Watery eyes

Now with update!

Seasonal allergies. I forget I have them. In fact, I only realized that's what they were when I was mentally describing myself to myself this morning as "It feels like I'm swimming around in a vat of jello." And I remembered that that's what it felt like last year. Funny how storytelling is my main sensory mode.

Anyway, last year I tried Claritin, and the other one (Zyrtec?), and neither gave me enough relief for the side effects they caused. Since this is a 6-week problem for me, it doesn't seem to be worth going through getting allergy shots.

Then I thought about the children, and all the little kids who go through this every year, and who can't be medicated to the teeth, either. (Hey, did you know the number 1 symptom of environmental allergies in little kids is dark circles under the eyes?)

So, what do you have for me and all of us on natural treatments for seasonal allergies, that will work for adults and children? I'm going to try the Zicam nose gel stuff first, and will let you know how it goes. But what else has worked? It seems to me that acupuncture should work on this, but has anyone tried it? Vitamin supplements? Eating local honey helps a little, but not enough for me. Self-hypnosis? Any kind of wacky leaves or berries I can ingest orally or or use as a poultice?

Update: Based on advice from the comments, I'm not going to try the nose gel. Instead, I'm mainlining Vitamin C in the form of EmergenC powder (raspberry flavor, to be specific). I'm going to try for 3,000 mgs a day for this next week.

Comments

[hush]

For adults who have tried everything else & are ready to be done with the stuffy nose, itchy eyes etc, I enthusiastically second @Brooke (3/24 1:11pm) about the benefits of Rx nasal spray. Generic Flonase (fluticasone propionate) spray has completely rid DH and me of all of our horrific seasonal allergies we had been suffering from since childhood. Amazing!

[Fakey]

Quercetin and neti pot, both at least daily during allergy season, more often as needed.

That has been my miracle sinus/nose fix, almost as good as Flonase.

I have also heard good things about tumeric, which is an anti-inflammatory. And it would probably make you smell like curry, too!

My eyes though...I have to use prescription drops (Patanol). But they've been better since I started the quercetin.

[SB]

This will sound bizarre, but have you tried eliminating gluten? Sometimes a gluten reaction can manifest as hypersensitivity to other allergens. I've heard several colleagues report their seasonal allergies abated after going gluten-free.

[zed]

I just worked out that my 3 year old son has seasonal allergies; at first I thought it was a cold, then pink eye, then I realized I'd called the doctor last year this time about what I thought was pink eye. He has shiners, and folds under his red eyes. He's constantly rubbing his eyes. Poor guy. After reading a little about some side effects of zyrtec in kids I'm reluctant to even try him on that, though I did get the eye drops for him. I used benadryl a few times at night and that helped, but I'm not comfortable giving him that all the time. Sigh, we'll see what his ped says next week.

[kathleen999]

Claritin does nothing for me anymore, so I'm doing Zyrtec. I also did an alternative therapy (acupuncture-based) that worked wonders for me, but I still react to a couple of things (down from several hundred things) and the trees blooming are one of them. I recommend an air cleaner for your bedroom, and humidifiers in other rooms to keep the air from getting too dry. Not sure what happens if you put a humidifier and an air cleaner in the same room.

But acupuncture helps a lot but you have to go at least once a week during the period you have allergies. Also I have heard great things about the neti pot although I have yet to try it. And when you come in from outdoors, take your clothes off, put them in the laundry, take a shower (if possible) and that gets a lot of the pollen off you, so you'll be comfortable.

Also, my former allergist told me that allergies are like a bucket...a little dust, some foods you are sensitive to, some pollen, all that adds to what is in your "bucket." Then suddenly you add one more thing and boom...you get a reaction like sneezing or coughing or watery eyes. So the more you can reduce the load on your body of what it is exposed to, the less you will react. That's probably why the neti pot helps...it washes all that stuff out of the nasal passages so there is less to react to.

And here's the link to the allergy therapy I did. It really changed my life. I never knew if was possible to eat without being in pain (I've had many food allergies all my life.)
http://www.naet.com/
I am not affiliated in any way with these people, just can vouch for its effectiveness (in spite of the weirdness of it).

[Seasonal Allergies]

Amazing post.. I tend to get these allergies with some symptoms told above.. Thanks for sharing..
https://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&send_id=817789614&email=7cff47bb7cdcb76fbfa15e66c81a1961

[Louise]

SB, did you get an answer about the eyes? My 2 yr old son has the same issues, and the Patanol eye drops prescribed by the Pediatrician I just discovered is not recommended for kids under three yrs old (so much for relying on the Pediatrician's expertise!!!!).
Please share!

[laser vision surgery]

Well, for me n expert eye must identify the need for specific procedure and be responsible for conducting the procedure safely. Remember prevention is better than a cure,so make sure that you have an eye care examination.

jayn

[WEL]

MAXIDEX DEXAMETHASONE WARNING

I had eye surgery and in the post-op pack was MAXIDEX(dexamethasone) drops by ALCON LABS.

Two days later I was BLIND

Use Google and enter EPOCRATES MAXIDEX REACTION to verify

Or call 800-757-9195

DEATH COUNT is on ehealthme.com