It is that special, magical time of the year again. I had to leave work twice this month due to allergy attacks. The first time my left eustachian tube swelled shut, leaving me unable to hear on that side. I really dislike that, as it makes me feel as though a lima bean is slowly expanding in my ear. This time it was chest tightness. My Doctor prescribed a spray that made me sneeze about 40 times, then caused my sinuses to drain so fast my ears were ringing. It was nearly an out-of-body experience. I became the mucous nova. It was so sudden and peculiar I felt like the top of my head was hollow. Now I can almost breathe normally, the slow scrushing pain of my face is gone, and I have a strange urge to bear my Doctor’s children.
Good grief! What did your doc give you, pepper spray? :eek:
Glad to hear it worked for you though: here’s to hoping it’ll continue to work for you!
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Ugh. I know your pain.
This is my first year of allergies…at 47 years old.
I’ve had non-allergic vaso-motor rhinitis (fancy way of saying stuffy/snotty/runny nose for no particular reason) for years but this year… BAM!.. out of the blue I have full blown allergy attacks.
My doc prescribed Astelin spray which makes me sneeze like a mo…well, you get the idea. But after the initial head-wrenching, nose-tickling sneezing fit, I feel like a human again for approx. 12 hours when we lather, rinse, repeat.
My sincerest tissue to you, conurepete. May you go forth and blow.
Zyrtec and Nasonex are my best friends right now.
And also in the spring.
Blech.
This year has been a hard one on the Zappa/Knig household. I’ve had noticeable symptoms lately (usually don’t have too much trouble thanks to about a decade of allergy shots) and Typo Knig has been utterly miserable. Allergy-triggered sinus headache that trashed his weekend. He’s getting that fixed though… goes under the knife in about 24 hours so at least the sinuses should - we hope - react less destructively next year (as in, won’t get blocked as easily).
Suggestions from a granola girl, who once cleaned an entire cottage out of all tissue paper products (kleenex, paper towels, TP, etc) on one allergy-season weekend:
I suffered like that too until I gave up dairy. Unlike all the other allergy remedies I tried (and I tried 'em all), the only side effects from this one have been positive.
Yes, I miss cheese. But my sinuses have never been clearer, and the only time I ever blow my nose is after I cave and have a slice of pizza.
If that isn’t an option, I’ll offer another tip: you know when you’re blowing your nose a million times a day, and it gets all crusty and chapped? It’s because of the kleenex. Use fabric (hankies or old T-shirts) and your nose will remain soft and smooth.
I had to take antihistamines twice yesterday. Blecch, and bring on the snow, I say!
One year at this time I sent a roommate to the store for me to get eyewash. It’s like having saline in a water bottle with an eyepiece. You squeeze the bottle and try to blow the junk out. I was unable to open my eyes that morning without prying the lids apart with my fingers. ggyyyyuuuccchhh!
Right now I feel a dull throbbing sense of dread.
Kuboydal, I think you just won this thread. That beats my ear thing.
I suffered for decades with tremendous hay fever every August like clockwork. Take Chlortrimeton and, after it was invented, Sudafed. Use Puffs, which were the softest. Pray fervently for the first frost.
In the last few years, interestingly, I haven’t had hay fever at all. Coincident with menopause? Or just with having the immune system mature? Who knows.
My daughter, on the other hand, has just this fall, at age 17, suddenly fallen heir to the half of her genes that code for hay fever. All at once–wham. Her nose has been plugged up for a solid month now, nothing OTC is helping, and being the little Drama Queen that she is, suffering in silence is not her style. 
Tomorrow I call the doctor (the GP, not the pediatrician, in recognition of her semi-adult status, and not wishing to make her sit in a waiting room full of crying toddlers) for an appointment for prescription meds.
Which is why I’m here, after Searching for “allergy”. Anybody got any recommendations? Astelin works, you say? Zyrtec, Nasonex? Conurepete, what did your doc give you?
Neither Zyrtec nor Nasonex were very effective for me but admittedly I tried them before this year’s sinus revolt. Although Astelin makes my nose feel like it’s been assaulted for a few minutes, it’s actually been pretty effective in the long run. My sympathy, DDG, it 's bad enough being a grown up allergy sufferer, but you’ve trumped me by being the MOTHER of an (almost) grown up allergy sufferer. Good luck to the little one getting some relief.
Apparently rhinocort, pause, astelin. The sneezing is less, down to 8-20 sneezes
I am honored and ashamed at the same time.
This surprises me, if what she has is just ragweed allergy. Is she trying Benadryl/diphenhydramine HCl? From my reading, that is still considered pretty much the most effective antihistamine. It works for me, and I have some killer allergies, although I do realize everyone is different. Now, it makes me so drowsy that I can’t use it if I have to drive or do other things requiring concentration, so I mostly take it at night. Still, if that doesn’t help her she may have more sinus problems than just allergies.
Claritin/loratadine, which AFAIK is the only OTC non-drowsy antihistamine, is not very effective for me. I have a prescription for Allegra, which is also non-drowsy, and works pretty well. I tried Zyrtec. It was effective and long-lasting, but did make me drowsy, so no real gain over Benadryl, IMHO.
For all of these medicines, taking them consistently is important. It’s easier to keep the allergies at bay, than to fight them back once they start to rage.
Also with ragweed allergy, there is something called pollen-food allergy syndrome. Foods such as melon, zucchini and cucumber may make your mouth itch while you are suffering from the allergy. If these foods cause itching or tingling of the mouth and lips during fall allergy season, don’t eat them, it aggravates your allergy symptoms.
Benadryl causes such complete unconsciousness among everyone with my genes that we never take it during the day. Since she has to function at school all day, that’s right out.
She’s got an appointment with the doc for the 27th.
Benedryl is weird. I can stay wired with otc sleeping aids but a single benedryl will put me out like a light.
I’ve been using Flonase successfully during allergy season for years now. My 16-year-old daughter is just starting to have serious problems this year. Our doc has her on fexofenadine, but it’s not very effective. Like your daughter, Benadryl knocks her out, so she can only take it at night. I’m going to call on Monday and see about getting her put on Flonase, as well.
I have found I can get the allergy relief I need with considerably less drowsiness if I take children’s Benadryl. Benadryl in general doesn’t stay in the system terribly long, the dose is every 4-6 hours vs. Claritin which is allegedly 24 hours. So I can function better taking 2 or 3 children’s Benadryl throughout the day than taking one adult dose. Another advantage to the children’s is it is chewable or dissolvable. Sometimes when I feel sneezy it is kind of a circus to swallow a pill. Just throwing this out there since it sounds like others are drowsy, too.