Hay Fever

[TomB]

Here in Finland we are suffering from the worst hay fever season in memory. It seems everything is flowering at the same time and coupled with two weeks of wonderful dry weather (15-20C) the air quality is very poor. My lungs feel as though they are full of pollen and other irritants and getting sufficient air while rowing is tough. Has anyone any good anti hay fever remedies? Or is it grin and bear it?

[johnlvs2run]

Rinsing my sinuses with water and sea salt helps to flush out the pollen.

Regular salt or epsom salts work well too.

[Hal Morgan]

Go to the Doctor.

[johnlvs2run]

He asked for a remedy, not how to get sick, silly boy.

[krytie3]

Tom;

Here in the northeastern portion of the US we are also having a record pollen season.

My own personal experience has been that the corticosteroid nasal sprays( eg. Nasonex, Flonase, --mometasone or fluticasone) work great. The only side effect that bothers me with them is a slight increase in nose bleeds, which for me is a small enough price to pay for the very significant relief( I have absolutely no nasal or sinus stuffiness,drainage or infections while on them whereas without them I am miserable and eventually get a sinus infection and bronchitis).

Allegra(fexofenadine HCl tablets) also has helped me a great deal but recently it seemed to not work as well as the corticosteroid nasal sprays.

Other folks have recommended saline nasal rinses which I confess I have only tried on a few occaisons. It seemed to me that the nasal corticosteroid sprays last longer and require fewer applications throughout the day(once or perhaps twice daily) whereas the nasal saline rinses have to be applied much more frequently. Perhaps someone else who has more experience with these would care to comment.


Hope you find some relief soon.

[krytie3]

Tom;

Here in the northeastern portion of the US we are also having a record pollen season.

My own personal experience has been that the corticosteroid nasal sprays( eg. Nasonex, Flonase, --mometasone or fluticasone) work great. The only side effect that bothers me with them is a slight increase in nose bleeds, which for me is a small enough price to pay for the very significant relief( I have absolutely no nasal or sinus stuffiness,drainage or infections while on them whereas without them I am miserable and eventually get a sinus infection and bronchitis).

Allegra(fexofenadine HCl tablets) also has helped me a great deal but recently it seemed to not work as well as the corticosteroid nasal sprays.

Other folks have recommended saline nasal rinses which I confess I have only tried on a few occaisons. It seemed to me that the nasal corticosteroid sprays last longer and require fewer applications throughout the day(once or perhaps twice daily) whereas the nasal saline rinses have to be applied much more frequently. Perhaps someone else who has more experience with these would care to comment.


Hope you find some relief soon.

[TLCoons]

Tom,
Every year I suffer from seasonal allergies that twice a year used to turn into sinus infections -- always requiring antibiotics to return life to normal. I became desperate and tried a natural solution that changed my world. John mentioned this sinus irrigation in an earlier response to your post.

Please explore the following link for more information and customer testimonials:

http://www.healthandyoga.com/sinus.html

Here's the deal; I've now been doing this jala neti twice a day (once in morning and once at night, and more when needed) for the past three years and haven't since had to deal with a sinus infection. I still take claritin for dealing with the allergies but the sinus irrigation vastly improves my ability to handle sinus congestion.

It feels good (believe it or not); it costs next to nothing; it helps me to breathe better, smell better, and relieves sinus pressure. Please consider this as a possible solution to your issues.

I wish you well... tlc

[Uncle Russ]

Here in South Texas, we have terrible allergy problems. I have had them for years and typically would get massive exercise-induced asthma attacks once or twice a year. Having been on a regimen of the (Allegra(fexofenadine HCl tablets) mentioned by another poster (one per day) PLUS two squirts of Flonase (there is now a cheaper generic available--at least here in the States,) I have gone 27 months without an attack.

[Ray79]

Rinsing my sinuses with water and sea salt helps to flush out the pollen.

Regular salt or epsom salts work well too.

So you are telling me that you rinse your sinuses John? That is the air filled spaces in the front of your skull and your maxilla.
Or do you really mean you rinse you nasal airways? A more believable scenario but must still be a fairly uncomfortable sensation.

I used to get hayfever years ago as a child but since I was about 17 I havent really been troubled by it (cue a bad dose this year )
I cant really suggest any remedys for it, just try and avoid prolonged exposure to the poor air and keep facial hair (eyebrows, eyelashes, beards) etc clean and free from pollen. And if you feel i bout coming on then retreat inside immediately.

[johnlvs2run]

TLC,

I'm glad this works for you too.

I just use a plastic bowl, with pure water and sea salt, cupping some of the water in my hand and flushing my sinuses.

This flushes my sinuses very quickly and easily.

If my sinuses are particulary congested I just do this again a bit later.

[Sasha]

I'm in the middle Atlantic (US) pollen zone with asthma and recurrent sinus infections. I use the exact same regimen as Uncle Ben, above. I also make sure that I wash my hair before going to sleep and have an inexpensive air cleaner in the bedroom. I feel much better and I no longer get two sinus infections a year.

[Sean Seamus]

Jala neti is, for me, one of the nicest and pleasantest things imaginable.
I have done it daily for years. The benefits are far reaching.

It is not really the same as "snuffing up" water - which is also kind of nice, and I occasionally do that when in very dusty situations, as a sort of stop-gap

One requires a neti pot, which essentially is just like a small tea pot, and the warmed salt water is poured into one nostril, and with the head held sideways, the liquid drains through the other. Use pure salt, not iodized. There is a technical pharmaceutical term for the strength of the solution which I have not to hand, but 1 teaspoon per liter of water will yield the product. I use tap water and let it sit 24 hours to release the chlorine. The water is warmed, NOT hot - again years ago I knew the temperature required, but now I "just know" by touching the water if it is the "right" warmth. Too hot or too cold is very unpleasant - rather like the "right" temperature for a bath . . .

After, the drainage is completed with some gentle exhalations while the head is held upside down - THIS IS AN OVERLY SIMPLIFIED DESCRIPTION, but essentially correct - google about and you will find more info, or better, find a yogi to teach you.

There is a bit of advanced usage that an adept will explore, but when teaching jala neti to students I leave it at this, until they show . . . interest in knowing more. It has been very gratifying to see a few persons who have dramatically benefitted.

One does NOT "fill" the sinuses doing this - that would be a setup for Problems ! I did read once a plausible explanation involving the concept of the Venturi Effect, how the mild vacuum effect of the drainage procedure draws material from the opening of the sinuses. I am not competent to evaluate the medical aspects. It certainly works for me, and I have seen it aid others.

~ Sean

[Ducatista]

I've had great luck with my neti pot: bought it last fall in anticipation of cold and flu season, and then never got enough of a sniffle to warrant taking it out of the box. Apparently the purchase alone did the trick.

For allergies, I take 20mg of loratidine (generic Claritin) daily. Works pretty well.

[johnlvs2run]

I had asthma from age 3 to age 5.

None of the medical interventions worked but made me miserable. I usually ran around screaming after the shots and one time managed to knock the syringe off the *** DELETE - SPAM *** table and it broke. They decided to try "not doing anything" for awhile.

I then devised a set of breathing exercises that got rid of the asthma and I've not ever had it again.

I have never taken any medications or drugs to try and get rid of asthma.

To the contrary, those who take the medications are the ones who still have the asthma!

From the results that are evident to anyone, the medical interventions are useless and are simply intended to get people hooked long term on the drugs and with no useful or beneficial results to the patients.

This begs the question, which is better, being patient or impatient? I would say that being patient is better. Since being patient is better, then why go to someone who is impatient to try and get beneficial results? Obviously the quacks are the impatients and, therefore, are not good. It would be better the impatients come to us, and we could give them some kind of drugs or herbs or whatever to try and teach them to be patient. However futile the effort might be, if it quacks like a quack it's a quack, at least these would be steps in a much better direction than the way things are with them now.

[Jim Barry]

A few years ago a cold in combination with a flight with a snuffed head knocked me into a sinus infection situation that leaves me vunerable to sinus infections. Over the last few days I've been suffering from hay fever, something that gets to me now and again (it rains yellow pollen from the pine trees here in Maine). This morning I was feeling the pressure in the sinuses building..headache coming on..not good. Just today I bought a saline spray . This is doing the trick to get them to drain naturally. I feel the hay fever has passed so hopefully I'll be on track again in a few days.