Homesteading with Hayfever?

mousebandit · #1 04/08/07, 11:41 AM

Okay, I can't be the only homesteader out there who has terrible seasonal allergies? How do you guys do it? I have succombed to the OTC hayfever meds (and feel like a total wuss for doing so), but even at twice to four times the "recommended" dose, they aren't cutting it, and we aren't even into May yet!! I am just about to break down and go get some prescription stuff.

Normally, I am just flat out of commission - stuck in the house with a/c and unconcious from benadryl - from May until mid-July, but now that we have the ranch, there is NO WAY that can happen. There is too much to do, too much to plant, tend, and harvest, animals to care for, fences to build, etc. You all know the drill.

So, how do you other hayfever folks cope? What gets you through spring and early summer? If you do use prescription meds, which ones pack the most punch? We are going to have bookoo allergens floating around this place, and I will have to be out in the middle of it all day long.

THANK YOU!!

Tracey Mouse

moonwolf · #2 04/08/07, 11:45 AM

I'm a fall ragweed allergy sufferer. Luckily I live in an area not much affected by that.
I used to have to take antihistamines if traveling, or visiting an area not far from here with ragweed pollen in the fall.

My ex spouse had allergies to much stuff around including animals and pollens. She was on Flonase that helped a lot.

mtman · #3 04/08/07, 11:48 AM

do what i do blow your nose and rub your eyes

amwitched · #4 04/08/07, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtman

do what i do blow your nose and rub your eyes

Yeah, but then your nose will turn all red and your eyeballs will get blisters on them.

I use Benadryl. I did try one of the other OTC's but I broke out in hives - all over.

Jen H · #5 04/08/07, 11:56 AM

Antihistamines are my "secret" weapon. You do whatever works to get out and get the work done.

Jenn · #6 04/08/07, 01:51 PM

Neilmed sinusrinse, or with a very clean squeeze bottle or neti pot use 8 oz warm sterile (boil and then let cool- can keep the water in the kettle for a few days without reboiling) water and 1/4 tsp each salt and baking soda, then squirt/pour half up/in each nostril over the sink (pretty messy). This rinses out the allergens so you have a chance to recover before the next exposure. Also rinses out the mucus so you can breath a bit. Can prevent sinus infections. Do well before bedtime they recommend so you can drain it all out- I recommend do it before going outside so you can spit on the ground for several minutes if your culture and yard permit (or use a spittoon inside?).

Also , though the sinus rinse got me off this the pollen is real bad this week, loratadine (Claritin) at the regular dose helps me. Chlorpheiniramine does also but puts me to sleep.

BrahmaMama · #7 04/08/07, 01:59 PM

Vitamin C, vitamin C, vitamin C. I can't say enough about vitamins that boost your immune system! It won't kill you to try it. Google "supressed immune systems" and "natural homeopathic remedies for allergies".

Wayne02 · #8 04/08/07, 02:47 PM

I feel your pain. It is especially bad for me when driving the tractor (or other implement) in or around the hay-fields (which are just about everywhere on the place). My eyes swell shut, pounding headache from the sneezing, and snot running all over the place.

Unfortunately I can't afford a tractor with an air-conditioned cab, so I make due with claritin, sunglasses over the eyes (sometimes full-on goggles), dust mask over nose and mouth, head-wrap over the head, and hat on top of that.

I notice the welding guys are starting to come up with some nice portable/wearable continuous fresh air units, but I don't know what they filter for specifically, and they are still pretty expensive.

And then my all time favorite is when I come in the house from working outside, and my eyes are messed up, I look like heck, and my family says, "you look like heck!" Yeah, brilliant observation...

Wayne

Siryet · #9 04/08/07, 02:52 PM

I use Zyrtek, this is the only medication that works, but I am tired all the time, but being tired is better than being without my medication.
I still leak from my nose, itch in my ears, but I consider myself to be 100% better than I used to be.

**Terri** · #10 04/08/07, 05:36 PM

Allergy shots helped a LOT! As long as I have the shots, the anti-histamines work just fine!

It is ALSO helpfull it you wash your hair when you get in, as hair traps pollen and then you sleep with pollen next to your face all night long.

Deb862 · #11 04/08/07, 06:15 PM

I also suffer horribly from both asthma and allergies and use prescription Allegra and love it. It is the only allergy medication that does not make me tired, hyped up, or feel weird. I've tried just about all of them over the years to include over-the-counter Dimetapp, Sudafed, BEnadryl, and Claritin, as well as prescription Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra. IMHO, Allegra and Zyrtec are the best prescription allergy medicines.

ricky · #12 04/08/07, 06:43 PM

Flownase works he best for me and that seems like about the only thing that helps me at all.

Walt K. in SW PA · #13 04/08/07, 08:04 PM

When we bought our place 20 some odd years ago I suffered terribly from hay fever (had all my life for that matter). A neighbor across the road, (an old-timer who lived in his self-built log cabin) noticed my distress and gave me some beeswax to chew on. So that season I chewed my way thru that baggie of beeswax; I figured what the heck if nothing else it tasted good. I don't know if it was the beeswax that did it or not, but around that time my allergies quit bothering me, and have largely been absent since. It might be worth a try.

mousebandit · #14 04/08/07, 08:45 PM

Was that like extracted beeswax, or just the comb with the wax and honey still mixed together? We have a big beehive in the pasture, that the owner left, and it's full of bees and comb. If I thought it would help, I might be brave enough to raid them!!

Thanks for all the other suggestions too. I had allergy shots the whole time I was a kid (before my dad retired, while he still had insurance) and it was fine. After he retired, I lived for 3 months out of the year on benadryl and just slept. I even missed my own high school graduation, knocked out on benadryl. I think I will beg hubby for a dr. appt. and just take the prescription stuff at least for this season, and then work on some immunity builders combined with the other suggestions here.

Tracey Mouse

vicker · #15 04/08/07, 09:14 PM

When I was a kid I lived several summers with my grandma Lettie here in WV. The first summer I was here (I was about 10 yo) a cousin and I helped the neighbors put up hay. There was a man there in overalls who suffered from hay fever and constantly blew his nose with his finger and had snot all over the front of his overalls. I should never have laughed

I do try to keep it off the front of my overalls though.

Mountaineer · #16 04/08/07, 09:57 PM

If you haven't been maintaining your beehive they may have left/died off. Seems the mites are everywhere, contemporary beeking is basically trying to keep mites off your bees, and maybe getting honey if you're lucky. I'd get in them asap and medicate if needed.

jerzeygurl · #17 04/08/07, 10:07 PM

flonase is the best, but wont stop the eye itch

mine is so bad during ragweed season it looks like im crying...I tend to stay inside more during the day, i cant see any way, the dew helps in the morning and evening.

mullien is good as well

veggrower · #18 04/09/07, 12:10 AM

I am very allergic to grass pollen and live in the grass seed growing capital of the world. May-July is interesting when the grass blooms. In the afternoon, we get dust devils of pollen riding over the fields.

Go to your MD and get some Flonase. They probably have some samples for you to try. Using Flonase I never know I have allergies and there is no drowsiness side effects. You squirt it up your nostrils 2Xday.

I use Bausch & Lomb allergy eye drops for my eyes and I am good to go.

Good luck. I feel your pain.

donsgal · #19 04/09/07, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mousebandit

Okay, I can't be the only homesteader out there who has terrible seasonal allergies? How do you guys do it? I have succombed to the OTC hayfever meds (and feel like a total wuss for doing so), but even at twice to four times the "recommended" dose, they aren't cutting it, and we aren't even into May yet!! I am just about to break down and go get some prescription stuff.

Normally, I am just flat out of commission - stuck in the house with a/c and unconcious from benadryl - from May until mid-July, but now that we have the ranch, there is NO WAY that can happen. There is too much to do, too much to plant, tend, and harvest, animals to care for, fences to build, etc. You all know the drill.

So, how do you other hayfever folks cope? What gets you through spring and early summer? If you do use prescription meds, which ones pack the most punch? We are going to have bookoo allergens floating around this place, and I will have to be out in the middle of it all day long.

THANK YOU!!

Tracey Mouse

I am *not* a fan of medicines. The only time I take anything for it is when I have a job interview and I don't want to be sniffing and blowing the whole time. Other than that, I sniff and blow. Over on the "alternative health" forum there is a discussion about this. I have used local honey and bee pollen and it seems to help somewhat. I have been thinking of buying a teeshirt that says. "No, I DON'T have a cold" because my nose is always red and people are always asking. LOL

donsgal

suzfromWi · #20 04/09/07, 08:14 AM

I never really had allergys until recently. At least it seems like an allergy. I had a cold awhile back and when it was done I ended up with this...Im fine for a long time, then all of a sudden my nose will fill and Ill sneeze and then my throat drys up and I cough for a spell. Then it stops and Im fine for awhile again.....been going on for weeks....I take Benydril if it gets bad, helps for a while....