# Allergies: is there anything that makes this better?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2006, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606 "2006-04-21T13:27:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/21 "2006-04-22T00:48:42Z")
Going diary-free is certainly something to investigate, but it only works if you have a problem with dairy. I’ve eliminated dairy 4 times now - and it never made a damn bit of difference for me. So I’ve decided NOT to give up food I enjoy simply because doing so worked for someone else. As always, your mileage may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/22 "2006-04-22T11:41:02Z")
Give up cheese? No fookin’ way. I’ll live with the allergies. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/23 "2006-04-22T12:12:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Going diary-free is certainly something to investigate, but it only works if you have a problem with dairy. I was just going to ask how dairy could cause trouble if you weren’t allergic to milk protein. **Athena** , are you going to be getting a skin prick test, or will they try you out on a prescription first? I was given three different medicines that didn’t help before my allergist decided to figure out what, exactly my body was reacting to. I knew that pollen and dust were problems, but had no idea that I had food allergies until we did the skin test. Now I have a whole list of foods that have to be eliminated or rotated lest the allergies get worse. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/24 "2006-04-22T13:35:47Z")
> [@Omega Glory](#): > > **Athena** , are you going to be getting a skin prick test, or will they try you out on a prescription first? They mentioned a skin prick test on the phone, so I guess I’m going under the needle. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/25 "2006-04-22T14:56:43Z")
> [@Omega Glory](#): > > I was just going to ask how dairy could cause trouble if you weren’t allergic to milk protein. Milk and dairy products have lots and lots of casein, a protein that there’s not much of in most other foods. Casein stimulates mucous production. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/26 "2006-04-22T15:05:20Z")
If you have generous insurance, maybe allergy testing makes sense at this point. However, it is not cheap. If you will be paying for a lot of it yourself, you might be better off with a primary care doctor just diagnosing you with “seasonal allergies.” Allergy testing is good to find out which of about 100 things you are allergic to, but it’s not always necessary if you’re just being bothered by spring pollen. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/27 "2006-04-22T20:14:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The only thing that works better than diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is steroids. Unfortunately, diphenhydramine has side effects like drowsiness or even unconciousness, and while steroids work great the long term side-effects cand be worse that allergies. I’ve offered a patient with horrible allergies an occasional prednisone burst, 60 mg a day for about 5 days. It does tame alleries, it just shouldn’t be done with any regularity. But I usually do it in the setting of getting the immune system calmed down as another treatment gets implemented: Nasal steroids, antihistamines, and lately, I’ve had some good results with the leukotriene inhibitors, like accolate and singulaire. The OP should ask the allergist if a leukotriene inhibitor might be right for her. ---
**Author:** ![Pigs\_in\_Space](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@Pigs\_in\_Space](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pigs_in_Space)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/28 "2006-04-22T21:10:18Z")
Just a couple things that haven’t been mentioned so far. The nasal inhaled cortico-steroids take a couple weeks to start working, so don’t give up if you don’t get immediate results. From what you’ve said, you’ll probably be getting a skin test Monday. They usually do them on the arms now, so wear a short sleeved shirt. Just in case they go with the back testing, good underwear would be nice. Seriously, there are many options today you should be able to find something that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/29 "2006-04-23T13:18:16Z")
> [@Harriet the Spry](#): > > If you have generous insurance, maybe allergy testing makes sense at this point. However, it is not cheap. If you will be paying for a lot of it yourself, you might be better off with a primary care doctor just diagnosing you with “seasonal allergies.” Allergy testing is good to find out which of about 100 things you are allergic to, but it’s not always necessary if you’re just being bothered by spring pollen. My insurance, thank God, covers it. I’ve been feeling better lately - I think it’s a combination of it being rainy here, and staying home instead of going in to the office. For whatever reasons, it seems worse at the office. Which makes no sense, because the office is in the middle of town. I live in the middle of the woods. You’d think that it’d be worse in the woods. I guess that maybe the trees that bother me are the types that live downtown, not wild forest trees. I’m looking forward to the appointment tomorrow, because I’m interested in what exactly it is that bothers me. I’ve had small bouts of allergy stuff in the spring for years now, but it’s never been more than “oh, I feel crappy for a few days, this always happens in the spring, I wonder if it’s allergies?” This is the first year it’s made me miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/30 "2006-04-23T13:32:22Z")
Well, **I’m** effin’ miserable, too. I spent the morning riffling through my pharmaceutical collection and conducting chemistry experiments on myself in between mucus eruptions instead of out having fun on a very nice spring day. Of course, it’s probably the “nice spring day” part that has me miserable. All those plants out there fornicating like there’s no tomorrow and I’m one getting fu— I’ve developed a box-a-day kleenex habit. When I’m being civilized. When uncivilized, I just hang my head over a bucket and let the waters flow. I would really like to dose myself with diphenhydramine, but I’ve been on a loratidine schedule (seeing as I’m much more functional on the loratidine) and I’m told mixing the two is a no-no. It has been this bad in _years_… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606/31 "2006-04-24T04:38:49Z")
I’ve had the skin tests (and they’re no big deal at all), and I’m definitely allergic to most trees and grasses. I just use a nasal steroid (Flonase) a couple weeks in the year when the pollens are the worst, and my allergies hardly bug me at all. Doctors warn you that you can get addicted to nasal steroids (that is, your nasal passages clog up without them), but I’ve been using nasal steroids occasionally for years with no effects like that at all. I don’t like taking pills for my allergies because they affect my whole body (even the non-drowsy ones put me out like a light), and it’s just my nose that I want fixed. Best of luck to you, **Athena**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/allergies-is-there-anything-that-makes-this-better/353606.md?page=1)