"seasonal allergies"

claritin only here (besides chemo pills; I dont want more pills)

possibly ironically, I took a giant horse-sized antihistamine this morning for "photodermatitis" (according to my GP, who prescribed the antihistamines) and now my eyes keep watering and I feel like the top of my nose is going to explode, which I did not feel like before

(I started taking the antihistamines on Sunday but forgot yesterday's, so I feel like they're a possible trigger, but even if not, isn't this exactly the other thing I might take them to prevent? ugh. well either way I guess my skin bubbling up because I went outside in the sunlight is on-topic for this thread, or maybe there's a rolling vampire chatz thread I can take it to, I dunno)

Every once in a while I go a whole day where I can't stop sneezing and it feels like my brain's been replaced by a small furry mammal intent on clawing its way out of my head through my face. For a long time I thought it was a hay-style allergy or brought on by dust but it's been known to happen at quite random times in the year, plus I just got back from a spell away staying in some very dusty houses in the south of france and only had to take antihistamines twice in two weeks. So I'm stumped.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

i am getting "i feel like the top of my nose if going to explode" as well (i have been taking flonase).

is this really colony collapse? i hate and fear bees but i understand they're supposed to be bros. i am gripped with ambivalence.

sneezin' is the reason for the season

it's been bad this year. the sudden cold snap doesn't bode well for the pollen return.

idk if i have a cold or allergies. either way i got sudafed today. i think it's criminal that they actually sell the phenyelphrine based "sudafed pe" to unsuspecting customers who don't know to ask for the real stuff behind the counter. phenylephrine is basically a placebo.

a few months ago i had an operation to have a nasal polyp removed and some of the cushions at the back of my nose reduced, and since then i'm a MUCH happier bunny than I used to be. I'd been convinced of hay-fever but apparently it's a strong reaction to housemites that was making me sneeze. Strange though, that it varies from day to day. I still sneeze a bit and get an itchy nose from time to time, but it's nothing like the onslaught I used to deal with some days.

get bent, have you had a blood test for allergies yet?

lately i've been feeling extremely tired, like more than usual - waking up but unable to physically get out of bed and then feeling fuggy and abstract all day. used to get this off cetirizine but i'm starting to think that loratadine is causing these side effects.

not sure what is worse - feeling allergic or feeling like a weird sleepy ghost

also - fun heart palpitationy stuff which i've just realised is probably brought on by antihistamines. joy

My daughter has never really had issues before, but this season her eyes were getting so red, itchy and watery that she started using drops. They say this is the worst allergy season ever, at least in the US, so I imagine all these little allergy sleeper cells are waking up from coast to coast.

pro tip: anyone who has taken Zyrtec (Cetirizine) might want to know there's a new drug that's supposed to be a more effective version of the same thing, Xyzal (Levocetirizine). works pretty well for me so far. as always, it's been available in europe for a long time, so old news for some of us

Have tried xyzal in the past few months and it seems to work. Have to take right before retiring as it makes me extremely drowsy.

that's what the box says. I typically took allergy meds first thing in the morning so it's a switch, but seems to work

I've never had much luck with antihistamines. tried loratadine, cetirizine, fexofenadine, and diphenhydramine - none of them work for me.

i found one that works several years ago - chlorpheniramine - but it makes me extremely drowsy (and apparently due to its anticholinergic properties increases my chances of developing alzheimer's).

this allergy season is absolutely killing me regardless, though the chlorpheniramine is fairly effective when it comes time to take another dose (i take it 3 times a day) my sinuses are just on fire.

pseudoephedrine 12-hour extended release tablets are pretty amazing ime

in most of the US you have to go through the hoopla of showing ID at the pharmacy counter bc it can be used as a meth precursor but it is very worth it, works way better than most antihistamines

surely as it's just a decongestant this will only be effective for nose and sinuses? (i mean tbh that's where most of my troubles are but itchy eyes are a thing too)

it is also a vasoconstrictor so it helps with the redness in eyes for sure, for the itchiness i find astringent eye drops help a lot

Guy told me to use Zaditor for that. Seems to help somewhat

thanks for the info. i will give those a whirl.

my current routine:
xyzal before bed
zaditor in eyes when I first wake up, then wait a bit before showering and putting in contacts
pseudoephedrine 12 hour pill when I get out of bed

I make sure to shower when I get back indoors if I've been outdoors doing yard work or wandering around during heavy pollen times. Also flonase once per day.

fwiw that's a shitload of stuff but I have very few problems now unless I'm wandering around the wilderness for a long time

the season has began for me, it's muggy out, which is usually worse for me. I havent got any antihistamines in the flat but will go out for some after work. kill me!

Only tree pollen allergy for me, so this nonsense is going to be over by the end of the month. It's the last two/three weeks that are the most difficult though. And whoever made that Optrex advert where everyone has bits of tree/flowers sticking out like overgrown eyelashes knew their target audience.

I can taste the pollen in the air.

I’m so tired of sneezing and itchy eyes, my usual generic Allegra isn’t helping much this year.

Woke up gasping for water several times last night. All I've been on is claritin and it isn't working either.

ugh

I AM FUCKING DYING.

seriously, i feel worse now than i did when i had covid— head full of snot, sinus pressure poinding 24/7 even with meds, endless tissues, just abysmal time to be alive tbh. i wished out loud today for death.

It's bad this year.

i feel like i can barely move and that my body is filled with rocks and i can't breathe and there is something really wrong with my throat and my eyes are all fucked up but other than that i feel fine.

burning throat, sinus headaches, runny nose - it's all the perks of having a bad cold except that it never gets better

medicine makes it better for me. flonase and the meth one. claritin-d.

but if nothing works you might want to get those shots that doctors give.

definitely worse for me after it rains.

"When rain hits grass and weed pollen, it can break up the pollen into smaller particles. This makes the pollen spread more easily and can lead to worsening allergy symptoms, particularly with heavy downpours. Rain can also increase mold and dust allergy symptoms, as mold and dust mites thrive in warm, humid conditions."

fyi several pharmacists and RNs have told me that claritin is a pretty mediocre antihistamine and is actually only effective for 25% or less of people at the normal dose. at an effective dose, it's not non-drowsy. so they market claritin-d hard

zyrtec/xyzal are a bit better (I use the latter) and I believe they're both available in generics now. you can always supplement them with a generic sudafed decongestant

I try to not take all the things all the time but xyzal+sudafed every morning and maybe a little generic flonase to supplement

if I do yard work or spend a bunch of time outside I obviously shower later and burn my clothes (j/k)

i just buy claritin-d for the meth properties. it keeps me upright. it mostly works. the flonase does seem to help with my nose/eyes/throat.

stuff like zyrtec make me sleepier. allergies make me VERY tired. like, falling down tired.

this is the dustiest town i've ever lived in. tons of trees. tons of dirt. they don't really clean the streets. we had boxes of books out on tables Saturday and Sunday at the store and I was going through them inside here this morning and they were just covered in dust/dirt. so, you know, i'm surrounded.

xp I hear that. I get this weird fatigue by evening some days this time of year and every time I'm just "why do I have no energy? I must be old or dying"

what's weird - it IS fatiguing but I have a hard time sleeping when I'm going through it.

I've had fairly good luck with cheap generic Claritin (loratadine) - I had absolutely horrible allergies as a kid when there was only Dimetapp and Benadryl, the meds today are much better
Cheap generics mostly keep it at bay until some unknown tree comes online in June, but that generally lasts just a week or two - no idea what's the source, but no amount of pills will save me

bad this year. yeesh. i feel like i'm in the poppy fields with dorothy and the scarecrow. this town is so fucking fecund. its like a jungle out here. i swear everything just became impossibly green and lush in one week. which, you know, is a good thing. just complaining. nobody else wants to hear it! i nap a lot when i can. go home early. its so nice out and i feel crap. oh well.

At least one study has indicated that the more carbon there is in the air, the more potent the pollen itself is.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/13/opinion/allergies-climate-change.html

The top 10 most challenging places to live with seasonal allergies are:

Wichita, Kansas
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Greenville, South Carolina
Dallas, Texas
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Richmond, Virginia
Des Moines, Iowa
Raleigh, North Carolina
Fayetteville, Arkansas

now i'm not moving to des moines!

Least challenging (#96) on that list is Cleveland! I live there and would probably die if I lived in Wichita.

brutal right now