Monday's Question of the Day - September 21, 2015

Fall allergy season is upon us here.  I'm having a worse time than i did in the spring!  I have been taking Claritin daily for weeks.  I decided to get some zyrtec and flonase at the store tonight.  It's late and I can tell the claritin is wearing off because I've started sneezing my head off while I sit here with a box of tissues.     I found Pollen.com; where you can put in your zip code and find out what allergens are in the air and how high of a concentration.  It looks like ragweed and grasses are the problem now; but they are only at low-medium levels.   Tell that to my nose! 

So how are the local allergens treating you?  Any other fall allergy sufferers?  Or spring for our southern hemisphere friends? 

Nothing. Except bug bites. I go outside and, even with gallons of bug spray, I get bitten so fast and so often, it's not funny. And they're horrendous bug bites, too. Swelling, itching and burning terribly. Whatever they are, I am very allergic to them.

But I digress...my apologies, Mooch.

I don't have any pollen allergies or anything like that. Thankfully. Dear Richard, OTOH, suffers from all kinds of allergies during the warmer months. He ends up with all kinds of sinus problems and was even tested. I forget what all he has problems with, but the list was rather long. He takes Claritin, but it doesn't really help him much. Sneezing, stuffy/runny nose. The worst for him is the sinus headaches caused by allergies...they are nasty. When he gets a bad one, he's pretty much down for the count. Either in bed or on the couch. And that's with the meds.

I take Zyrtec daily once allergy season hits so I'm doing pretty good.  Still some sneezing now and then if the pollen count is extremely high but not suffering.

Years ago my doctor told me to start taking my allergy meds before the season starts so I would get better control.  I was on meds 6 months of the year that way; but it did help.  After a while it got so my allergies were not nearly as bad; but sometimes like this it still hits me.  it also gets me when i travel to a new place.  One April visit to my in-laws was particularly miserable.  

I got the zyrtec and flonase into me this morning.  So far; much better!!  

I don't have any major allergies. I do however get stopped up when the weather changes. Usually a week of Sudafed will knock it out.

yes, I also begin my allergy meds in March, in order for them to help for my spring allergies. 

I just keep taking allergy meds during the entire summer and into fall and the first heavy frost. That is what will kill the weeds. 

I hafe found tht I am double dosing myself with them this year. Using zyrtec at night and claritin during the day. It has helped a bit. I have had a lot of itchiness to my eyes this year. Yesterday, I tried to air out the house by opening all the windows. Big mistake...My eyes were so itchy and my nose was tearing...went back to closed windows and the AC ....

Yeah, my allergies are so bad this fall! I was using my inhaler daily (usually just once a week or so) even though I was taking (generic) Zyrtec every night. So now I'm taking Benedryl at night and a 24-hour allergy pill in the morning (either claritin or zyrtec) and that's working OK. I just bought some generic Allegra, hopefully that will work better.

Yup!  I get them too. Yes, grass & ragweed here in NC as well. I found pollen.com a couple of years ago, & have shared it here. It's great!

With being on b.p. meds, I can only take zyrtec myself.  I find the fall allergies are really bad for me when it's trees. Mainly notice when it's pecan, & oak. 

i don't have seasonal allergies. but the bugs, and their biting of me, never stops.

Artiemom said:

 
yes, I also begin my allergy meds in March, in order for them to help for my spring allergies. 

I just keep taking allergy meds during the entire summer and into fall and the first heavy frost. That is what will kill the weeds. 

I hafe found tht I am double dosing myself with them this year. Using zyrtec at night and claritin during the day. It has helped a bit. I have had a lot of itchiness to my eyes this year. Yesterday, I tried to air out the house by opening all the windows. Big mistake...My eyes were so itchy and my nose was tearing...went back to closed windows and the AC ....

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We had  cool day yesterday so I turned off the AC.  I wanted to open the windows; but I knew that wouldn't end well!

I occasionally have to increase DD's zyrtec or give a partial dose of benadryl at bedtime. (With her ped's approval and oversight on dosing!)  The Zyrtec and Flonase did the trick yesterday.  Not one sneezing fit!  Even late at night!    I am breathing nicely and I slept hard last night.     I'm so glad none of our allergies lead to asthmatic symptoms!  My cousins both had to go through years of shots, pills, sprays and drops when we were younger.  

Angels mommy said:

 
Yup!  I get them too. Yes, grass & ragweed here in NC as well. I found pollen.com a couple of years ago, & have shared it here. It's great!

With being on b.p. meds, I can only take zyrtec myself.  I find the fall allergies are really bad for me when it's trees. Mainly notice when it's pecan, & oak. 

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That is one thing I really like about the site; being able to see what the predominant pollens are!  I never went through formal allergy testing to see what things specifically bother me.  My kids haven't either.  

Willowy said:

Yeah, my allergies are so bad this fall! I was using my inhaler daily (usually just once a week or so) even though I was taking (generic) Zyrtec every night. So now I'm taking Benedryl at night and a 24-hour allergy pill in the morning (either claritin or zyrtec) and that's working OK. I just bought some generic Allegra, hopefully that will work better.

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I used Allegra when I was younger and loved it.  I don't feel like claratin gives enough control for me.  DH does ok with it. The kids get better control with zyrtec too.  My insurance was through the military; so we got whatever the base pharmacy had a contract for.  I could have gone to an off-base pharmacy; but I'd have paid for it.  It's so much nicer now that most are OTC..  No yearly visit for new prescriptions.  

I neti a lot and so I'm managing to keep a lot of it at bay (Spring here).  But there's a  lot of people around with runny eyes, sneezing.

During the spring, my doctor suggested a saline sinus rinse, similar to a net pot. Years ago I tried a neti pot once and swore I got a sinus infection from it,

This year I used the saline rinse, by NellMed (same company as neti pots, but a lot different).  I think it worked! It sounds so gross to use, but I really feel it works!  I could not believe all the junk that came out of my sinuses.

I had forgotten all about it until Mani mentioned it.

It has been over 3 months since I have used it. I have to get a new rinse bottle, I have lots of the packets to use.  You do have to use distilled water or cooled, boiled water.. I use the leftover distilled  water for my steamer.

I was thinking of trying it out again, either when my nose was stuffy during the winter, or when I had a cold...

My cousin, who had a deviated septum, (I do too) corrected by surgery (not me), swears by it.

Have not used it for the late summer allergies because I had surgery on my face, in the area of nose and mouth...I am careful with that area. 

Forgot to say that I also used a nasal spray called Astelin --prescription - for when the spring allergies hit.

I had gone to an allergist several years ago, who did a patch test of pollen on me. He said I was not allergic to anything!!!! just a slight "sensitivity".......bull cra@!!!!

The only thing he said I was allergic to was cats and dogs!!!

My mom had bad allergies. When I was small, she had her allergist give me a limitied scratch test. Yup, ragweed and spring allergies.He start giving me some allergy shots, as he did with my mom.  When I started working, I became allergic to something in cosmetics. Went to another allergist, who did a more intense scratch test. Told me I was allergic to spring grasses, timothy grass, dust, mold, ragweed, cats, dogs, and a few other weeds. We started allergy shots, but I got such a severe reaction in my arm, that I stopped it. The arm had a huge welt, swollen, painful, and I could not use it after the shot. By the time the reaction subsided, it was time for another one..

For the cosmetics, he cautiously suggested, Clinque or Almay....I even had a reaction to some of them....so I switched to Origins or nothing at all....

Just use Dove soap, Cetaphil lotion....and Origins for make up, when I want it...

My PCP strongly suggested a new allergy test because allergies can change over time...

The trouble with buying a neti pot and just using it is that people don't 'drain'.  Neti is actually one of the Yoga Shatkarmas (cleansing practices) and the draining afterwards is much more involved than the actual cleansing.

So you could have got an infection from it @Artiemom if you hadn't learned the whole process.  

Mani said:

The trouble with buying a neti pot and just using it is that people don't 'drain'.  Neti is actually one of the Yoga Shatkarmas (cleansing practices) and the draining afterwards is much more involved than the actual cleansing.
So you could have got an infection from it @Artiemom
if you hadn't learned the whole process.  

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It is an absolute necessity too that people do not use water from the tap when they use a neti pot. The first one we ever bought did not state that in the instructions. Tap water is a potential danger if sprayed into the sinus cavities.

I have no problems with allergies   but I have a medicine I can't take which is Darvacet.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

It is an absolute necessity too that people do not use water from the tap when they use a neti pot. The first one we ever bought did not state that in the instructions. Tap water is a potential danger if sprayed into the sinus cavities.

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I've been doing sinus rinses for 20+ years, I swear they have saved my life when sinus problems really kick in my asthma. It amazes me how much the rinses help with asthma!

I have used hot tap water all along, living in 3 states and 1 provence (2 countries). I don't personally believe the hype about not using tap water and think it was dreamed up by pharmaceutical companies to push their pre-made sinus rinses. Any time there is a natural health solution, the big pharmaceuticals come up with their version and claim the natural way is unsafe.

If we can't get tap water up our noses, all the kids playing in their back yard pools filled in the summer are in danger. I've read about 2 deaths from sinus washes, and they were both in places where the water supplies were questionable to begin with. We also don't know if the neti pots were clean and sterile before being used. 

But that's just my opinion, if it makes anyone nervous, they should use distilled water. Make sure to clean the neti pot with hot water and soap, first though, I also take the extra step to rinse it out with alcohol before each use.

I'm with SwmapWitch on this. Those pre-made nasal rinses are just a money-making scheme.  I use filtered water and a good quality salt with no anti-caking agent.

And if tap water is good enough as drinking water you can get away with tipping it up your nose, if necessary, IMO.  I'm just not a fan of chlorine or flouride and would rather go without it.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

It is an absolute necessity too that people do not use water from the tap when they use a neti pot. The first one we ever bought did not state that in the instructions. Tap water is a potential danger if sprayed into the sinus cavities.

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What I meant to say in this post is that tap water can be used but the makers of the neti pots recommend that straight from the tap be boiled and cooled first.

I think they recommend this because of the two cases of brain infection in 2011 in Louisiana. I think it would depend several things. Water coming from a municipal system would have chlorine and other chemicals added. Well water might be riskier. We both used the neti pot a long time ago and didn't know to boil the water. Nothing bad happened to us. Our water is a municipal system. Maybe the companies who make the neti pots just put this on this instructions because of these two isolated incidents to cover themselves from being sued if a person contracted this rare infection. We used the sinus rinses that came with the neti pot.

blueyedgirl5946 said:

 

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Exactly. 

From the tap, you can get the perfect temperature easily. Seems it would be extremely difficult to get the water the correct temperature if you are boiling the water, letting it cool, then heating it up again. You'd have to add more hot, then more cold, how could you get it right? What a hassle - but probably that's what the big pharmaceutical companies are counting on. 

I used to use a neti pot with tap water and then started having a burning feeling occur. Fast forward a few years and someone recommended it to me again. I tried it using distilled water and it doesn't burn. Our water is currently heavily chlorinated and I think that might be the issue.


Anyway, allergies are AWFUL. I use a nasal spray, zyrtec, asthma meds, allergy shots, etc.