[frankthetank]

Back when i was a freshman in high school i remember we were out screwing around in a buddies truck and we drove through some really weedy area and i started sneezing like mad. It was late Aug/early Sept around the time school started. From then on i realized i had ragweed allergies. I don't recall before that point having problem, but i may have.

Since then they have been horrible! I have no other allergies i know of, but once mid Aug rolls around, grab the tissue, because i go through boxes of them. I have snot (its pretty much just water at this point) run out of my nose, i sneeze maybe 10-50 times a day depending on the wind, wind direction, rain, etc... (rainy days are very good). Any sort of exercise clears it up but afterwards, watch out...that is when i will sneeze 10 times in a row or more. I don't know anyone that has it as bad as i do, but then again most use drugs to counter the histamine.

I don't take anything after using antihistamines in the past ive just dealt without them. They are basically sleeping pills in my opinion. Plus hayfever protects you from brain tumors (i read some research paper years ago on the connection..found it interesting). People with food allergies also have severly reduced risk of certain cancers, as do women with migraines have a reduced risk of breast cancer (my mom is a life long sufferer, but is a very healthy person otherwise).

Weird thing. So i had what i think was pig flu or dog flu or whatever for over a week back in mid July. For the next month i had a very sore lymph node. Once my allergies started up that just disappeared.

We had pets as a child and i was a dirty kid and grew up in a scaggy lead infested house or so i like to think. So no connetion with the "clean house/no pets allergy connection".

Another 2 weeks and i'm free until next August....

Anyone else suffer from allergies?

[DomusAlbion]

Frank,

Try Fexofenadine (Allegra). I've taken it for years and for me there are none of the usual side effects. Also I use a nasal rinse twice a day, one in the morning, once a night to clean out the sinuses. Just take a gallon of distilled or filtered water and add 1 Tbs of salt and 1 Tbs of backing soda. Use about 1/4 cup of this solution and pour it up your nose, tilling the head back. Then let it drain out the same nostril. I like to add a little Lavoris to my mix as it acts as an astringent.

I've had severe allergies all my life, including asthma when I was a kid. I've kept to this routine for some 5 year now and I have no trouble with "hay fever" even when I'm bucking hay. The best strategy with allergies is to get on top of them so you don't have an allergic reaction. Every time you have a reaction you make it more likely to have a recurrence.

Good Luck

[Cog]

I'm allergic to ragweed as well. From late August until the first frost here in Illinois, I go through some periods of sneezing and runny nose. What I use starting in in mid August is something called Nasalcrom. It was formerly prescription but is now sold OTC.

It does not make you drowsy, since its not an antihistamine, but instead blocks the receptors in your nose from interacting with the ragweed pollen. Unless I actually get into the plants and knock down the pollen on me, this one medicine works well for me.

Something else I've noticed, the older I get the less ragweed affects me as the symptoms have eased from the ages of 20's-40s.

[RedStateGreen]

I just take a baby dose of Benadryl and keep going.

[frankthetank]

Cog-

Thats interesting. I hope mine get better as i age. I've read recently (i read everything) is that people with hayfever are now becoming allergic to fruits such as melons... That would not be good for me! Something about some protein in the fruit...

The only thing i've ever used that worked in the past was that hard core antihistamines that i think are hard to get now because the meth heads want it for their labs... whatever is n that worked good.

It really sucks having allergies. I'm constantly digging around for something to blow my nose in and my eyes and throat sometimes feel like they are on fire.

[Keith_McClary]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', '
')Something else I've noticed, the older I get the less ragweed affects me as the symptoms have eased from the ages of 20's-40s.

[vision-master]

Allegra!

frankthetank, don't suffer. Get some meds.

[jedrider]

Lotradine from CVS Pharmacies ($24 for 120 quantity), I think (I believe this is what Claritin's main ingredient is). Hay fever meds are expensive, so you should buy generic and in quantity and load up on enough if you think it gets to that point. Been staying away from ephedimine, what all that meth is made from, and so far I don't miss that stuff.

[Arthur75]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', '
')
It really sucks having allergies. I'm constantly digging around for something to blow my nose in and my eyes and throat sometimes feel like they are on fire.

[virgincrude]

Find an accupuncturist who knows his/her stuff, a treatment prior to the seasonal onset actually prevents the symptoms (friend of mine does it every year, has done for years, works a treat.) It doesn't have to be accuPUNCTURE, accuPRESSURE works just as well ...

I use Allercetin by Source Naturals. I can take it only when I need it, not throughout the year, as I was with the pharmaceuticals. It's a homeopathic preparation, little pills you just suck a while. I was 'addicted' to pharmaceutical antihistamin for horrible pine tree allergies combined with house dust mite, which developed into allergy-related asthma. Every year I had colds back to back, bronchitis and this year, pneumonia. Pharmaceuticals were not making me better, but worse, so I tried the natural route, which means changing your diet to cut out whatever triggers you.

All homeopathic/natural remedies take a while to work, keep taking the reccomended dose and it will work more gently than all the man-made antihistamins and with utterly NO side effects. Just don't take it forever or it will lose its effectiveness (same with ALL meds ...)

Around this time of year you need to get your immune system up to top notch, Beta Glucans can do this but be carefull of the dosing as too much will SUPRESS your immune (echinacea also can do this) Oilive Leaf preparations and Oregano oil are excellent to ward off those bugs like pig flu and the common cold which can get complicated in allergy sufferers.

[Arthur75]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', 'F')ind an accupuncturist who knows his/her stuff, a treatment prior to the seasonal onset actually prevents the symptoms (friend of mine does it every year, has done for years, works a treat.) It doesn't have to be accuPUNCTURE, accuPRESSURE works just as well ...

[frankthetank]

Very interesting. Maybe i'll become allergic to one of my favorite fruits Yeah!
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'R')agweed, food allergies interrelated
By DR. YONG H. TSAI
MANAGING PAIN

Raven, a 28-year old long distance runner, had a lengthy history of increased sneezing with a runny nose in the fall. After undergoing skin tests, her doctor diagnosed a ragweed allergy. She followed her doctor's advice and began her daily run in the early morning. Her condition seemed under control. However, one day when she arrived home, her thoughtful husband Tony gave her several pieces of watermelon. Minutes after eating the fruit, she developed itchiness and swelling of the mouth and tongue, as well as tightness of her throat. Raven yelled at him, "Are you trying to poison me?"

Oral Allergic Syndrome (OAS), also called pollen-food allergy, is an allergic reaction to fruits (usually fresh), nuts and vegetables. OAS typically develops in hay fever sufferers. In adults, up to 60 percent of all food allergic reactions are due to cross-reactions between foods and inhalant allergens. Well-cooked, canned, pasteurized or frozen food usually causes little or no reaction because of the breakdown of cross-reacting proteins during processing.

Raven inherited the ability to produce IgE antibodies to ragweed that bind themselves to the surface mast cells and basophil cells in the lining of her eyes, nose, airways and even oral cavity. After exposure to ragweed pollen, the mast cells and basophil cells immediately release a variety of potent chemical mediators which induce allergic symptoms: itchy and watery eyes, runny and stuffy nose, and even wheezing and difficulty breathing.

Raven developed OAS due to her allergic reaction to watermelon protein, not ragweed pollen. The protein of ragweed pollen is structurally similar to watermelon. Therefore, IgE antibodies can bind both pollen proteins and structurally similar food proteins (cross reaction). Consequently, she developed allergy symptoms in two different situations: hay fever (in the presence of ragweed pollen) and food allergy (in the presence of watermelon).

Many OAS sufferers develop OAS within 5 minutes of contact with the offending food, and almost all present symptoms within 30 minutes. People allergic to ragweed frequently experience associated OAS reactions to banana, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, zucchini and cucumber. This does not mean that she will experience adverse effects from all of these foods. However, reactions may begin with one type of food and develop to others later.

Aside from ragweed allergy, OAS is also common in people with tree or grass allergies. Foods that can trigger a reaction in people with these allergies include peaches, apricots, celery, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, apples, pears, cherries, carrots, hazelnuts, kiwis and almonds.

Finally, the verdict is in--Raven's husband is innocent! She developed oral allergy syndrome to watermelon in conjunction with her ragweed allergy. She should avoid watermelon and ragweed-related fruits during ragweed season. And, hopefully, she can enjoy some of her favorite foods when ragweed season is over.

[blukatzen]

I have had allergies as well, and now that I am 50, I am not that bothered by any allergies at all, except for mold, which isn't good for anyone in my opinion. Lots of those fruits/veggies that were in the article grow on the ground, or are hit by spores from the ground after a rainstorm (which happen quite a bit in the Midwest in August.)

I grew up going to an allergist and getting shots every 2 weeks, and after I went away to University I said "enough", and it's time for my body to fight this on my own.

After I lost my mother in '94, I think the grief/stress triggered an emotional response towards asthma. A new allergist my doctor sent me to wanted to shoot me up 2 times a week. I went through this regimen for a year, and decided to do homeopathy and change my outlook, my diet, and watch out for mold.

That approach has worked the best. I still have some asthma, but it has been ameliorated by taking Fish Oils, high in Omega oils. That has been GREAT!

I was off at a conference at a nursery yesterday in a farming community, out in the Country, and I went on the full tour, with NO sniffles, no sneezing, no troubles whatsoever. It was one of those days I remember where, when I was 12, I would have been sneezing my head off, feeling like you, where watery stuff would be almost coming out of every head orifice. We had quite a rainy season here in the Midwest, and powery mildew was all over some of the phlox, monarda, and other plants in the trial gardens. (you're probably watering up at the thought of me just describing this.)

Just watch the mold. That is the real culprit.
It will be all over the first hard frost, hang in there!
Hope you feel better soon, Frank!
Blu

[blukatzen]

One thing that I forgot to add, that many have found success through implementing the "Body Ecology Diet" first found in the book by the same name by Donna Gates. Here's her website..
http://www.bodyecologydiet.com.

The concept Ms. Gates and others speak to is about excessive sugars prevalent in most Western high carb diets have turned the gut into an overtly yeast-laden mess that leak beyond the gut into areas far-flung in the body.
This sets up situations that are underly other conditions that cause illness as the body's immune response breaks down. Allergies, and the allergic response can be a by-product of this overly yeast laden situation, in Ms. Gates' opinion. This was a continuation on the work of Dr. William Crook,, M.D. and his work on the same subject.

Ms. Gates' work has also aligned with the work of the Weston A. Price organization, which I have written about on Peak Oil.com before.
http://www.corganic.com and http://www.westonaprice.org are good links for additional reference.

Good luck!


Blu

[yeahbut]

Fret no more Frank, relief is at hand- or rather, hanging from the intestinal lining of millions of third world citizens, and in the gut of a few of the more desperate/crazy residents of the developed world, too. Hookworm is the answer, at least if you ask David Pritchard:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n 2004, David Pritchard applied a dressing to his arm that was crawling with pin-size hookworm larvae, like maggots on the surface of meat. He left the wrap on for several days to make sure that the squirming freeloaders would infiltrate his system.

"The itch when they cross through your skin is indescribable," he said. "My wife was a bit nervous about the whole thing."

Pritchard, an immunologist-biologist at the University of Nottingham, is no masochist. His self-infection was in the interest of science.

While carrying out field work in Papua New Guinea in the late 1980s, he noticed that Papuans infected with the Necator americanus hookworm, a parasite that lives in the human gut, did not suffer much from an assortment of autoimmune-related illnesses, including hay fever and asthma. Over the years, Pritchard has developed a theory to explain the phenomenon.

"The allergic response evolved to help expel parasites, and we think the worms have found a way of switching off the immune system in order to survive," he said. "That's why infected people have fewer allergic symptoms."

...After Pritchard's self-infection experiment, the National Health Services ethics committee let him conduct a study in 2006 with 30 participants, 15 of whom received 10 hookworms each. Tests showed that after six weeks, the T-cells of the 15 worm recipients began to produce lower levels of chemicals associated with inflammatory response, indicating that their immune systems were more suppressed than those of the 15 placebo recipients. Despite playing host to small numbers of parasites, worm recipients reported little discomfort.

Trial participants raved about their allergy symptoms disappearing. Word about the study soon appeared online among chronic allergy sufferers, and a Yahoo group on "helminthic therapy" sprung up.

"Many of the people who were given a placebo have requested worms, and many of the people with worms have elected to keep them," Pritchard said.

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good evening :
I have had allergies all my life. I have been through the shot regimen twice, and drops under the tongue once.
I am getting shots now. I have been on the current shot regimen for 5 years.
I had to go to several allergists before I found one that really knew how to test properly.
I am violently allergic to mold of all types. I am allergic to cats, dogs. (we own both, but only the dogs come in the kitchen during the winter. )
The cats overwinter in the basement.
I am violently allergic to chocolate, peanuts, apples, barley, yeast, etc. maltrodextrin in food triggers a violent reaction. needless to say, I cook most food from scratch. Barley is a flavoring agent in all commercial cereal except shredded wheat.
I have been allergic to corn, but am able to eat it now for the first time in years.
The shots have worked a miracle for me. The constant fatigue, aching joints, etc are much improved. The stomach problems have subsided. The constant sore throat and sinus problems are gone.
I only have a flare when I eat something I should not eat.
My allergist said that a lot of food allergies come from the body mistaking the food for the pollen of the food in the same plant family. My apple allergies are triggered by such a reaction.
I am also allergic to ragweed.
I tried every antihistamine on the market. Nothing helped as well as the allergy shots. But, you need to find a really gifted allergist, and stick with the shots.
It has taken 5 years, but the allergies are finally starting to calm down.
Pheba.