Allergy sufferers & working out

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  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    I have allergies too, basically to everything that grows outside, mold, and dust. Typically I am miserable, but for the past couple of years I have gotten away from excessive dairy. I allergies are still there but now I can just take a Zyrtec and I'm good. I run and workout outside all the time and have had minimal issues.

    Dairy, really? I've never heard of that. I don't really have much dairy in my diet other than some cheese...
  • MelStren
    MelStren Posts: 457 Member
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    I suffer from horrible allergies, from the minute the ground thaws in the spring until when it freezes in the winter, plus I am allergic to cats and dogs- needless to say I am a sneezing sniffling snot ball most of the year so I feel for ya!! On days when my allergies are really bad I work out inside and just try to sniffle and suck it up :/ It's definitely hard to get motivated and not fun!!!!


    That's me in nut shell! I'm basically allergic to the state I live in, every grass, tree, shrub and weed! I'm also allergic to cats. I take Loratadine (claritin) and Phenylephrine (fake sudafed) in the AM and Cetrizine and benadryl in the PM.. and that's nearly year round!

    I stay inside on my bad days, either I go to the gym or I do cardio at home.

    I am unfortunately not protected by staying indoors. That's the problem. There is no filtration system for this place, so I'm just as miserable inside (though cooler) than if I was outside. I took some sudafed today, and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I do my two meds every night, and usually I'm pretty good to go after that (at least enough that I can breathe through my nose), but these past two days have been horrible.

    Is there anything that I can use to actually filter the air in my apartment? It probably doesn't help that I have fans all over to try to circulate the little bit of cool air that sometimes comes out of our AC unit.

    What you may be able to try is putting a filter in your vents?!! maybe see if there is drying agent you can pour into them before you stuff the filters into the vents? Look into buying a Honeywell room filter, you plug it into a wall outlet! You can put it right next to your vent in your bedroom and run it overnight. I've done all of these before when we lived in a crappy rental house.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    I've used a very simple aryvadic neti pot solution for nearly 2 decads and can't say enough good things about it. It is a saline nasil wash which draws out all of those pollutents which are making your head spin.

    This isn't a an endorsment of any one company, but the specific pot I've used is similar to http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/products-publications/neti-pot-products/

    I use it every night before bed and I have a great nights sleep. My husband finds it's better if he uses it in the morning. The good thing is you can use it multiple times a day.

    It may take some getting used to, but you'll get experience some immediate results and long term use could help yo ureduce anyone medication you are taking.

    I am completely med free nearly all year, and can get relief on the worst days with just Claritin.

    Neti pots doesn't work for me. My husband loves it, but the saline literally cannot make it through my sinuses when they get like this. The mucus is so thick and my sinuses get so swollen that it just can't make it through. It ends up backing up and running down my throat.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    I once had a Dr joke that I was "allergic to life"...I didn't find it amusing. I have seasonal allergies, indoor allergies, outdoor allergies, allergies to furry animals, exercise induced asthma, temperature induced asthma, allergy induced asthma...it's awesome.

    Try getting a decent air purifier. Mine does a medium sized room and was only about $100...it has made a HUGE difference. I even have a puppy now :) (thank god he's cute because I'm still definitely allergic)

    Have you tried working out when you feel not up to it? I know it's really hard to want to even move at that point but sometimes (not all the time) I feel better after a few minutes but those first few minutes are hell
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    I suffer from horrible allergies, from the minute the ground thaws in the spring until when it freezes in the winter, plus I am allergic to cats and dogs- needless to say I am a sneezing sniffling snot ball most of the year so I feel for ya!! On days when my allergies are really bad I work out inside and just try to sniffle and suck it up :/ It's definitely hard to get motivated and not fun!!!!


    That's me in nut shell! I'm basically allergic to the state I live in, every grass, tree, shrub and weed! I'm also allergic to cats. I take Loratadine (claritin) and Phenylephrine (fake sudafed) in the AM and Cetrizine and benadryl in the PM.. and that's nearly year round!

    I stay inside on my bad days, either I go to the gym or I do cardio at home.

    I am unfortunately not protected by staying indoors. That's the problem. There is no filtration system for this place, so I'm just as miserable inside (though cooler) than if I was outside. I took some sudafed today, and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I do my two meds every night, and usually I'm pretty good to go after that (at least enough that I can breathe through my nose), but these past two days have been horrible.

    Is there anything that I can use to actually filter the air in my apartment? It probably doesn't help that I have fans all over to try to circulate the little bit of cool air that sometimes comes out of our AC unit.

    What you may be able to try is putting a filter in your vents?!! maybe see if there is drying agent you can pour into them before you stuff the filters into the vents? Look into buying a Honeywell room filter, you plug it into a wall outlet! You can put it right next to your vent in your bedroom and run it overnight. I've done all of these before when we lived in a crappy rental house.

    No vents, just crappy insulation (the joys of low income housing), baseboard heaters and a piece of crap wall unit AC. I might try to find a Honeywell (never heard it before) to see if it helps.
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
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    Forgot to include this...

    I had the same issue with Neti pots...I wanted it to work but the saline just had nowhere to go. Have you tried Afrin? I only use it VERY occasionally because I've known a few people that had ill effects from using it too often. That was enough to clear me up to the point that I could use the Neti pot
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    I once had a Dr joke that I was "allergic to life"...I didn't find it amusing. I have seasonal allergies, indoor allergies, outdoor allergies, allergies to furry animals, exercise induced asthma, temperature induced asthma, allergy induced asthma...it's awesome.

    Try getting a decent air purifier. Mine does a medium sized room and was only about $100...it has made a HUGE difference. I even have a puppy now :) (thank god he's cute because I'm still definitely allergic)

    Have you tried working out when you feel not up to it? I know it's really hard to want to even move at that point but sometimes (not all the time) I feel better after a few minutes but those first few minutes are hell

    What kind of air purifier do you use? I've got all the asthma crap too, so I feel for you. Yesterday, I definitely did everything I didn't want to do (mostly hardcore cleaning- hands and knees, moving furniture, doing walls, all that good crap), and it just wore me out. It was so hard to get up and shower this morning to meet with my husband's nurse. I stay somewhat active all day because of my two kids, but I'm finding myself wanting to just crawl into a hole.
  • MelStren
    MelStren Posts: 457 Member
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    Some window AC units have filters that can be removed and cleaned? Does yours?
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    Forgot to include this...

    I had the same issue with Neti pots...I wanted it to work but the saline just had nowhere to go. Have you tried Afrin? I only use it VERY occasionally because I've known a few people that had ill effects from using it too often. That was enough to clear me up to the point that I could use the Neti pot

    No, I've seen it, never used it because of the crazy side effects that I heard of.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    Some window AC units have filters that can be removed and cleaned? Does yours?

    Not that I know of, and I don't want to try because it's actually a wall unit. It's stuck into a really awkward place in the corner of the room and I don't see any filter to it, or a way to add one without completely blocking what little air flow it has.
  • imcatbear
    imcatbear Posts: 38
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    Is there anything that I can use to actually filter the air in my apartment? It probably doesn't help that I have fans all over to try to circulate the little bit of cool air that sometimes comes out of our AC unit.

    Fans aren't the problem if dust daily or weekly at least. If you're allergic to dust, then they are a problem. Other than vacuuming every day, washing the sheets in hot, religiously may have some help. Not wearing shoes in the house helps too, so you don't track the stuff through the place. Changing carpet to hardwood-all things you can't really do in a place that's not yours, unfortunately. And I can understand that hermetically sealing yourself in a bubble won't work as much as I wanted to before I started my war on allergies.

    Theoretically, those ozone fans are supposed to help. *shrug* I dunno. Tried them. Didn't see much difference, but had to clean yet one other thing each day.

    Earlier you mentioned you take Zyrtec twice a day. Regular or D? D helps with the overnight drips and general drips. You could ask your doc about Nasonex (not cheap), but good for irritants that float in the air during heavy allergy season. It works for me when pollen counts are at Evil levels and mold @ ridiculous and dust @ obscene in addition to every other stupid thing that bothers me.

    Have you been tested for food allergies? Certain non-food allergies have a list of foods you should try to avoid b/c they can have oral allergy symptoms. There are things you can start eating that have higher anti-inflammatory qualities in them.

    Figuring this garbage out has been very difficult, at best, but so worth it now that I can actually breath, the weather isn't always a drag, and I don't always feel the allergy hang over. Feel free to add me (as well as anyone who is reading including lurkers).

    I know too much about allergies than I care to spit out all at once. Yes, there are things you can do to have allergies and still live and even work out. :)
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
    Options
    Is there anything that I can use to actually filter the air in my apartment? It probably doesn't help that I have fans all over to try to circulate the little bit of cool air that sometimes comes out of our AC unit.

    Fans aren't the problem if dust daily or weekly at least. If you're allergic to dust, then they are a problem. Other than vacuuming every day, washing the sheets in hot, religiously may have some help. Not wearing shoes in the house helps too, so you don't track the stuff through the place. Changing carpet to hardwood-all things you can't really do in a place that's not yours, unfortunately. And I can understand that hermetically sealing yourself in a bubble won't work as much as I wanted to before I started my war on allergies.

    Theoretically, those ozone fans are supposed to help. *shrug* I dunno. Tried them. Didn't see much difference, but had to clean yet one other thing each day.

    Earlier you mentioned you take Zyrtec twice a day. Regular or D? D helps with the overnight drips and general drips. You could ask your doc about Nasonex (not cheap), but good for irritants that float in the air during heavy allergy season. It works for me when pollen counts are at Evil levels and mold @ ridiculous and dust @ obscene in addition to every other stupid thing that bothers me.

    Have you been tested for food allergies? Certain non-food allergies have a list of foods you should try to avoid b/c they can have oral allergy symptoms. There are things you can start eating that have higher anti-inflammatory qualities in them.

    Figuring this garbage out has been very difficult, at best, but so worth it now that I can actually breath, the weather isn't always a drag, and I don't always feel the allergy hang over. Feel free to add me (as well as anyone who is reading including lurkers).

    I know too much about allergies than I care to spit out all at once. Yes, there are things you can do to have allergies and still live and even work out. :)

    I'm actually off of Zyrtec now and onto hydroxizine and Singulair. I've used Nazonex before and reacted badly to it. I do vacuum daily (I've got kids too, so even if I didn't have the allergies things always need to be vacuumed up), and I wash the sheets on the sanitary cycle weekly. I'm not allergic or intolerant to any foods that I know of (I've never had a reaction, anyway). I'd love to hear what you have to say about the foods, though.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
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    I have allergies too, but nowhere near as bad as some other people here. The only thing that really gets to me, is that i appear to have a skin allergy to certain pollen.. I'll be running along ok, maybe a bit of a sniffle in my nose, nothing too bad, then i hit a small forest or a field of something and my entire body starts itching. I scratch here and there, curse,keep going until i am out of range or sweaty enough for it not to matter anymore...
    Of course i never think to take any allergy medication - claritin gives me a headache, and benadryl does nothing for me. ah well, at least people probably get a good laugh seeing me trying to scratch my back and run at the same time :laugh:
  • imcatbear
    imcatbear Posts: 38
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    I'm actually off of Zyrtec now and onto hydroxizine and Singulair. I've used Nazonex before and reacted badly to it. I do vacuum daily (I've got kids too, so even if I didn't have the allergies things always need to be vacuumed up), and I wash the sheets on the sanitary cycle weekly. I'm not allergic or intolerant to any foods that I know of (I've never had a reaction, anyway). I'd love to hear what you have to say about the foods, though.

    Not familiar w/hydroxizine.

    As a mold allergy sufferer also, there is a bunch of stuff that I cut out of my diet and it's helped tremendously. This wasn't easy though, so I had a food diary. Usually it takes about 3 days from a food that amps up one's allergic rxn to leave the body.

    Things to avoid/use sparingly for mold allergy sufferers: alcoholic beverages, olives, vinegar, salad dressing, cheese (especially soft cheeses), pickles, dried fruit, sauerkraut, ketchup, mushrooms, mayonnaise, sausage, tomatoes, sour cream, hot dogs, canned juices.

    When I increase my mustard, ginger (pickled wrks for me-think sushi ginger), and pineapple (fresh, not canned) consumption my inflammation goes down if not goes away completely. There are products on the market that use enzymes from the anti-inflammatory components in pineapple and mustard that work very well. I was on a vacation recently where I forgot my meds, but brought enzyme capsules with me. I didn't need my meds. (I'm also 3 years into allergy shots, too)

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