Are you noticing an increase in allergy symptoms an WHAT Are you doing about it?

[jen-cueva]

Hi Brittany,
I never really had issues with allergies until the last few years. Right now, the allergies are in full force and can make you feel awful. I contribute it some to Mother Nature and our environment.

I am sure your body is even more sensitive after the surgeries that you have had. I have head congestion, brain fog, and itchy nose and eyes. The headaches and irritated throat, too. I try and use a NetiPot as I can only take Cetrazine (Zyrtec plain only), no Benadryl. I also try and use Tylenol if I can for the headaches. Delsym is an over the counter cough med, I can use the plain one in that, too. Some I know find some relief in a steamy shower. I m not a fan as I feel it makes it even harder to breathe. It certainly can add to our already breathing problems.

[Brittany Foster]

I almost always need my showers at a steaming hot temperature. It starts out tolerable but then as I turn it up gradually it just keeps getting hotter and hotter LOL i love it! I feel like sometimes I have actual burns on my body from how hot I put it haha!

But back to the allergies, YES it definitely has gotten a lot worse over the last few years for me too. It’s hard because a few years ago I also went into a anaphylactic reaction from eating some soup from Panera bread and that Never happened to me before in my life. My doctor said it’s like an autoimmune response and people’s bodies can sometimes develop allergies overnight depending on what’s going on in there body at the time. I had to get an epipen order and everything just to keep with me when I go out to eat just in case. Allergies that are severe are nothing to mess with!

[jen-cueva]

Brittany, I love hot water and heat packs but steam showers when I am congested for some reason do not help. It feels like I struggle to breathe more. I love soaking in a hot bath and often look like I have been sunburnt when I get out. It is fine unless I am congested.

Carol, I hope that you can get some relief soon. If it is the stuffiness, some could be from the Sildenafil. Allergies on top of PH certainly can be miserable. I hope that you can ask your doctors for something to help offer some relief.

Colleen, I am glad you were not getting any infection. I was worried about that cough for you. I am sure it is difficult with both allergies and asthma. My hubby has both pretty bad and at times, it can tough differentiating the two.

My throat has been itchy and my voice hoarse at times but I know it is allergies. My nose is been itchy, too. Even, Sasha, our mini schnauzer has bad allergies right now.

[Brittany Foster]

awwww, Jen! The poor doggy ! I hope that your pup is able to get some relief too. It’s interesting, I didn’t know that dogs could take human medications until my mom and dad’s dog was told to take benadryl because he itches almost CONSTANTLY. It seems to be helping him so he probably has an allergy to something that they just aren’t pinpointing. I always feel bad for how much he scratches. It must be painful!

[jen-cueva]

Thanks Brittany, Sasha is better today. Her Vet actually prescribes her cetrizine(Zyrtec) for her allergies. It is a much lower dose. We were trying chewable children’s Benadryl but they said this works better plus it is not needed veery few hours.

[Carol alexander]

Oh yea nose running and coughing not fun. Iam just missable

[Brittany Foster]

Carol,
I definitely am with you with this ! It is NOT fun at all. The running nose and scratchy throat just make things even more irritating, especially when using oxygen with activity and allergy symptoms along with using the oxygen, trying to keep the cannula as sanitary as possible, etc. NOT FUN! What works best for these symptoms for you? Are your prescribed anything for your allergies this time of year?

[Colleen]

As seasons change I struggle with both allergies and asthma. Over the weekend I thought I was coming down with something because I couldn’t stop coughing, but I think it was actually asthma attacks. I’m also experience a scratchy throat on and off which I believe is allergies. So yes, I can relate.

I enjoy extremely hot showers too. Like you Brittany, it starts out at what would be a tolerable temperature for someone else, but I gradually make it so hot I’m usually beat red when I get out.

My son really struggles with allergies to the point that his doctor put him on a low dose of claritan that for years, he has taken every night.

[Brittany Foster]

My cardiologist was going to prescribe me a prescription strength antihistamine but I was worried about taking it because I have such a strong reaction to benadryl to the point where I feel like I am high off something and it is NOT a good feeling, especially if you are anxious like me. I feel like I NEED to have that feeling of control over my body and hate feeling out of it from medications or from symptoms like being so foggy.

[Robin Webster]

UGH. Allergies drive me crazy. The worst for me is eyeballs that itch so bad I’d like to take them out and soak them in a jar of water overnight, not being able to get any oxygen into my nostrils because the sinuses are too swollen, AND that hideous, unending phlegmy cough. I can offer one tip that might help someone else as much as it has helped me. My primary care doctor one time told me to try hot lemonade (actual lemonade, not just lemon flavored drink) instead of hot tea, because it would “cut” the phlegm. I made a face of disgust, and he said, “You drink iced tea and hot tea. What’s the difference? Try it.” So I tried it, and it does work, and it actually doesn’t taste bad at all. When I have a really phlegmy morning or night, I heat up half a mug of lemonade and sip it, and it always does the trick. This fall I’ve even taken a jug of lemonade to the refrigerator at work so I can microwave some if the cough gets out of hand during the day, which it sometimes has.

[Brittany Foster]

Robin,
believe it or not I have actually heard of this before. My great, great, aunt before she passed away would always come over and make us black tea with LOTS of lemon in it. The flavor was really sweet at first but I can remember it seeming like a “cure all” for symptoms like you are talking about. Sometimes it’s these older remedies that work the best and do the trick! Thanks for the sharing that with us. It brought me back to the memories I have of my great aunt taking care of us when we weren’t feeling well. She also mixed cinnamon in it too.

[Robin Webster]

I had always heard to use honey and lemon in hot tea to help cut the phlegm, so I suppose hot lemonade shouldn’t have sounded to strange to me. LOL! But it really did. I think I’ll pay an homage to your aunt and tweak mine with a hint of cinnamon for fall! Thanks for that tip!

[Brittany Foster]

Robin,
I will do the same too and think of her ! She really had tons of natural remedies for EVERYTHING and there are so many days where I wish she was still around. She always helped me when I wasn’t feeling well by giving my feet a nice massage. Years later I learned more about reflexology and the benefits of massaging feet and the body and I thought “wow, she was really on to something!” I know all those little treatments at least just helped me feel better in the short term. She was awesome.

[jen-cueva]

Great tip, Robin! That must be why I used to try warm tequila with lemon and honey, Hehe It helped me sleep, anyway, and I felt like it helped some.

I love lemonade, so I will definitely remember this.

Ughh, I so can relate to clawing your eyeballs out. I have been there a few times.

[VK]

The worst part of allergy season is when your lungs can’t clear out all the phlegm generated by your upper respiratory tract.

I’m going to start buying stock in any company that manufactures fexofenadine (Allegra) pills…