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allergies - 6/19/2008 8:54:34 AM   
LadyMarmalade1


Posts: 103
Joined: 2/26/2006
Status: offline 		this is a completely random question, not at all related to Ds, but I thought i'd see what people thought about the subject.

throughout the year I have serious allergies to everything you can imagine that among other things result in a very very runny nose. Its gotten to the point that for the past three years I've ended up with nasty sinus infections.  the doctors perscribe for the infection but not for the prevention.  and Im looking for anything anyone might know that is a little out of the box.

I take vitamins and regularly use allergy meds but am careful about addicitons.

I've heard that drinking lots of water helps to make the mucous thinner (thus less irritating), and also that coffee with caffeine makes the mucous thicker.  I've also heard that milk isnt great for dealing with the sinus congestion.

I was wondering, does de-caf coffee also cause problems?  and does anyone have any other non-medical ideas that the doctors dont think of?

thanks in advnace.
Lady Marmalade
Profile   Post #: 1
RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 8:58:02 AM   
sub4hire


Posts: 6775
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline 		Claritin is "supposed" to help in prevention.  My dom has bad sinus infections all the time.  To date nothing has helped him....well moving to the midwest did.
He hasn't had a real bad breakout since we said goodbye to smog.

Tips to deal better, nope no help from me.  He hasn't found anything that helped him. 

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 9:47:30 AM   
KatyLied


Posts: 13029
Joined: 2/24/2005
From: Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		I take allergy medication year round.  It is a necessity because I have asthma that is mainly allergy-driven.  I have found that during pollen season I am much better if I stick to a regimen of using a neti pot twice/day.  It reduces the allergens in the nasal passages.  I also take mucinex when I can tell that I'm getting too much mucus (coughing from sinus drainage).  These steps help, as does reducing exposure to known allergens.  

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 10:51:17 AM   
came4U


Posts: 3572
Joined: 1/23/2007
From: London, Ontario
Status: offline 		OP, do you smoke??

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 11:09:39 AM   
angelikaJ


Posts: 8641
Joined: 6/22/2007
Status: offline 		I would recommend frequent use of simply saline spray.

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 11:20:46 AM   
MistressSybella


Posts: 163
Joined: 9/14/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyMarmalade1
throughout the year I have serious allergies to everything you can imagine that among other things result in a very very runny nose. Its gotten to the point that for the past three years I've ended up with nasty sinus infections.

Lady Marmalade


Perhaps it is time to consider moving.

I have had allergy problems all of my life, and when I was in my 20's the ocassional asthma problems started. I grew up in CA, in the San Joaquin Valley and there were a few places I couldn't go, like Sacramento. I don't know what it was, different trees maybe, but each time I went there, I would get hit with a migraine like headache on top of the regular allergy symptoms.

Now I have moved to Oregon, and live on the coast. I am so close, I can walk to the beach if I want to. I still have to deal with some allergens, like dogs and dust, but all the trees, grasses, weeds and so on that were also red on my allergy workup are no longer an issue. I feel quite a bit better and I'm not getting every cold or flu that comes my way anymore...I used to be sick once or twice every two months, sometimes twice in a month. It was truly awful.

Miss 'Bella
ServeMeWell


< Message edited by MistressSybella -- 6/19/2008 11:25:27 AM >

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 1:11:15 PM   
lighthearted


Posts: 1165
Joined: 11/26/2006
Status: offline 		in my late 30s I grew out of my allergies, finally.  until then, during allergy season, I would take a dose of Benadryl before bedtime.  I could sleep off the side effects and have the allergy symptoms relieved during my waking hours.  when cooler weather came, I could discontinue the use and not suffer any withdrawals of any kind.

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 2:01:22 PM   
DesFIP


Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		Go see an ENT. You may have sinusitis. You may have a deviated septum. You may have polyps. Or like me you may just have narrower than normal sinus passages. But without a CT scan, and a scope of the sinuses there's no way to tell.

In addition to the antibiotics, have you been prescribed a nasal spray? I get Nasalcrom prescriptions and use them whenever I feel like an infection is coming on. Very helpful.

One thing, you don't say if either you or anyone in your household smokes. My ex smoked outdoors only and I still had chronic sinus infections. Apparently just the smoke left on his clothes was enough for me to react to.

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 6:29:45 PM   
DelilahDeb


Posts: 429
Joined: 1/27/2008
Status: offline 		Allergic rhinitis...common allergens are grass pollens, other pollens, pet dander, mold & mildew spores, any & all smoke and smog.
Various folks will respond variously to different things.
Benadryl or other now over-the-counter antihistamines work well for many...others don't get much relief.
The array of non-prescription antihistamines (at least USA) has hugely increased since I was 12 yo and the only thing out there was a Benadryl Rx. (Which didn't help me any...I averaged 1/4 of a large box of tissue in one hours' class throughout high school.) Benadryl, Dimetapp, Claritin, Nasalcrom...I've taken them all. (Currently, I take Claritin full time through my season, and back it up with Nasalcrom nose spray and its still-prescription-only eyedrops Opticrom and bronchial inhaler Intal. The cromolyn sodium trio works by interacting with the localized mast cells to prevent their producing histamine./)

But the thing that changed my life into tolerable four years after I developed allergies was home-size electrostatic precipitator (EP) air cleaners. The Sharp brand "Ionic Breeze" is a decent brand and much easier to clean the collection plates than the old Trion/Bionaire/Pollenex/Kenmore table-top units with the club sandwich of collection plates at 3/8 inch spacing. For me, the very first time I slept in a room that had an air cleaner in it was the first time I slept through the night during my four-month allergy season. Before that, I got maybe an hour or two before the pain of the downhill sinuses awakened me and I had to turn over to let them drain into the other half of my face. Today you can buy fan-forced air cleaners with plastic replaceable HEPA filters new for $50-120…and then pay $15.95 every month or two for replacement filters. I won't spend for such a wasteful beast; I still insist on hunting up EP air cleaners, even if I have to do it at charitable thrift stores. (Only last week I scored a working Ionic Breeze at St. VdeP for $45 instead of $400.)

All that said, yes, a netti pot with the old standby warm salt water is a great natural mild antiseptic and infection preventive; you use it to wash out your nose, one nostril at a time. Just as washing one's hair gets rid of the smoke smell AND PARTICLES clinging to it, so it releases the pollens that cling in the same fashion, washing out one's nose and sinus (ow, but effective) helps deal with the mucus and drainage. When I make up warm salt water, I use it for a full gargle too, making certain to tilt my head to each side, so that the Eustachian tubes get rinsed, too.

Moving to another location is sometimes helpful BUT...there are no guarantees. Sometimes you will just become allergic to the new and different allergy triggers over time. The old recommendations were the desert (Arizona) or the mountains (Colorado), but my sinuses get damned unhappy in dry air. Not to mention that Phoenix at least no longer has the desert lack of grass pollens! Sea air tends to help just because it's not full of pollen…but only if the prevailing winds are from the ocean.

And then there are some of the subtle survival items that I've learned over the years:
* aspirin has a slight antihistaminic effect (and helps against itch too)
* caffeine has a slight antihistaminic effect (so I really cut my caffeine consumption out of season)
* guaifenesin expectorant cough syrups (also now available in tablet form)
that last is especially helpful now that Sudafed (pseudoephedrine HCl) is rapidly becoming harder to get
* hypoallergenic pillow sub-covers to prevent dust & pollen from collecting in your pillow
* frequent changes of pillow case
* showering before bed so that your hair doesn't bring allergens to bed

Best of luck to you!
Delilah Deb

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RE: allergies - 6/19/2008 6:52:01 PM   
DreamyLadySnow


Posts: 359
Joined: 1/23/2005
Status: offline 		I've had chronic sinus issues my whole life. Going almost completely off milk has significantly improved the situation. It does seemto thicken the mucous.
Also vote for saline rinse, benadryl if it's really bad, checking your house for black mold (YUCK!), removing your carpets if you have them, and anything else you can think of to reduce the allergens in your home. Can't really fix the outside world.

LS

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Profile   Post #: 10
RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 8:42:20 AM   
LadyMarmalade1


Posts: 103
Joined: 2/26/2006
Status: offline 		Thanks for all the ideas.  I visit an ear nose and throat dr almost every year and we have the joy of looking up my nose with a little camera.  fascinating stuff!  generally i have acute sinusitus and the drs think that once the antibiotics are done and its all cleared up I'll be fine.  But I always know it will return!

I am not a smoker and no one in the house is, but I do know for a fact that when I am around cigarette smoke I'm miserable with my allergies.  I know pollution is a huge cause, as I grew up in a village and now live in Istanbul (population 15 mil and a lot of cars).  We can't remove the carpets as they are relatively new and we are renting.  there are no longer animals in my home (not by choice, I learned to live with the allergies for my pets), and there have never been our (new) flat, so I know there is no pet dander (or whatever its called) in the carpets.

I swear by nasal rinses (neilmed just came to turkey and I can't get enough of it) altho i tried to rinse with water mixed with salt, in the end i thought my nose would burn off, so i dont recommend it.

I've pretty much got my sinuses in check for now, but I'm just looking for little things that the doctors never mention, or things that people figure out over the years.
thanks again for all the ideas.
Lady Marmalade1

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 9:35:34 AM   
angelikaJ


Posts: 8641
Joined: 6/22/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyMarmalade1

Thanks for all the ideas.  I visit an ear nose and throat dr almost every year and we have the joy of looking up my nose with a little camera.  fascinating stuff!  generally i have acute sinusitus and the drs think that once the antibiotics are done and its all cleared up I'll be fine.  But I always know it will return!

I am not a smoker and no one in the house is, but I do know for a fact that when I am around cigarette smoke I'm miserable with my allergies.  I know pollution is a huge cause, as I grew up in a village and now live in Istanbul (population 15 mil and a lot of cars).  We can't remove the carpets as they are relatively new and we are renting.  there are no longer animals in my home (not by choice, I learned to live with the allergies for my pets), and there have never been our (new) flat, so I know there is no pet dander (or whatever its called) in the carpets.

I swear by nasal rinses (neilmed just came to turkey and I can't get enough of it) altho i tried to rinse with water mixed with salt, in the end i thought my nose would burn off, so i dont recommend it.

I've pretty much got my sinuses in check for now, but I'm just looking for little things that the doctors never mention, or things that people figure out over the years.
thanks again for all the ideas.
Lady Marmalade1



if it burned the concentration of salt was too high (were you using a solution that had preservatives in it?)...I have had issues with other saline sprays but the white can of simply saline seems to work pretty well.

Zyrtec works better for some people than Claritin and I know some people that are helped by Singulair.

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 12:23:48 PM   
RumpusParable


Posts: 1923
Joined: 7/7/2005
From: NYC now!
Status: offline 		Regular use of a neti pot rinsing does a lot of help.  I've allergies and a chronic sinus/mucous issue that both fluctuate in effect on me, and my neti pot ended up being a godsend.   1/8-1/4 tsp of uniodized sea salt to 8oz of warm water -both salt amount and temp of water determined by your body and preferences.

< Message edited by RumpusParable -- 6/20/2008 12:25:28 PM >

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 12:25:51 PM   
KatyLied


Posts: 13029
Joined: 2/24/2005
From: Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		It's easy to make your own salt water with filtered water and pickling salt.  That way you control the strength.

_____________________________

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”
- Albert Einstein

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 12:56:49 PM   
pinksugarsub


Posts: 1224
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: LadyMarmalade1

this is a completely random question, not at all related to Ds, but I thought i'd see what people thought about the subject.

throughout the year I have serious allergies to everything you can imagine that among other things result in a very very runny nose. Its gotten to the point that for the past three years I've ended up with nasty sinus infections.  the doctors perscribe for the infection but not for the prevention.  and Im looking for anything anyone might know that is a little out of the box.

I take vitamins and regularly use allergy meds but am careful about addicitons.

I've heard that drinking lots of water helps to make the mucous thinner (thus less irritating), and also that coffee with caffeine makes the mucous thicker.  I've also heard that milk isnt great for dealing with the sinus congestion.

I was wondering, does de-caf coffee also cause problems?  and does anyone have any other non-medical ideas that the doctors dont think of?

thanks in advnace.
Lady Marmalade


You beat me to it, LadyMarmalade!  i was gonna post an Op about this too...it's driving me bats*t!
 
i have all the same problems You listed -- runny nose, drippy eyes, chronic sinus infections and so forth.
 
This is where i'm at:  several years ago i did see an allergist and i was tested.  i'm allergic to mold, dust, etc. -- in short, i'm allergic to being alive, lMAO. 
 
i saw this MD for a year, getting shots meant to eliminate the allergies.  While i stopped seeing him sooner than he wanted me -- i moved house to another state -- still i have to say IMO, the allergist MD does not offer effective treatment.
 
Nothing You eat or drink has any effect on Yr mucus; not how much, or how thick, or anything...at least IMO.
 
i relied on benadryl to treat my symptoms.  My pharmacist told me benadryl dries out the sinuses and sets the stage for infection.  He recommended i use either claritin or zyrtec, which are both available over the counter. 
 
i found a cheap store brand version of zyrtec, and it's been effective.  It's only been a few days, but the improvement is quite pronounced -- and one pill lasts 24 hrs.
 
Both claritin and zrytec have advantages and disadvantages; read the box if You can see that f**king teeny, weeny type, or ask Your pharmacist.

i have air cleaners in the pc room and the bedroom. At first i was diligent about cleaning the filters and so on...but i never enjoyed any relief, so now i just let them sit. (Grrrss..$250 down the drain.)
 
It helps to wash Your sheets and comforter; to cover Yr mattress with an allergy-barrier cover; to keep Your bedroom dusted as best You can (mine is always a mess); etc. 
 
But IMO, none of these steps will bring You much relief -- so You may or may not feel like being diligent about this is worth Your time.
 
Lastly, change Your pillows if You can afford to do so.  After about a year, allergens have built up in them, and they are right up by Your nose while You sleep.
 
Sorry to hear You're a fellow sufferer, Ma'am.
 
Hope this helps.
 
pinksugarsub

< Message edited by pinksugarsub -- 6/20/2008 1:03:45 PM >

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 5:06:50 PM   
givemyall


Posts: 620
Joined: 12/3/2005
Status: offline 		I've started taking capsules of bee pollen to stop my hayfever, which normally puts me in bed for weeks at a time - since taking the pollen capsules I haven't had any symptoms of hayfever and its great - no other medication I have used in the past has given me any relief.  Maybe something along those lines would be worth looking into - the place I get my capsules from produce lots of other bee products that are used for all sorts of things including other allergies... anyway here is the link  www.medibee.co.uk

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RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 7:12:27 PM   
KatyLied


Posts: 13029
Joined: 2/24/2005
From: Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		I thought you had to take local bee pollen for that to work?  A friend of mine swears by that therapy.

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Profile   Post #: 17
RE: allergies - 6/20/2008 7:57:41 PM   
kiwisub12


Posts: 4742
Joined: 1/11/2006
Status: offline 		neti pot with regular table salt - seasalt burnt at any concentration, and a nasal steroid spray - nasalcort - from my doctor, and now i can pop my ears and i don't have the post-nasal drip. this spring/summer is the first time in years that i haven't had a sinus infection.  yeah!!!!!!

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Profile   Post #: 18
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