This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hi,

Allergy Season is here!!

Anyone have any tips to avoid those vasoconstricting antihistamine meds?
Any natural remedies that provide a sniff of 'sniff' relief?
Are my concerns misguided?

Have a great day!

Well I have a suggestion that is not very popular with many - it's called a neti-pot, it once featured on dr Oz. It is natural and it works for me. I have dust allergy and normally if I have to clear out the shed or something it would really bother me. Now I use the neti-pot straight after and I'm fine. ALso when I feel a cold coming on I will use it and it works. My housemates will get colds and I'll be fine. They think I'm crazy for using a neti-pot, I think it does just fine by me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neti_pot

http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/netip ... tions.aspx

It looks yuk and weird but it really is very easy to do. I do not use it daily just when necessary and use regular salt.

My wife uses a neti pot and swears by it. Helps with allergies and colds.

eve wrote:It looks yuk and weird but it really is very easy to do. I do not use it daily just when necessary and use regular salt.

DrCumming wrote:My wife uses a neti pot and swears by it. Helps with allergies and colds.

wow! thanks! there's loads of 'neti pot how to's' on youtube..doesn't look so bad..anything to be drug free..

I agree with the suggestion of the Neti pot. I actually prefer the squeeze bottle (marketed by the same mfg.)

I have had seasonal allergies for years, but remarkably have had 2 great sinusitis free winters & last summer was free of allergy problems as well. In the past I could not get thru a spring/summer without Aerius or some other anti-histamine &/or the Nasacort type sinus sprays. My husband & I pondered this several times, b/c it was highly unusual for me. We have spent 2 winters on an inclined bed & about 2 years ago, I increased my vitamin D intake. I think one or the other (maybe both) have contributed. I swear by the inclined bed - feel much clearer-headed in the mornings, but I think the science is behind vit D supplementation & immune response ?? My allergy issues are generally much worse on a dry years, so I was pleasantly surprised that allergies did not kick in as we spent 3 months in Arizona this winter. I am looking forward to another allergy-free summer to confirm my thoughts that those 2 changes have helped me?!?

Ah, the dreaded Neti Pot. It just about killed me (that's an exaggeration, but...).

My wife has terrible seasonal allergies - so bad that I suffer with her suffering; her sneezing all day and night, snotty rags everywhere, etc.

A couple of years ago she came upon an herbal formulation that works like magic. Really, it works - like magic. Breath Easy RespirActin http://www.respiractin.com/art_naturalasthmarelief.asp. It can be ordered from that website in Canada, or the US. In Vancouver, it can be purchased from Sweet Cherubim (Commercial Dr.), and probably at Finlandia Pharmacy (Broadway and Arbutus?), and probably at Capers, or Choices market (numerous locations on the West Side).

The chemical anti-histamines are not only vaso-constrictive, they cause a kind of dementia in the long term.

I don't have allergies, and have no commercial affiliation with the product, nor it's distributors, but I am confident in recommending it, as it has not only given my wife relief from her allergies, but given me relief from her allergies too.

Retails for about $49 for a litre bottle, and that should last you for the whole season.

used to use the neti pot but the sinurinse is so much easier-just aquirt it up your nose it's ph balanced and works well

Hi PCakes,
Btw, I love your Avatar.

Anyway, I get paranoid about vein constricting stuff so I use "Ocean", saline nasal spray. It is gentle and can be bought for a few dollars in any supermarket, Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

The mist is very fine, but works for me. They are all basically the same, saline and water. Many Allergy pills are too dehydrating, so I try to avoid them. They work by drying up your whole body. Yikes!

Thank you everyone!!

I am going to try each and every suggestion and share the results. Love to hear if others do the same.

Johnson.. "a type of dementia' ... grrrreat... I hope it's the kind that lets me choose what I forget

CD.. thaz me and my Portie. The picture is slimming

Johnson, I googled antihistamine and dementia and saw this -- confusing (appropriately) but curious:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... tml?cat=70

Inhaling steam has long been used to help the symptoms of a cold and remains one of the most effective therapies. The problem is that many people cannot be bothered to do it.
Washing the nasal passage with a normal saline spay is often very effective for allergies. The device could be a neti pot or a simple spray bottle, you choose !

Please do not over play the side effects of anti-histamines, they are useful drugs when correctly selected and used at the correct dose.

MarkW

Mark, what was curious about the research related to Alzeimer's was the different (and seemingly opposite) effects of different antihistamines. Do you have any insight into that as a pharmacist?

Hi bluesky,

I miss our other friend Mark (xoxo) from around 1999+ at the other place we both visited. This is not the same Mark, right?

Anyway they had recent clinical trials using Dimebolin, as per Wiki.

Latrepirdine (INN, also known as dimebolin and sold as Dimebon), is an antihistamine drug which has been used clinically in Russia since 1983.[1]

Pharmacology
Latrepirdine appears to operate through multiple mechanisms of action, both blocking the action of neurotoxic beta-amyloid proteins and inhibiting L-type calcium channels,[16] modulating the action of AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors,[17] and may exert a neuroprotective effect by blocking a novel target that involves mitochondrial pores,[18] which are believed to play a role in the cell death that is associated with neurodegenerative diseases and the aging process.[19]

It also blocks a number of other receptors including α-adrenergic, 5-HT2C, 5-HT5A, and 5-HT6.[20] It is of significance to note that latrepirdine lacks any anticholinergic effects.[21]

The above I made bold, could be the reason bluesky. It doesn't have any anticholinergic effects. Which I personally believe plays a big role in ALZ. JMO

It continues:
In March 2010 the results of a clinical trial phase III were released. It was announced that the investigational Alzheimer's disease drug dimebon failed in the pivotal CONNECTION trial of patients with mild-to-moderate disease.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimebolin

Neti-pot works pretty good. I've heard eating a teaspoon of *local*, un-processed honey a day will over time help get rid of crertain allergies. Can't tell you if that's true from first-hand knowledge though.

It sounds pretty simplified but taking petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and applying a thin coat of it at the entrance to each nare ( nose opening ). The pollen sticks to the jelly and doesn't get breathed in. chapstick lip balm might work too.

Obviously you have to remove it and reapply it as needed, but this does help.

It's easy, cheap and can't hurt.