The Allergy Imps are picking on me. (warning: rambling, a bit long)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Thought about plopping this in the pit for a bit, but… ehh. This isn’t quite ‘ranty’ enough. And no where near enough gratuitious swearing. (To the Mods: if this turns into something that qualifies for the pit, feel free to move this there.)

But now to the topic.

I just hate it when the Allergy Imps decide that it’s been long enough since they’ve tormented me, so they need to make up for the lost time. :mad: While this may be too much information, I’m sitting here with one half of my sinusus clogged up to the point where the normal moisture from my eye is unable to drain down into them. The post-nasal drip is making me swallow, cough, and try to clear my throat so much I’m starting to have problems with my voice. Not to mention my neck is starting to kill me, with all the ways I’m trying to hold my head so my sinusus have some chance to drain. Then there’s this lack of sleep thing brought on by having to constantly flip over to keep things clear enough to breathe through. (For some reason, it’s extremely difficult for me to breathe through my mouth and sleep.) My ears are plugged, and occasionally I can feel the pressure from my clogged sinuses. (Amazingly enough though, no sinus headache.)

The worst part? I effectively can’t take anything for my allergies! AAARRRRRRGGGGH. Sudafed? Feh. The only way it works is if I take 4 tablets, followed up with 3 tablets every 45 minutes to an hour later. Benadryl? Same thing, with grogginess added. The grogginess lasts longer than the relief from the sinus congestion. Claritin? Lasts about an hour for me, and takes about as long to take effect. Same thing with every other decongestant, OTC or otherwise that I’ve tried. (One bright spot: at least DayQuil helps keep my throat from feeling raw.) Nasal sprays? About the same as for tablets. Take a long time to work, then work for only a short period: but then since the sprays dry out my sinuses too much, I get that oh-so-wonderful rebound effect. Not fun. :rolleyes: Allergy shots had no effect, amazingly enough. (Gotta be something specific about my sinuses that needs to be targeted by something from outside my body for the reaction to be triggered, else my body ignores it. That’s the only thing I can think of.)

Alternative and natural treatments? Just as effective (at the best) as the meds. Altoids (one wintergreen, one peppermint in the mouth at the same time) seem to work the ‘best’, but then relief is only for about 15 minutes. But at least if I get them at Costco, they’re cheaper than the meds. And decidedly tastier. :slight_smile: Or wasabi. Works for a little bit, at least. Pepper-based spicy things (chili, or other) make my nose run, but doesn’t take care of the congestion. Salt water gargles help the throat, but salt water up the nose to try and clear out the sinuses doesn’t. Neither does steam: I just get a really runny nose along with the congestion.

Perhaps the bright spot with my allergies is that as long as I stay away from things known to give me trouble (cedar trees, smoke (espically cigarette), and a few other assorted inhaled things) the Allergy Imps are content to pick on someone else. (They’re Imps because they pick the ‘best’ :rolleyes: times to pick on me.)

Even so… CURSE YOU ALLERGY IMPS! GO AWAY! NOW! You are not welcome here anymore! :mad:

There. Makes me feel better, mentally, at least, writing this down and cusring the Imps. Now I’m off to find more liquids to guzzle, and seeing if a nap will help me get through the rest of the day without being a zombie.

<< Lead me not into temptation, for I know the way. >>

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You mentioned all the same medicines I tried with equal lack of effect, except ONE. Try Allegra. It is a damn miracle. Nothing I’ve ever tried has been as effective as Allegra, except Actifed and that puts me to sleep. No problems on Allegra though, except it is excessively expensive.

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I didn’t mention Allegra, since my list of things was growing amzingly long…

…and it did the same thing Claritin did. Took about an hour to work, worked for about and hour and then, back to being tormented by the Allergy Imps. :frowning: A good thing I didn’t have to pay for it, the Doc had some samples from the happy-happy pharacutical representative he could give out. (That’s how I was able to try the Claritin also.)

Gotta be my metabolism, I don’t see how if I’ve never taken something before (or even a drug in the same family) how I could already have that high of a resistance to it.

(As a side note… if you’re thinking of trying a medication, see if there’s a possibility of having your doctor give you the samples that the rep’s give out. Won’t do you any good for things that need to be taken long term to have an effect, but for short-term things, or long-term where you just need to try it for a day or two to make sure you won’t have a bad reaction, it’s worth a shot.)

At least today, my sinuses are slowly clearing up: instead of being completely plugged and draining at the same time, they’re unplugged enough to allow fairly easy breathing (ie: no digusting bubbling/snot moving around noises), and draining even more. (I’m not sure the latter is an improvement, however.)

Good to hear Chas.E that you’ve found something that works, though. Maybe we allergy sufferers should start up a ‘medication fund’: everyone puts in $5 or $10, or something like that, then we rotate who gets the pot. :slight_smile:

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Suddenly, my early morning. late evening allergy and tissues-addiction doesn’t seem quite that bad after reading this …

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Weird. But you might be interested to know that the conventional dosage issued in the US is different than in other countries. I’ve seen online pharmacies that sold higher doses, or had pills with twice daily intake. If you got SOME relief, maybe you should consult your doctor and see if he recommends a higher dose.
I also noted my own relief was better when I took it for a few days, I don’t seem to get such great relief when I just have an attack for a day and just take it once.
I feel for ya, I really do. I know just what it’s like being in your position. About the only thing you can do now is go to an allergist and do the sensitivity screening and deal with the series of desensitization shots for the allergens that specifically get to you. I should also note that stress is a big factor in the severity of allergies, I found I could get fairly good relief if I just didn’t stress out when I felt the onset of an allergic attack.

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grins at Ice Wolf

I’m glad my rambling makes someone else feel better. :wink:

Already did the screening… Out of the umpty-different things it turned up, only two ‘edible’ things panned out as ‘real’ allergies (ie: when I did the elimination diet, then carefully reintroduced suspect foods). The other things that we couldn’t do a controled check on were the 5 trees that cropped up, dust, mold, and mugwort. (The latter is one of the two ‘edible’ things that I do react to, so I think it’s safe to assume I react to the pollen also.)

Tried the desensitivation (I can spell, really… just not today) shots back when I first went to the allergist (about, hm. 10 years ago), and well… I think the evidence speaks for itself. :frowning: Once my insurance settles down, I’ll be seeing what options I have now; I’m certain that things have changed since then.

At least the bright spot is that I live in an area now where I only get bothered by my allergies once every couple of months, if that much. It’s just that those Imps like to make up for the lost time.

Mmm. Maybe when I go up to Canada next, instead of buying just powered iced tea and ‘Canadian Asprin’, I’ll see about the allergy-relieving family of drugs. (“Yes Mr. Border Guard, this is for personal use only. No Mr. Border Guard, I am not going to let anyone else use what I bought.”)
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