Gardening with Allergies!

[Shyaamist - closed]

I'm sure I am not the only one that has bad allergies. Mine are year round and change with the season. Do any of you wonderful friendly people have any tips or tricks to handle your allergies while you are working in your garden?

Thanks!!

[Grodgers]

Shyaamist,

I am blessed with every allergy known to man, the worst being my severe peanut allergy. Anyway, after years of suffering with Benedryl
knocking me out, my allergist recommended using Claritan Redi Tabs to start out with. They won't make you drowsy and the dosage is so small you can take other med's if it doesn't work. They work by melting on your tongue to get the active ingredient immediately into your bloodstream..making it possible to use the lowest dose possible. He also said it is impossible to over-dose or over-medicate yourself with these.

If that isn't strong enough, another one that works very well for me is Claritan 12 hour allergy. In Michigan, we have to show a driver's license to buy it because I guess too many kids will take half a box for a "high". I've used about every allergy med on the market and Claritin is the only one that keeps the allergies at bay and leaves you wide awake. If you go on their site, they have printable coupons if you want to try them out. I suppose
it being allergy season, most manufacturers will have coupons on their sites as well.

Good luck to you.....allergies are tough from now till fall.

[ultraviolet]

Allegra works better for me than Claritin, which has about the same effect as eating a sugar pill. (I'm actually allergic to Bendaryl and Zyrtec and/or the fillers in them - go figure)

The best help ever has been sodium ascorbate. It's a form of vitamin c and comes in a powder you mix with water. It stops a lot of my allergy symptoms in minutes. It takes a little bit of getting used to the salty taste, but really, you get used to it. No other form of vitamin c does the same - just the sodium ascorbate. I get mine off of Amazon (through Allhealth Trends) since I've never found it locally at any health food stores, but your mileage may vary.

The other thing - sinus flushes. My parents joke that it's like waterboarding yourself, but when I've been out in the garden, I always do one that evening. Don't go with a neti pot - it doesn't have enough force behind it especially if your sinus passages are swollen like mine are all of the time. Look for the Neilmed sinus rinse kit (Amazon has it, but if you have a Costco membership, they usually have them there for about half the price). I do something similar to the "flip-turn" flush". Without getting too graphic, until that I didn't realize one could have mold apparently growing in a sinus cavity.

[jumpingRabbit]

The only allergy medication that has worked for me is Benadryl, but I took it so many days in a row last year that it doesn't make me drowsy anymore.

Helpful things, though: wear a dust mask to help keep the pollen intake down, wash hands and face frequently, when you come in for the day take off all clothes and wash down (inlcuding hair). A pain, but if it's getting you badly this CAN help.

[kella]

Claritin 24-D and Benadryl work well for me. If the allergies are attacking my eyes severely, then Benadryl, other Claritin 24-D, because I get sinus pressure as well.

This has definitely been the worst season in many years for me. I've been literally unscathed the past2 years, but wow, has this year been making up for it. (achooooooo )

[Shyaamist - closed]

I have days where I feel like I could scratch my eyes out they itch so bad. It seems that the expensive meds don't work for me. Seems like I am stuck with the cheap benadryl etc ones.

[revos]

I use a prescription (Flonase) to control my allergies since Claritin and the like doesn't really help me too well. If you get congested, then I would second kella's recommendation of Claritin D.

[bowseratediddy]

Personally, most allergy pills don't do too much for me. I started taking Bee Caps and that has seemed to help with some of the pollen allergies - as well as a spoonful of local honey everyday. I usually take it in my tea/coffee or on toast. It's entirely possible that this is just a placebo effect, but even so it's better than nothing.

Other than that I agree with ultraviolet - the sinus rinse kits help a lot. Be sure to do it before your allergies get too bad however. If you wait until you're completely stuffed up instead of rinsing when it's getting bad and after you're completely done with gardening then it really doesn't work too well. There is only so much force it can shoot into your nose to get through the blockage and the worse you let it get the worse it will feel!

[jrstark]

I go with generic Claritin and nasal sprays like Simply Saline. If you do get blocked up, try the Breathe Right strips. I only use them when I really need them because they feel so annoying, but when you put them on right they work immediately. And Vicks works too, you can just sniff it if you don't want to rub it on.

Also, drink lots of water. It helps hydrate you and wash out stuff.

[Snuffy]

I HAD bad allergies for 45 years. What almost got completely rid of them was inhaling hydrogen peroxide. The first few days you'll swear at it, then you'll swear by it.