Any of you ever have a "perfect storm" when it comes to allergies?

Try using a neti pot. It will clear you sinuses and flush out any allergens in your nose.

It’s not a cure all but it helps.

@zenvelo I have never tried it but think I will. I’ll recite incantations into the moonlight right now if I thought it would help.

Sneeze + Diar…diah…diarr…the shits = Poonami

@ARE_you_kidding_me – it’s not the sneezing that’s getting to me this week – it’s my eyes. They’re irritated all the time because of the damned yellow pollen.

Remedy that my family’s allergenist recommends—take Claritin (loradatine) and Zyrtec (cetirizine) together; each works on different aspects, and together knock the symptoms out. Allergenist said they don’t interfere with each other, so it’s no issue taking them together. Admittedly I haven’t tried it myself (I have a hard enough time remembering one pill), but the rest of my family swears by it. So maybe the doubling-up would help? Alternatively, I know people who will combine nasal spray with one pill medication. (I don’t know if you’re already combining OTC meds or not… those are two combinations I understand to be okay; not sure about anything else.) ... as a fellow allergy sufferer, gesundheit!

@Soubresaut I may try that but I hate taking meds, especially together.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Hope it helps!

Hubby just got over it. He’s severely asthmatic, and whenever he’s home he’s been basically attached to the nebulizer.

Fortunately it seems to have passed for the most part.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Ah, read too quickly—I hate taking meds too… why I claim to “forget”! I usually just take a loratadine on the few days I really need it… allergies are worse this year so I bought a small bottle of cetirizine and have been staring at it ever since.

I have bad allergies and a head cold right now. I Thankfully I can still mouth breathe fine. I know it’s both because allergies were getting me before the sore throat and headache. That part is behind me but the snot, relentless snot… somebody call Guinness.

The following may help with the watery eyes.
First take a shower from head to toe and use a mild shampoo. Nothing with to much frangrance or simply just rinse your hair. You have to be free of pollen that may be trapped in your hair.
Change your air filter.
Changer your pillow cases. Especially if you’ve laid in them anytime after coming inside without rinsing your hair.

Put visine allergy drops in your eyes.

Hopefully you also have Witch Hazel. Pour it onto a cotton swatch and squeeze out any excess. You don’t want it dripping. Lay down and close your eyes and place the swatch over your eyes. Oh, I almost forgot, Be sure to clean your face and eyes well before you start. Pay particular attention to your lashes and the corner of your eyes. The witch hazel will help get rid of the swollen lids and cool your eyes.

If you don’t have Witch Hazel, you can try using ice wrapped in a towel. It will do about the same but Witch Hazel will also help get rid of any bacteria hanging around your eyes.

Now for the allergy part you may want to start taking Vitamin C and drink plenty of water. I take 1000 mg when my allergies act up. At the sign of the first tickle in the back of my throat, I take 1 daily till hayfever season is over. I also take Zertec as well but it doesn’t seem to work as well as the vitamin C.

Oh, if you don’t or can’t stay home because of work. Take the pills in the morning and be sure to take some paper towels so you can rinse your face at work when you arrive. Unless your job is outdoors, then you are pretty screwed with the pollen, but hopefully the pill combo will help.

Interestingly, I develop a mild headache & slight nausea whenever I watch a George Clooney movie

As usual, i take Sudafed in the daytime and Benadryl at night. Im not overly fond of meds, but its the only thing (the Sudafed) that will keep the congeation cleared out of my narrow sinus passages. If i dont do that it will sooner or later end up working its way down into a bronchial infection. EDIT:
(The last paragraph should be read here so this makes sense. Then the one immediately below. Sorry)

And about a year later after a noticeable absence of the bronchial infections, i realized how his observation was. So, i can deal with the itchy eyes and runny nose. It those continual infections that would really get to me.

This is on the specific advice of a Pulmonologist to whom my Dr. sent me to try to figure out why i had these recurring infections every 6 weeks or so. He pointed at an X-Ray of my sinuses and said “thats the seedbed of infection. You need to be taking a Decongestant”

Ugh yes. Not sure if this is what you’re looking for as it’s not standard allergies, but I was basically “allergic” to my colon (autoimmune disease) so I got it taken out. Soon after, I suddenly developed an allergy to isopropyl alcohol that I had never had before, which is unfortunate for anyone going through medical things because all blood draw/IV sites became very itchy. Then my body decided it was allergic to most of my ileostomy supplies (such as the adhesives that stick the bag to your skin) which meant I had a terrible time getting a reliable seal and was constantly worried about leaks. Then my body decided to cause pleurisy – an immune response against the lining of the lungs that hurts really, really bad – twice in as many months.

This was not a fun time for me! Thankfully I no longer have a need for ostomy supplies, and I only get blood draws and IVs slightly more frequently than a regular person now, and I haven’t had pleurisy in five years (knock on wood). However I did find out recently that I’m actually allergic to my entire digestive tract rather than just my colon (diagnosis changed from ulcerative colitis to Crohn’s disease) so the whole ordeal didn’t even cure me.

@Mariah yeesh, that sounds bad. I’m experiencing seasonal allergies but I also have severe nut allergy that threatens to put me in the ER randomly and without warning. Nothing like crohns though. I’m on a cocktail of OTC drugs right now and they are only giving me partial relief.