Sneezie.
If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know that my brain tries to shut down in winter. It just wants to hibernate until the sun and flowers come back out. Luckily for me, I live in the South where winter lasts about a month and a half, and this year we’ve already seen 78* days. My neighbors’ tulip tree is blooming. Hippie college kids are parked on the grassy Horseshoe campus on blankets braiding each other’s hair or whatever it is they do. Spring in February!
But what my brain doesn’t know is that my body doesn’t get quite as excited, unless excited means freaking out and falling apart. I have always had terrible seasonal allergies (spring and sometimes fall! Don’t be jealous that I get to be congested half the year!) and a bad coping skills related to health issues.
Tulip trees always jump the gun in spring. These aren't my neighbors'. I'm a weird neighbor, but not strange enough to start climbing through their yard with a camera.
I’ve been gobbling up allergy, sinus and pain relievers the last few days in an attempt to make my head and face area functioning. But, yesterday in class I was still sneezing, sniffling and dabbing my eyes as if biostatistics was getting me choked up.
According to WebMd, you should begin treating seasonal allergies about three weeks before they start. But, how was I supposed to know three weeks ago when it was literally freezing that spring would pop up so quickly?
So, I’m asking you: Do you have allergies and how do you cope with them? Or should I just give up and tell everyone around me to deal with my whiny, gross mess for the next few weeks/months?
I can hook you up with some AlleRx. I’m not putting up with sneezy Lizzie.
I don’t have allergies. I wish I had tips for you! I’m jealous you’ve seen 78 degrees!
I don’t suffer from allergies, but Kohy does. I just let him mope around sniffling, but we should probably find some solution to this. I’m sorry you’re feeling so sneezy! Hope the meds kick in soon.
Okay. Spring doesn’t bother me, but Fall does. I have a problem with ragweed
However, this is what I do and probably it will help. Won’t hurt.
First, I take about a teaspoon of raw, native honey daily. This is something you do all year to prepare you for Spring. Sorry. But you might as well start trying it. The honey must be raw (uncooked) and native (from around where you live). This is more expensive, but think of it as cheap for medicine. The processed pollen in honey is like an immunization against pollen. If it is raw, these substances are still live. If it is native, it protects against the pollens in your own area.
Second, during the allergy time, I blow my nose and wash my face every time it starts feeling itchy. Pollen looks like cactus, under a microscope, so no wonder it irritates us. If you wash it off your eyelids and nose and upper lip, often, it will not irritate as much. Then, after washing, I put a layer of hand lotion over my face, including eyelids. This provides a protective layer so the pollen that does fall on your skin will not prickle as much. I do this washing and lotioning about three times a day, but more if needed.
Fourth, if I feel like I’m just miserable in my face, I hold a hot, drippy washcloth over my face for ten or fifteen minutes, renewing the heat if needed. I don’t scald myself but it’s as hot as I’d ever want a bath to be. This draws the hystamines to the surface of the skin. It will make you itch for awhile, but you will know when to quit: when the itching stops. It is amazing. Hystamines are what make you itchy, stuffy, drippy, etc. Anti-hystamines stop the hystamines. Some. But heat draws it all out at once and your body cannot make more for quite a while, like four to eight hours. So, if you heat the skin on your face until it stops itching, you should have good relief. Combine that with the washing and lotion from above might just make you impervious.
Fifth. I take plenty of vitamin C. I like the Emergen-C brand, which is a carbonated stir-in that delivers more quickly. Vitamin C is a natural anti-hystamine. Also, it helps you body fight invaders and helps keep sinus infections at bay. This is a little inelegant, but you might want to max out on Vitamin C, taking another dose every hour until you’ve had all your body needs, which means you will find your stools loose. That is from the C and a good indicator you have had enough. Step it down one dose and use that reduced dose, daily, for the following days to help dry up the nose. Sorry it is so gross to self-dose but you will learn how much your body needs during these times, and that test is just for the first time.
I also do use chemicals, like sudaphed and benedryl. They do help me some, and are simpler than some of the newer things you have no idea what they are. With sudaphed being a controlled substance, thanks to the creepo’s, you must sign for it and may have to get friends you get you more, but both medicines are cheap.
I sure hope this helps you. Please feel free to email me if you do not understand some of this. And let me know if it helps.
Oh! I forgot one of the most important things: stop all sugar. Maybe allow some fruit, but all other sugar should be dropped. Sugar just ruings your immunities.
‘ruins’
As someone who has suffered from allergies their entire life, let me tell you something you need to try: RAW LOCAL HONEY!!
I’m seeing a holistic nurse practitioner and she got me started on it. You have to buy honey that is raw and local to your area. The idea is that the bees pollinate the trees, grass, and flowers…but by ingesting a small amount of the pollen each day, your body becomes immune to the histamine. I thought it was complete hooie when she told me about this, but it has absolutely changed my life…or at least stopped me from wanting to scratch my eyes out and hack up a lung.
I bought my honey from a local bee dealer, but if you check Earth Fair or Whole Foods they would probably have co-oped with a local bee keeper in your area. Lizzie, seriously…try it. It takes about a month to kick in fully but you’ll probably see results after the first week.
As far as what you can do with the honey, you can drizzle it on fruit, smear it on bread (it’s really good paired with peanut butter), stir it into yogurt, or just eat a spoonful.
Sorry this is the longest comment EVER. Hope it helps!
* also…don’t heat the honey. It makes it less effective. If you heat it (cook with it or put it in hot tea) it’s no longer raw. FYI