Allergy Season

The Spring months of April and May mark the peak of what many experience as allergy hell in Davis. Hundreds of folks retreat into their homes and cubicles with red eyes, sneezing noses, and fatigued limbs.

Head down to a local pharmacy for medication, or one of the other remedies:

• Kaiser Permanente offers generic Claritin (loratadine) and generic Zyrtec for only a few bucks for 30 pills. You can get 100 pills of generic Zyrtec for $9.95. This is cheaper than any drug store and non-Kaiser members can purchase these also at the same low price from the shelf. Also, they have an allergy kit that contains Sudafed and an antihistamine. This also costs a mere few bucks.
  

• Costco will net you a Kirkland brand bottle with hundreds of loratadine (generic Claritin) tablets for next to nothing. Same goes for cetirizine (generic Zyrtec) now that a prescription isn't required for it or the sleep-inducing diphenhydramine (generic Benadryl). However, you might be buying more pills than you need and you would need to use them for next year's allergy season as well.
  

• Claritin (loratadine), Allegra (fexofenadine), and Zyrtec (cetirizine) are allergy medications that are all now available without a prescription. They relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies to different degrees with very little to no drowsiness compared to older allergy medications. They can relieve nasal allergy symptoms as well as itchy watery eyes. They can also be used to treat hives and itching. Some people consider Claritin to be the least effective at reducing allergy symptoms. However, the effects of these medications depends entirely on the individual. Zyrtec is considered to be more effective than Claritin and Allegra, however Zyrtec can cause a little more drowsiness than Claritin. However, some people report no drowsiness with Zyrtec. Zyrtec may be more effective, but it is also more expensive than Claritin. However, at Kaiser, generic Zyrtec and Claritin are available at the same discounted price. Allegra cannot be taken with fruit juice. Claritin cannot be taken with food and must be taken on an empty stomach. You also need to wait an hour or 2 before eating or else the Claritin will be ineffective. Zyrtec may be taken with food or without.
  

• Flonase is a prescription nasal spray that is very effective against nasal allergy symptoms. Loratadine (generic Claritin) isn't as strong, and so Flonase works better for some people. However, loratadine is a general anti-histamine and thus may help reduce all types of allergic reactions such as hives. The nasal spray only relieves allergy symptoms involving the nose. You will still get red and itchy eyes. However, loratadine (Claritin) will relieve allergy symptoms throughout the entire body as will Zyrtec and Allegra. Remember, that the generic equivalent contains the same active ingredient and is much cheaper. Save money and get the generic version.
  

• Veramyst is another similar nasal spray for nasal allergy symptoms.
  

• Nasonex is yet another nasal spray for allergy symptoms.
  

• Nasalcrom (cromolyn) is a non-prescription nasal spray that doesn't cause drowsiness. However, it is not as strong as prescription nasal sprays. It also requires more sprays per day.
  

• Using nasal saline spray a couple of times per day and then blowing your nose is helpful for allergies because it washes pollen and dust from your nasal cavity.
  

• Saline eye drops alleviates allergy-induced dryness and burning of the eyeballs.
  

• Hydration helps a sore burning throat, as do Ricola throat lozenges and/or Cold-Eeze zinc tablets.
  

• Avoiding certain foods helps. Melons and cucumbers, for example, are known to aggravate allergies to pollen, dust, and airborne particulate matter.
  

• Personal steam machines are helpful for allergies.
  

• Local raw honey is argued by some to help a bit with pollen allergies. Find it at Pedrick Produce, the Davis Food Co-op and the Davis Farmers Market. The theory behind this is that by eating small amounts of pollen that you will build tolerance to this pollen and not have an allergic reaction to this pollen. The danger is that by eating something that you are allergic to you could suffer an anaphylactic reaction and stop breathing. Your throat will swell up and prevent you from breathing. Honey that is produced in other parts of the U.S. will be of little use since it would contain different pollens. Cooked honey, such as name brand versions of honey are usually filtered to remove pollen or bee's wings. They may also be pasteurized and therefore will not have any benefits. The pollen that produces nasal allergies is carried by the wind. The pollen carried by bees is the heavier kind. Therefore there is very little of the nasal allergy pollen in honey and it is unlikely to be of any help. Allergy shots have a precise amount of the allergy causing substance and even then it could take years to produce any effect. Using honey on your own would most likely not help at all.
  

• Herbal remedies include nettles and Quercetin, which can both be purchased in capsule form at the Davis Food Co-op or Natural Food Works.
  

• Other non-medication interventions include using a Netti Pot to clear your sinuses (sold at the Davis Food Co-op). It feels weird but it works. Netti pots have been linked to brain-eating amoebas (Naegleria fowleri) which have killed several people. The brain-eating amoeba were found in tap water that came from unfiltered groundwater sources in Arizona and ordinary tap water in Louisiana. Never use tap water from unfiltered groundwater taken from southern/warmer states or ordinary tap water in Netti pots. Only use sterile, distilled, or previously boiled water. Netti pots need to thoroughly irrigated and allowed to completely air dry before use in order to kill any amoeba, should you choose to use unfiltered groundwater or tap water from places like Arizona or Louisiana. The brain eating amoeba live in warm water lakes and rivers. People have caught the amoeba just by swimming in warm water in Southern states and tropical countries (including a childhood friend of JabberWokky).
  

• Some forms of Chinese medicine and facial acupuncture may also be used as treatments by allergy sufferers.
  

• If you have a ridiculously runny nose, take the time to go to a pharmacy counter and ask for the real Pseudoephedrine based nasal decongestants which are only sold at the pharmacist counter. Everything on the shelves has been replaced with Phenylephrine which is not nearly as effective.
  

• If your allergies are extreme you can always get allergy shots from Dr. Brown at the Sutter West Medical Group or, if you are a UC student, the Student Health and Wellness Center. They really do work!! But you have to get them for a few years in order to build up tolerance to pollen.
  

• If severe, try filtering the air you breathe to reduce your exposure to pollen and other irritants. When outside, try wearing a surgical mask.
  

• Avoid the outdoors during the morning hours when pollen levels are at their highest. Take allergy medication right before the highest pollen levels.
  

• When you drive or ride in a car, make sure you turn on the air conditioner which will help to filter out the pollen from the air.
  

• Wash your face or at least wipe your face with a damp paper towel. Pollen can accumulate on your face or in your hair and continue to cause allergy symptoms even though you are not outside.
  

• Before you go to bed, try taking one of the old-fashioned sleep-inducing anti-histamines like Benadryl.
  

• Pollen levels are highest in the morning and at night. Close your windows tightly at night to prevent the pollen from coming in. You can turn on the air conditioner to filter the air. Don't hang your clothes outside to dry. The pollen will fall on your clothes and lead to more allergy symptoms.

Comments:

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2006-05-10 17:47:45   I find that loratidine-based tablets are too weak for my allergies. 12-hour Drixoral seems to do a pretty good job for medium-heavy seasonal allergies. Mmm... 6 mg of Dexbrompheniramine Maleate. —KarlMogel

2007-03-30 20:17:22   I believe dexbrompheniramine is prescription only, so if you don't wanna go through the hassle...but if you don't then your allergies aren't bad enough. —BradBenedict

2007-04-01 04:05:53   My eyes are burning. I don't want to go outside anymore! —KaiWan

2008-03-16 02:09:04   I had really horrible allergies at Davis, but when I took Claritin (loratadine), I experienced some very vivid and lucid dreams. I was warned that one of the possible side effects was sleep disturbances. I felt like I was on drugs during my dreams. I had to discontinue Claritin, because the effects were just too disturbing. I tried over the counter Nasalcrom spray, which worked but I had to use the spray many times a day just to keep the allergies away. Eventually, I tried Flonase(fluticasone), which was very effective and gave me no side effects. I only had to use the spray once or twice a day and my allergies went away. It was amazing! —Jedron

2008-04-13 16:01:02   That'd be horrible to have such severe allergies to have to need to wear a surgical mask. —SunjeetBaadkar

• I did this once, for some reason some guy asked me if I was Muslim because he saw me doing it. —BrendanChan
  

2008-05-14 16:35:08   i hate spring —shigella

2008-05-19 19:33:58   Recently, my family and I have been bicycling out around the backroads near the dump/water processing planet. When we go out there, we all experience this intense itching, burning, painful rash on our exposed skin. Anyone have a clue what's growing out there that could cause this? It doesn't happen anywhere else... —anattadoll

2010-03-24 18:50:29   I once heard that allergies in Davis is worst than in Sacramento because there are more non-native plants here. Is that true? —LeeY

• There are more agricultural crops, many with wind-pollinated flowers: olives, walnuts, and corn are all pollinated by wind and cast large amounts of pollen. Oaks, native and non-native, are also wind-pollinated and many people are allergic to them. I don't think it would be possible to prove one way or another that there are more or fewer non-native plants in either place, that either type of plant is a greater cause of allergies, or even that allergies are worse in Davis than in Sacramento. We do get more wind on this side of the Valley. —DonShor
  

• Thanks Don, that makes sense, the abundance of wind-pollinated flowers and trees. Glad I asked (and you answered) —LeeY