Question inspired by what seems likely to be my mild, newly developed environmental allergies
Getting allergy shots while I have insurance.
In the meantie: daily antihistamine. Nasal spray and eye drops as needed.
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.
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?
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.
the only thing is some people take it for along time, and then get the withdrawal itch from it, if they suddenly stop.
Yeah I take those and mucinex
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.
Here in europe all the cheap stuff has “may contain…” (Nuts &cetera) , like flour, wtf.
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.
I just drug myself senseless.
- Antihistamines, 1 pill daily
- Nasal spray, as needed
- No open windows (this sucks extra hard since my allergies are in summer when it gets hot)
- Air purifier in bedroom
- Mandatory pre-bed shower
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
PSA: avoid flonase. it almost destroyed me.
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
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.
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.
