What's your "dealing with allergies" strategy?
Question inspired by what seems likely to be my mild, newly developed environmental allergies
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46 replies
Getting allergy shots while I have insurance.
In the meantie: daily antihistamine. Nasal spray and eye drops as needed.
What kind of shots? There's a bunch of types... Stronger antihistamines, corticosteroids, inmuno suppressant...
Allergy shots. You got to an allergist, tell them what you have, and they scratch you with a bunch of likely allergens, find out what you're allergic to, and shoot with an ever increasing dose 1x-2x week until you're done then give you regular maintenance shots.
The pills are whatever is cheapest. I find the Nasonex (nasal spray) and Pataday (eye drops) (or whatever the generic is these days) really do a much better job with symptoms than the pills ever do, but the pills are much cheaper, so it's my first line.
Is it a de-sensibilisation thing?
Did that 7+6 years for dustmites + hayfever, worked well but clearly was hell to go through (did the daily dose thing).
Now I just figured out I'm allergic to some nut too 😭
Yes, that's how it works.
My dad swears by having a little dose of LOCAL honey, which gives him regular exposure to pollens.
The placebo effect exists!
I don't know... there's at least a valid mechanism there.
What would that bee?
Shoutout allergy shots. 3-5 year commitment. If you can get a “rush protocol” it sucks for a day (you get a ton of meds and do 16 injections over 6-8 hours) but it means starting at once every 4 weeks instead of titrating multiple times a week for months.
Daily Cetirizine (brand name: Zyrtec), works well for me and I can get it in bulk for cheap
This is what I'm doing as well. If I go 2+ days without, everything sets me off (pollen, dust, smoke, mold, pet dander, etc) all day long. But when I take it regularly it's like I have no allergies at all.
Yeah I take those and mucinex
the only thing is some people take it for along time, and then get the withdrawal itch from it, if they suddenly stop.
I see you cited environmental allergies, which means airborne pollen or fungal spores etc. Personally, while I generally avoid medications, and hate the drowsiness from Benadryl (and the dementia), Allegra works great for me. Lasts about a day, is very effective, and there are no noticeable side effects.
I also have food allergies. For that, I read labels, and ask questions at restaurants. I'm allergic to tree nuts (pecans, almonds, cashews, basically everything called a nut that isn't a peanut) but not peanuts. Thankfully most dishes which have tree nuts tend to call them out in the title or description. Allergens from a list of 8 (9?) are required to be bolded or listed as an allergen in the US for packaged foods. I pay attention to "may contain" or "produced on equipment/in a facility that..." warnings, but note that in the US, those are optional.
I recently got much more allergic to soy; which sucks because soy is in like every processed food for some reason. Bread, dark chocolate, and cereal really don't need soy. That's even before the "may contain…" labels because an ingredient shared an assembly line at some point. It sucks lol
Before I found out I had Celiac, I thought I might be allergic to soy. It definitely is in a ton of foods all over the place. I knew someone allergic to corn, a similar situation. Gluten (wheat, barley, rye) is tough to avoid too... besides being nearly ubiquitous in packaged foods and at restaurants, cross contamination is rampant, especially when it comes to flour.
Here in europe all the cheap stuff has "may contain..." (Nuts &cetera) , like flour, wtf.
I've also done a full regimen of hyposensitization, where you get injections of your allergen to desensitize you to it. It helps, but it's not a full cure.
All of the above combined makes allergy season somewhat passable.
I just drug myself senseless.
Loratadine tablets before I go to bed.
only zyrtec(ceterizine works for me) lotaradine, and fexofenadine has no effect on me. i rotate to generic benedryl/ or cholorphneramine, every other week.
By avoiding the dairy isle at the shops and reading the ingredient list.
Suffer and wait for winter. Pollen and mold suck, but significantly less during winter.
winter makes my skin dermatitis worst. hot and sunny have always helped my symptoms, as long as i dont drench in sweat all the time.
PSA: avoid flonase. it almost destroyed me.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anxiety/comments/1b36cwk/increased_anxietypanic_attacks_after_using_flonase/
https://www.drugs.com/comments/fluticasone-nasal/flonase-sfx-anxiety.html
https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/flonase-and-getting-over-the-anxiety-it-caused/6
Interesting... I have a couple relatives who use it constantly. They both definitely have anxiety problems, and would be unlikely to consider Flonase as a contributor.
I was the same. I had used the brand name for years. I trusted it. I had managed anxiety but never even considered Flonase because my doctor said it was fine and, again, I trusted it. I suppose it contributed to anxiety to a lesser extent than the generic brand because once I switched, it was immediate and intense. I thought I was having a nervous breakdown. it took months of torment to put together the connection. it's taken literally years of therapy and medication to try to undo the damage that happened in those months. good luck to your relatives. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
Some people can get rid of environmental allergies by eating better. It basically just improves your body's ability to deal with them.
::: Might be just too many pancakes. :::
wear a mask during allergy week
Singulair daily, then add in as needed flonase, clairitin, itch topical, then inhaler. Remember that allergies (and migraines) are like a long island iced tea- it's not one thing that gets you; it's all of them together.
A small spoonful of honey daily from a local apiary of bees who pollinate all the local flora that I'm allergic to.
I went from taking allergy shots and medications to now just enjoying the honey.
I go to the hospital for the medicine, but it has an annoying side effect of making you drowsy. So I usually take the medicine when there is no important schedule on that day. If there is one, then too bad. Blocked nose it is.
depends on the cause, allergy test will you which one likely. either blood or skin patch test. Dust mites, pollen , pet dander is the most common. food allergies, certain chemicals like cleaning sprays or mouthwash ingredients.
if you have allergies around the mouth(chelitis), off brand toothpastes, lip balms are a major cause.
i usually take antihistamines, but i also have atopic dermatitis from dust mites so i have to take topicals.
a uncommon test to take is , testing your IGE levels. <200 is normal, 200-1000+ is sign of allergies. 1000-1999> you are likely to have rhinitis, ashtma or atopic dermatitis, the higher the more severe your symptoms are.
i heard people get allergy shots, but it has mixed results, some reported alleviated thier symptoms, some said no effect, or some said they were temporary.
I have a prescription for azelastine, and got an inferior sinus reduction to help me breathe. Multiple people I know use CPAP machines.
My crazed uncle tried a more direct method: Gunning down all CEOs of major pollutant companies ruining air quality. He dropped off the grid, so he’s probably dead (possibly from breathing issues)
Ignore it until it goes away, worked for kiwis. I think being exposed to mold, mildew, pollen and mucky stream beds as a kid taught my immune system how not to worry so much. I have never had an allergy get bad before it went away though.
By contrast, I was exposed to so much pollen as a kid that it literally turned the streets yellow every year and I’m horrifically allergic to most plant pollen. Like, more response to those than to the histamine control in an allergy test. I used to not be able to breathe through my nose as a kid, now it requires two daily medications.
I'm probably just lucky in this specific regard
That's not how it works with allergies though? To "get over it" you need years of "thousand times" exposure to erode it away.
I took, IIRC, 6400 times a big dose (1 dose made me allergic) for 7 years.
But who knows, it might work for you!
When I eother forget my allergy pills or they haven't kicked in yet, a mask usually helps me. Not ideal, but it's better than constantly sneezing.
Benadryl and the day off because the bennies are gonna fuck me up too much to do any but lay in bed.
I avoid foods that I know that I'm allergic to, or have problems with: Melons and dairy for me.
Dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, butter, cream cheese, etc) can be an immune-system stressor, since most humans aren't bred for digesting it, and enhance allergic reactions that you otherwise wouldn't notice.
Insufficient sleep can also magnify allergic reactions and weaken the immune system, so make sure you're getting enough sleep.
Also, there are a lot of viruses circulating right now: Flu, COVID, RSV, etc. Flu-like symptoms can be mistaken for allergies, so get yourself tested, and don't go to work and infect others.
And get vaccinated FFS.
If you feel flu-like symptoms, take strong antihistamines before bed, i.e. benadryl for short term relief, allegra for long term. Treating your sinuses with a neti pot saline rinse, and/or antihistamine nasal spray such as fluticasone can help too.
Do everything you can to get a good night's rest, because as mentioned before, sleep is everything in regards to health.
I have a lot of experience with this. I'm allergic to literally all species of grass somehow 😂
There was sometime where I was having no problems with allergies, then hanging out at a friend's house, my friend commanded his teenage son to go weed whack a bunch of weeds by the road ("get off the computer and do something useful!" It was utterly useless though). I immediately started sneezing and had pretty significant allergy problems for like 3 weeks.
Typically my own allergies compounds with dust allergies, so cleaning where I can and using an air purifier tend to help. Otherwise, I like getting some local honey; supposedly the pollen its made from helps your system (I’m not sure how much proof there is, but I still stand by it)
Otherwise, a warm honey lemon tea is always good for the throat/ sinuses if your allergies get uncomfortable.
i assume dust mites, im using a levito purifier, and dust mite bed sheets,and pillow casing, and i rotate it out and wash them.
there also dust mites prays, questionable effect. and diatomecous earth, never tried it.