Am I supposed to just suffer...? UPDATE post #20

[tanyam926]

I have posted about this before but only got one response, but it's getting worse and I REALLY need help. This affects my ability to function on a daily basis so I am hoping that someone here has a suggestion or an idea of what I should try next...

So, my issue is horrible seasonal allergies, except it's all year long. I get headaches almost every day, I can feel sinus congestion and pressure, sometimes the headaches are so bad that NOTHING will get rid of them. I feel like I am in so much pain that I can't even take care of my kids very well. It's like I can't live my life the way I want to anymore.

Background info: I don't remember having any allergies at all until I moved from the NW part of the country to the SW as a teen. It seems like my symptoms have gotten worse every year and significantly worse after the birth of ea of my 3 children. I have lived in 3 different cities and in 6 different residences in this state so I don't think it's my house.

I have tried nasal rinses, bee pollen and raw honey, Allernone, Zone 6, and other homeopathic remedies, Claritin, Allegra, Flonase, a couple of other meds that I can't recall the names of and I am now taking Xyzal which is an EXTREMELY expensive allergy med (like after my insurance and the $20 coupon from the drug manufacturer I have to pay $67). It makes my headaches less often and manageable w/ OTC pain meds, but has not eradicated the headaches or the congestion. I am taking OTC pain meds every day lately (it's windy here and everything is blooming), as well as Benadryl and I want to get off of all the drugs!

I don't know what to do anymore! I am so frustrated bc it is so expensive to try all kinds of different things to see what works.

I feel like this is not normal and there has to be an underlying cause, but I don't know what the next step should be.

So any suggestions? Acupuncture? Chiropractic? Anything? I am desperate and I hate spending so much $ on a drug that doesn't work very well when I don't want to be taking drugs in the first place.

I'm happy to provide any additional info if you need it. I am really hoping someone can point me in the right direction or give me some BTDT advise.

Thanks!

[lil_miss_understood]

have you tested for food allergies on top of the environmental?
you may also find many of the detox pathways threads in the Allergies forum to be of interest. They focus on increasing nutrients (often through supplements) in order to minimize allergic reactions.

[meg-momto2]

this might sound out there but do you have any food intolerances/allergies?

i recently went gluten free after suffering major sinuses inflammation for almost two years. within a week i was off constant pain medication and could feel the inflammation getting better everyday. all the allergy meds my ENT and allergist recommended did nothing but make me feel worse. now i see that seasonal allergies was not the true problem. this past weekend the pollen was in full bloom here and my allergies are nothing compared to what i felt like on gluten.

[karika]

I second the vote for IgG testing. Are you already 100% dairy (casein), gluten, soy and corn free? I believe you are suffering from a food intolerance. Stop ingesting all GMO foods (anything not labeled GMO free or organic likely contains at least one GMO component) and preservatives and food dyes. Get dairy, and soy out of your diet 100%, and all obvious forms of corn. Gluten may be the cause also, or it may be just wheat. If you take the allergy tests you will know for sure what foods it is. This site tells you how to eat this way http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm and this page has links to show you all the names gluten, dairy and soy hide under http://gfcf-diet.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm (it is almost halfway down). You can order these tests without a doctor, or with one. You can find an allergist or nutritionist to help you get them ordered, or use the online doctors, or just get them yourself... I believe it is caused by something you are ingesting. I had a horrible cough and stopped using all forms of canola and it went away (I am also GFCFSFCF)... good luck.

[PGTlatte]

My first thought was also a food intolerance. I would go for both IgE and skin testing of the top food allergens, and eliminate anything that comes up for a few months and see if there is some improvement.

I never thought I had a food allergy but I spent much of every winter from childhood on with respiratory problems that were eventually diagnosed as asthma. When I eliminated dairy for several years to keep nursing two allergic kids, it went away - completely. Now I have dairy back in my diet...and I've had the worst winter in years, with a very bad asthma flare and a case of near-pneumonia, a gagging cough that won't go away, and daily headaches. I'm convinced it's having dairy back in my system. I know it sounds strange but food allergies really can work like this.

[Purple*Lotus]

Yes, I agree, have you thought about a food allergy?

At any rate, I am sorry you are going through this, that sounds miserable

[outlier]

I'm so sorry to hear you're suffering. I had bad seasonal allergies from the time I was little until I was 22 or 23. I did years of allergy shots, took allergy meds every day, slept every night propped up on pillows so I didn't choke on sinus drainage, had sinus headaches, etc. I really feel for you.

I know this is not an easy answer, but is there any chance you could move back to where your allergies were not a problem? I grew up in agriculture-intensive state and my allergies didn't fully disappear until I moved away (I'm in a more livestock-producing place now). My allergy doctor when I was a kid liked to joke that his prescription for me was to move to California. With the symptoms you describe, your quality of life is simply not what it should be, and only you can say what personal sacrifices would be worth improving your health. My allergies are gone now, and there's not a job opportunity in the world that would ever make me consider moving back to my home state.

My own personal anecdote that will likely be of no help:
My allergies first started going away after I spent a spring in a very buggy location. I was bitten by mosquitoes every day, along with the not-so-occasional horse fly, ant, spider, and tick. Yes, I was miserable, and I know the timing was most likely a coincidence, but it seemed like for the first time in my life my immune system finally had something else to react to than the air I was breathing. Who cares about pollen when your skin is a red, itchy mess of bug bites? I only needed allergy pills for a brief time that year. I moved away a couple years after that spring and haven't needed any allergy pills since then.

One other thing I've read about on one of the forums here (Traditional Foods? not sure) is that drinking raw milk from local cows and goats that ingest the same pollens and other allergens that you're exposed to can help with allergies. I cannot vouch for this at all as I've never tried it, but it may be something else to try.

I wish you the best of luck with getting this figured out!

[BellinghamCrunchie]

I had them that bad in the SW US. I have them in the PNW, too, but its limited to about 6 weeks out of the year.

While I was in the SW out of desperation I did the desensitization shots. Its a pain to go in twice a week but after several months, I noticed a big difference. If you're really suffering, its probably the most effective thing to do (and I've done EVERYTHING else).

[pianojazzgirl]

Do you have a HEPA filter in your home? It might help.

I also just read something somewhere very recently about methylating and allergies... something about folate and b12 I think. It was just a little blurb in something else that I was reading and I didn't pay that much attention. I'll try to find the link again....

ETA here is one link I found from googling: folate and allergies but it wasn't what I was looking at earlier.

You might be interested in doing some reading about methylation and histamine.

[rhiandmoi]

I have severe seasonal allergies normally, but in the last 6 months I started putting wheat grass in my smoothies an an unexpected side effect is a huge reduction in my allergies. I don't know why or how it is working, but I know it is. For my job I am exposed to an ungodly amount of pollen and I can last nearly 2 hours outdoors now before getting ANY symptoms instead of having symptoms 24-7. I did get myself going a couple of weeks ago, but with 2 days of antihistamines and nasal rinses I got myself sorted.

Oh and to the PP whose Dr. recommended moving to CA to help with allergies, . Yeah right. We've got nothing but pollen here year round. Seriously there is always something in bloom here. Even in the 2 big metros (I've lived in both) there is pollen galore, and the rest of the state is nothing but farms.

Oh, one more thing, have you ever done a combination therapy? My mom does a Claritin plus Pepcid plus Flonase. In certain years I have done Claritin plus Flonase. Actually IMO doing a topical like Flonase makes the biggest difference because it reduces the inflammation right there in the nasal cavity.

[SquishyKitty]

How long were you on the flonase? I ask because I was on it for a couple of years, and it actually takes a couple of weeks before you really start to see improvements with it. it's not something you can take and feel results within hours, you know? But for me, once it starts working, it works wonderfully.

I hope you can find something to help you out.

[Violet2]

The only suggestion I can think of is to use Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo with the nasal irrigation--this has really helped my mom and it was her ENT that recommended it.

Previously, she used pulmicort in the neti pot which is an off label use but that helped too.



V

[FireWithin]

I am in 100 percent agreement about checking out food allergies and detox pathways. That is what put my misery to an end.

Since you are already shelling out a lot of money, I would consider a high quality homeopath who could give you a constitutional remedy. This has helped many many people too

[mbravebird]

You mentioned acupuncture -- I think that would be a really good direction for you to go in. You can do it even before you figure out if there are food issues or detox pathway issues, which there might be. And if you start treating those issues, acupuncture will really help support that, as well.

Have you ever had acupuncture? It's really really relaxing, and amazingly effective. I say get thee to an acupuncturist.

[KimPM]

Here's another vote for food allergy testing - both IgG and IgE (or food elimination testing that you can do yourself).

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by pianojazzgirl

I also just read something somewhere very recently about methylating and allergies... something about folate and b12 I think. It was just a little blurb in something else that I was reading and I didn't pay that much attention. I'll try to find the link again....

ETA here is one link I found from googling: folate and allergies but it wasn't what I was looking at earlier.

You might be interested in doing some reading about methylation and histamine.

I think it's worth mentioning that methylation is one of the 7 "detox pathways" we have been discussing for the last year and a half in the Allergies forum.
Here's a link to the detox and biochem discussions that started it off.

[tanyam926]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!


You all have given me so much to think about, I feel hopeful that I can figure this out now.

To answer some questions:

I do think that I have some food intolerances/allergies. I can't drink pasteurized cows milk (raw is fine but I don't have a source anymore), and can only eat sprouted wheat bread. I get stomache aches and gas when I eat the wrong things. The food issues have definately gotten worse over the years and it seems like in the last yr have gotten really bad.

I have thought about and half heartedly tried to go GF and DF, but it's a real challenge. I have done it before, when ds2 was a baby bc he couldn't tolerate any gluten, dairy or corn.

I will check out that thread in the Allergies forum and see what I can dig up that might help.

I live in an apt, so I don't have a hepa filter, can I get one of those for my rental? I will have to look into it.

I used flonase a while back but I remember it was several months that I used it.

I don't know anything about acupuncture, but I am willing to try anything that might help and get my body in a healthy balance.

My whole body is just out of whack. I try to address the issues nutritionally but there are many yrs of damage to fix.

So my plan of attack:

Get dairy, gluten, corn and soy COMPLETELY out of my diet. This will take a lot of work but I am invested in feeling better.

Check out the detox link, maybe this will help and give me some ideas on what supplements I need to be taking and in what amounts.

Thanks again, and if you guys have any more ideas I am all ears.

I don't know why, but I never thought that it could be food allergies, I didn't connect the congestion to that. Thanks for making that connection for me. It sounds like it might be the answer.

[Cheshire]

Food allergies and seasonal allergies are very closely related - you can research which plants are related and figure out what to avoid.

I would go with the elimination diet and keep a very detailed food diary. My DH had IgG and IgE testing and found out a few new things he hadn't considered being allergic to (cane sugar, mustard, thyme, cinnamon, etc.). But, the testing did not show allergies to oranges or lettuce. He can't eat those and any other fresh fruits or veggies because it causes intense itching and swelling of his lips, tongue, mouth, etc. We figure the testing didn't catch it because he he hasn't eaten those types of foods in so long that his immune system hadn't been exposed to it to show a reaction.

Thus, my recommendation to do both the testing and the old fashioned elimination diet.

My DH is now medication free except for all but the worst seasonal allergy days around here. Once he figured out what he couldn't eat and he cut it out of his diet his seasonal allergies calmed down considerable. His body doesn't react like it is under constant attack anymore.

Best wishes!

[KimPM]

Just wanted to mention that it's possible for you to react to anything you eat, it doesn't have to be just gluten, dairy, soy, or corn. So if removing those doesn't help, then you might consider other foods as well, or getting a blood test to find out what kinds of foods it might be (could be several).

[tanyam926]

Update

Thanks for the help everyone!

I have figured out that my headaches are caused by food allergies like many of you suggested. I went completely GF and DF about a month ago and have had almost no headaches at all. The couple of headaches I have gotten are the day after I ate something I wasn't supposed to at the beginning of the trial.

I also think corn may be causing congestion and headaches so I have been off of all corn for a few days, once I made the connection.

I am wondering if I will be able to drink goats milk bc I have a good source for raw goats milk and I really love it. I have some and tried it but I don't know if it was causing congestion bc I still had the corn in my system. So I haven't had any for the past couple of days, I'm planning to try it again in another couple of days to see what happens.

I would love to be able to make kefir w/it, in fact I did already and it's waiting in the fridge for me to make into a smoothie.

I will be really sad if I have to say no to the goat milk too. It's been difficult to cut so much out of my diet but I am sticking w/it bc I feel so much better. I hate being a slave to the headaches.

Thanks again!