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[11C11]

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Edited by 11C11 - 8/29/11 at 8:18am

[lapoucelle]

Many people find that when they take nettle about 6 weeks in advance of spring they find relief from hayfever symptoms- it also has the added benefit of being high in iron and other vitamins and perfectly safe during pregnancy.  My suggestion would be to begin taking the tea daily and then when you are further along in your pregnancy (after 5 months) have a raspberry leaf/nettle blend. It's not an overnight "cure" but you will definitely find relief with consistent use. Good luck!

[lapoucelle]

One other thing that I thought I might add! People have been raving lately about taking local honey as a sort of "shot" of immunity to the local pollen etc.., I haven't tried it but it couldn't hurt anything to try :)

[11C11]

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Edited by 11C11 - 8/29/11 at 8:18am

[lapoucelle]

No worries, I am a Certified Herbalist and I have no problem suggesting for a women to take nettle alongside her prenatal supplement. If you have any concerns at all definitely ask your midiwife .

[crazykittymomma]

I'm taking my midwife's (also a certified herbalist) allergy tincture which is nettle and eyebright. She also has me taking 10,000 IUs of vitamin D. So far, I haven't been able to quit the claritin, but it does help a bit.

[Abraisme]

Honestly, in my last pregnancy I researched this a lot and didn't come up with a good answer.  The options were to take about 20-30 pills of nettles every day (which might work a little) or to take Claritin.  I decided that it was better for me to take Claritin and feel good than it was to sit around in agony or take tons and tons of nettles..  Good luck.

[MrsBone]

Herbalists out there, please assure me that what I've been drinking is okay during pregnancy(my midwife seemed to think it was fine), but I've been drinking Holy Basil(tulsi tea) for a few weeks now and it's been helping tremendously! I also have found that taking local honey and using a neti pot daily has helped a lot too. This is my worse time of year, typically, but I've had very few symptoms this year. First time I've had relief from allergies in 5 years! Oh, the biggest thing that I think has helped the most though is I completely eliminated grains from my diet. Normally grains don't bother me that much, but this time of year, if I eat some, I get a stuffy nose and congestion almost immediately. One doctor explained to me that sometimes with allergies, your immune system has a tolerance for allergens to a certain point, and then after that, things that normally don't bother you could start to bother your sinuses, and put your immune system in overdrive. In my case, grains. Even just cutting them out temporarily has been a lifesaver. I used to have 6-8 week long sinus infections and shots of cortisone during this time of year. Not anymore!

[lapoucelle]

Originally Posted by MrsBone 

Herbalists out there, please assure me that what I've been drinking is okay during pregnancy(my midwife seemed to think it was fine), but I've been drinking Holy Basil(tulsi tea) for a few weeks now and it's been helping tremendously! I also have found that taking local honey and using a neti pot daily has helped a lot too. This is my worse time of year, typically, but I've had very few symptoms this year. First time I've had relief from allergies in 5 years! Oh, the biggest thing that I think has helped the most though is I completely eliminated grains from my diet. Normally grains don't bother me that much, but this time of year, if I eat some, I get a stuffy nose and congestion almost immediately. One doctor explained to me that sometimes with allergies, your immune system has a tolerance for allergens to a certain point, and then after that, things that normally don't bother you could start to bother your sinuses, and put your immune system in overdrive. In my case, grains. Even just cutting them out temporarily has been a lifesaver. I used to have 6-8 week long sinus infections and shots of cortisone during this time of year. Not anymore!

There is a lot of conflicting info out there about Tulsi- mainly because it is an Indian herb and herbalists are usually solely trained in either western, traditional chiinese etc..The issue with Tusli would be that it is a blood thinner, it's anticoagulant properties make it questionable to take in pregnancy. They say that women do take it in India, however we are unsure of the difference in mixtures, plant constituents etc..(Holy basil is NOT the same basily we eat here) and therefore don't suggest it. The risk here is postpartum bleeding and of course infant clotting levels-- I cannot give you a definitive answer, but I would suggest that you decline/stop usage, esp before the second trimester and beyond. HTH, Lara

[LaurenAnanas]

Seasonal allergies can vary from year to year, due to your health status and the particular environmental details. Weather sometimes makes for a bumper crop of ragweed, for example!

Don't forget about the neti pot. Saline rinses a few times a day during allergy season can make a difference.

Also helpful for me has been Quercetin (a flavanoid), but there are some questions about using that in pregnancy, mostly due to tests on rodents given obscenely high doses. So I dunno.  It's one of those things that won't do much immediately, though, and seems to work best when started before allergies get too bad. 

I had terrible, terrible allergies last fall, when I was still having severe first trimester nausea, and ended up using NasalCrom. It's a nasal spray, like Flonase, but Category B and over the counter.