Does anyone suffer from brutal allergies? Ragweed is going to be the death of me. I would suffer so bad that I would get GI bleeds and I would nauseous. Antihistamines can't touch this. I was popping Benadryl 4x a day at least. All those Once a Day allergy medication just didn't work.
In 2021 I tried allergy shots, but shortly after starting them, I developed a fistula in the anal canal, and got diagnosed with Crohn's. They've got me down as Pouchitis as well. The allergy specialist, obviously, wouldn't think that the shots would cause a Crohn's flare. The Gastroenterologist said nothing, but there was a look of skepticism. When I told my surgeon that I stopped going for the shots, he said, something along the lines of Yeah, don't go back. And supported my casting off of the allergy specialist.
I was able to convince the gastroenterologist to give me Budesonide for this season because steroidal therapy works wonders for my allergies. After IV steroids from iron infusions, my allergies are gone. And I so didn't want abdominal pain or more GI bleeding this year (I'm 107 iron infusions and counting) He was reluctant but gave them to me for 3 weeks--the shortest duration as possible. But, yay, no GI bleeding this year.
However I still have awful congestion. And still nothing works, and yesterday my lungs were hurting. My summer is over every August and it's just depressing me. Is there any steroidal nasal spray I could mention to my family doctor? Why do I suffer so bad from allergies (no one else in the family does!) Is there more to allergies than just a histamine response and this is a full on auto-immune, because Clairitin and Xyzal and Zyrtec and Benadryl and some other ones if they help, they help like 10-15% and I don't even know about that.
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Steroid nasal sprays are available, and tend not to have systemic side effects. I use one called QNasl, but the insurance companies hate it. Another kind of nasal spray that sometimes really helps allergies is NasalCrom.
I have allergies but not that bad.
I did when I was younger.
Allergy shots and the whole shebang. But they didn't have what they have now back in the 60's and 70's.
Plethora of meds for allergies now. I'll use a generic Allegra and it takes care of my mild allergies now. Wish I had that back then. Allergies stink. Being polite.
I did read up that sometimes as one grows older allergies dissapate. Go away. And vice versa.
As of now I use a netipot.
That may help. Can't hurt to try. And they are cheap.
Just a suggestion. Probably wouldn't help you.
I hope you find a solution.
Richard.
P. S.
I could not take benadryl.
It worked but I didn't like the sleepy feeling all day.
I use a Neti pot for congestion and it seems to help. Also I use "Easy Breather", and herbal formula that supports the immune system, for allergies. I don't have allergies as bad as some people, and those people all said the Easy Breather didn't work for them, but then again, they do all those other allergens like gluten and dairy. When I stopped dairy, I noticed a marked reduction in congestion and when I stopped wheat gluten I there was a noticeable decrease in systemic inflammation. I had to tighten the straps on my shoes because my feet and ankles got narrower!