please excuse poor typing, house is out of tissues, toilet roll, adn kitchen roll*
I’ve had hayfever for as long as i can remember, I’ve been taking pills for it for about the same. ( various, trying to find a decent one)
The thing is, at the beginning of summer i usually dont have anything to take, cos i NEVER prepare in advance. And so i am caught out by the first really bad attack * read: whole day unable to do anythign propperly, annoying everyone with my snuffling, sneezing and blowing my nose, rubbing my eyes till my eyelids are raw * and so immediately run to the doctor to get something ( or the chemist, depending ).
I get the pills, start taking them the next day, and all is well. But sure enough, within a week or so, i get another * it seems equally bad * attack. Are the pills actually making a difference. Or are they letting me attribute the good days to the pills,and the bad days must be -SUPERBAD-. I DONT GET IT!!! sob roll on winter.
My question(s):
Do allergy tablets actually work over long periods( a day for example)? I’ve tried most of the mainstream ones i think, including nasal sprays etc. that one a day label drives me nuts.
Can you build up an inmunity to them?
any suggestions on how to make me all better?
What specific laws would i be breaking if i went out and weedwhacked every plant in the city, and burned all the fields/lawns for miles around?
How come these pills are so god-darned expensive? ( at teh chemist they gost like £5 for 7.
oh, and how come if i irritate myself in the slightest ( rub my skin with a zipper, scratch my head, get something in my eye) i sneeze?
pave paradise, put up a parking lot!!!
sounds good to me!!
Only thing that makes me feel better is a long workout, i think because i breath through my mouth, and so my allergy dont bug me. but i’de probably die if i worked out all day every day. although almost worth it to ditch the sneezing.
I’ll answer this one question since I have to get going. I suffer the same. I’ve stopped taking the pills since they don’t provide much relief for me. Keep your eye out for alternative methods. Acupuncture, for example, has done wonders for me and it provides me with the opportunity to be sniffle, sneeze and irritation-free for about seven weeks or so.
Do some research on immunotherapy (allergy shots) as well, my cousin has it done each year ad it provides her with a huge amount of relief.
Wow, a whole decade delay in trying that out, huh? Glad you got back to us!!
My basic allergy steps for my patients:
Avoid allergens when possible.
Long-acting 2nd generation antihistamine like loratadine or cetirizine daily
Nasal steroids daily
Neti pot/sinus wash kit on a regular basis
Cromolyn nasal spray
consider use of leukotriene inhibitors like montelukast.
consider adding a 1st generation antihistamine for when symptoms are really bad
Go see an allergist.
10mg of loratidine works for almost exactly 24 hours for me. As in, I can set my watch to it - at 23 hours and 45 minutes, I remember that it’s time to take my daily dose because I start to feel snorky. The generic sets me back about $15 a month, and I’ve noticed zero side effects from it.
Almost, but not quite as good when my allergy season is at its peak, is a product you can get here in the US called Natural D-Hist. It’s largely stinging nettles, with Quercitin, Bromelain and N-Acetyl L-Cysteine. I have no idea if it’s available in your country.
And yes, neti pots are awesome. Or so I’m told. I can’t seem to find the knack of them myself, and end up feeling waterboarded and panicky. But if you can use them, a little saline flush to the noggin can literally rinse away pollen and dust while convincing your mucus membranes to calm down a bit.
Husband and I both suffer from bad allergies and that’s what we use. But we get it at Target - $4 and change for a bottle of 30. So we spend $8 a month - 1 a day for each of us. It lasts around the same time for us too. And bonus - last bottle I got was a special promo - we got an additional 15 pills free. I’m thinkin’ if they have any left I’ll go stock up!
I’ll have to remember to look at Target. Their prices on the supplements (fiber, Vitamin C fizzy packets and more fiber) I buy are high; didn’t think to look at the loratidine there. Thanks!
Loratidine works much the best for me, too. Clears all the everyday symptoms. About every 2-3 months, though, it seems to start working less well. I don’t know what’s going on with that, but I just assume I’ve habituated in some way. I switch to Cetirizine (which works not nearly as well) for a couple of irritating weeks, then I can go back to the Loratidine and it starts working again.
I also keep Benadryl tablets around for really horrid days. Hardly ever use them but they work fantastically well, though the drowsiness is a pain. No driving those days.
If you have a Costco membership, you can get something like 100 cetirizine tablets in the house (Kirkland) brand for maybe $15. I suspect they may have an equally good price for loratidine.
[keeping in mind I am handicapped and use a shower seat so I do this sitting down]
I use my neti in the shower. I get it ready, get comfortable and lean forward, and am relaxed by the nice warm water on me, tilt my head sidewise and start the neti flowing [left nostril seems to always be the unplugged one, no idea why.] Half way through the pot I switch to the other side, then blow my nose gently to get any remaining saline out.
There is another doohicky to flush your sinuses, a squeeze bottle. This one lets you do it with your head upright instead of sidewise. Not sure how well it works, I have issues deciding how I would shut the back of my sinuses to use it.
If I complain about my hayfever symptoms and asthma symptoms at my next physical, what do you suppose the odds I’ll be offered this are? Sounds like it’d help both according to WebMD’s write up…
