hay fever 🌿🍃💨

[digimon]

my allergies feel like they've been getting worse and worse over the past few years. i get seasonal allergies from things like pollen and other outdoor allergens. last year i thought i was maybe developing an allergy to dust or something, but i only really noticed that i'd experience symptoms after being outside. anyone else experience hay fever/seasonal allergies? if so c: are there any remedies that you find help you get through flare ups? i find doing a sinus rinse helps clear everything out so i can breath through my nose again

 

[Saylor]

I feel like mine have gotten worse too I never thought of myself as having seasonal allergies but in the past couple years I've gone through periods where I just sneeze constantly. Mostly I use Flonase to help me! I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes but I also just try to drink extra water and get lots of vitamin C.

 

[Zerous]

I've always joked that if something's alive, I'm probably mildly allergic to it hah. I'm allergic to lots of pollens and plants, as well as most fur and dust. For me, my management is mainly ensuring things like pillows and bedding is frequently washes, areas of the house that get dusty are wiped down, and antihistamines when I need them - for me I mainly have loratadine, and sometimes polaramine/dexchlorpheniramine, but I think long-term usage can have affects on your heart and stuff so I generally only do when it's really bad. Sometimes when I'm having a bad flare up I've also done the hot bowl of water under my face, or had a warm shower to try to help clear my sinuses?
I don't personally do it but yeah I've heard sinus flushes help a lot, my dad who also has perennial allergies uses them!

I also have undergone desensitisation a couple years back - getting increasing doses of allergens injected over a year or two, which did help! In the end it reduced my hay fever severity by probably about half? based on the skin prick test at least. But it is expensive and time consuming, and requires lots of needles, so I get it wouldn't be good for a lot of people. But I'm happy I did it, as my allergies are more manageable now.

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

I have non-allergic rhinitis and so I get symptoms pretty much year round, some days/weeks are worse than others. I use a nasal spray (nasonex) and it kinda helps, as does sleeping with my head a bit more elevated than I usually do (I tend to sleep with one pillow or none). There's this other nasal spray that worked amazingly for me in the US but the doctor in Australia refused to write me a prescription for it since it's apparently addictive or something.

I have been really considering trying the nasal rinse thing but I'm honestly scared to do so

 

[OswinOswald]

I had pretty bad hay fever as a kid, but thankfully I’ve been doing better as an adult.
But I did notice periods of time where my hay fever flared up when I moved to different areas, like when I moved to the East Coast. I think sometimes it’s better in LA because it’s drier. But then also worse in LA because of the winds.
I am also in the last year taking a daily antihistamine. I used to only take it as needed, so like during the spring, and I knew things got better as I got older because I had to take it less and less. But this year I offered to let someone live with me who has cats, and I’m allergic (mildly) to cats, so I’m just taking allergy meds as a precaution.

Ok, now for full disclosure - I am an ENT so I talk about this stuff all the time with patients

Sinus rinses are like one of the first things I recommend to everyone. I say it’s like washing your hands. Thankfully the pandemic taught most people the importance of washing hands haha. I think a lot of people are afraid to take medicines. So I tell them the sinus rinse is just salt water and we are 70% salt water!
That said, I definitely have tried it on myself, and it’s not fun! Like jumping in the pool and getting a big splash of water up your nose. I crinkle my nose just thinking about that sensation haha
But I think people learn to love it because it makes them feel good after
That’s how I feel about washing my hands. I was SOOO resistant to it as a kid. But then I finally bought liquid soap as an adult because my parents always had bar soap, and I realized it made a big difference for me. Also as I got older I understood the importance of washing my hands too. So now I’m definitely into hand washing.

I also second the comments about:
Intranasal steroids like Flonase or Nasonex
An antihistamine (preferably non drowsy, like loratadine/cetirizine/fenofexadine/levocetirizine) but if Benadryl works for you and you don’t mind getting knocked out (sometimes that’s intentional!) then go for it!
Avoid long term Decongestants (taking Sudafed every day, or something like Claritin-D)
But otherwise just the antihistamine alone is usually safe to take every day

And you have to keep your environment clean!
Obviously I’m living with cats and I’m allergic to cats.
So I keep them out of my room. (They’re still sneaky buggers though and I have to chase them out of here occasionally!) I also actually don’t hang out in the common room as often as I’d like because their cat hair is everywhere and my roommate never cleans, and I’m too exhausted to constantly clean so I can exist out there
I bought a couch with fabric that doesn’t trap as much cat hair (I can’t stand leather couches, so this was the compromise for me)
I have hardwood floors. I sweep frequently in the areas I exist in. This is my recommendation not just for pet hair of course. No curtains, we have blinds.
The only recommendation I usually give that I don’t follow is having a HEPA filter. I’m renting and I haven’t changed the air filters in my unit personally, otherwise I’d get one that has the higher rating for allergies.

And then there are always immunotherapy options (allergy shots). I haven’t tried those myself either. Oh, for those who don’t like shots, there are allergy Drops you can take. But it is a long commitment (3-5 years) and drops are usually not covered by insurance. But I think some people realize for them, it is worth the cost and effort. If I were living with cats long term, I might consider going through with it for 3-5 years so I’d never have to worry about it again.

Anyway, I had a lot of people tell me in the last week that their allergies have been really bad. I haven’t noticed it personally, but I wonder if it has been really windy in the area, or if there’s some other type of pollen that’s really high in the area recently. I thought fall wasn’t usually as bad of a season for folks, but I’m learning in this area it certainly is!

 

[Kitsuragi]

i think i have hay fever, i can't tell- either that or i have some other sort of allergies. unfortunately, i don't find that allergy meds help and i can't have decongestants so i just use breath right strips and cry about it

 

[nightglow]

I heard getting some local honey in your diet regularly can help with outdoor allergies because the honey is made with the local plants. May be something to look into and read more about.
Hope you find relief soon. I know fall allergies can be beastly simply because of all the crop harvesting and grain silos.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I used to not have issues with allergies, but a few years ago I learned that I'm allergic to ragweed (which is very common here around July-November), and I think I've recently developed a dog/cat allergy as well. I may need to have another allergy test done soon to see if anything has changed, it's been about two years since I last had one done.

I stay on top of it by washing all of my sheets/blankets once a week and my mattress topper once a month, and I dust/sweep my room a few times a week. and with that I use Flonase once a day, it's the most effective antihistamine I've used.

 

[Neb]

My allergies tend to happen in the Spring. I’m allergic to grass pollen and juniper trees while they bloom and since I’m surrounded by both I become a sneezing mess once that time of year comes. One of the many reasons Winter is my favorite season is that I don’t have to deal with allergies.