. Thanks for sharing that!

When I worked in dentistry, I've seen warm salt water rinses do wonders for gum issues so this sounds very logical to me. Interesting post, PLH. It makes sense that if you washed the allergens off, there would be fewer to annoy you!

Can you use anything other than sodiums, do you know? What about plain water?

 

[PLH]

Hi SavingDogs - Just plain water would work to wash away all the dust and allergens, but it would feel like your sinus were on fire.

The small amount of salt in the sinus rinse just balances the water to the natural salt level in your body and the sodium bicarbonate just balances the pH of the rinse water to match the natural pH of your body. The balanced rinse water feels very refreshing; but plain water will hurt!

Your body will not ingest the sinus rinse water, so you might want to give it a try just once or twice to see what happens.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Ok, maybe I'll just be better with remembering to use the netti pot.