Bless You!
"36 million Americans have seasonal allergies, or hay fever. There’s good news, though, behind the cloud of pollen. Research suggests that having rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may make you 50-percent less likely to have hay fever. But if you do have RA and seasonal allergies, the allergies may make your RA less severe.
Seasonal allergies occur when your body develops antibodies to pollens released by trees, grasses or weeds. When you’re exposed to the offender, these antibodies trigger the release of chemicals such as histamine, which cause mucous membranes in your nose, sinuses and eyes to swell, resulting in cold-like symptoms, says Mark Jacobson, MD, a Hinsdale, Ill., allergy and asthma specialist and president of the Illinois Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Seasonal allergies commonly affect people in the spring and fall, and while they’re typically not life-threatening, they can be life-disrupting. If not treated, chronic congestion from allergies can alter your sense of taste and smell and increase your susceptibility to chronic sinus infections and even asthma. But treatment options for people with RA are a bit different than for the general public. Most people can get allergy shots to reduce the need to medicate for symptoms, with the possibility of long-term relief and prevention of allergy-related complications, including asthma, down the line. But allergy shots are not advised for people with an autoimmune disease, such as RA or lupus, because they may cause disease complications.
People with autoimmune diseases can use over-the-counter antihistamines, decongestants or nasal sprays to treat seasonal allergies. However, they should first consult a doctor or pharmacist if they are also taking medications for other problems, such as depression, sleep problems or anxiety, to avoid drug interactions, including increased sedative effects.
Allergy medications can be confused with arthritis medications. A corticosteroid nasal spray prescribed to treat seasonal allergies does not replace a corticosteroid pill prescribed to reduce arthritis inflammation. Most of the corticosteroid in a nasal spray doesn’t get into the bloodstream, so nasal sprays have little systemic effect. Abruptly stopping oral corticosteroid treatment may cause potentially fatal adrenal gland problems.
Best bet for people with RA: Minimize contact with pollen and irrigate your sinuses with a saline nasal spray to flush them out. Avoid outdoor activity during the morning hours, when pollen counts are highest, keep windows shut and run the air conditioner, particularly in the bedroom."
~By Mary Anne Dunkin, Arthritis Foundation.
Since so many people suffer from seasonal allergies, I thought this might be of some help. I can only imagine how this effects your daily life. Hopefully, there is some medication that works for you. If not, then be encouraged: This too shall come to pass. :-)
Isaiah 10:27
It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
Seasonal allergies occur when your body develops antibodies to pollens released by trees, grasses or weeds. When you’re exposed to the offender, these antibodies trigger the release of chemicals such as histamine, which cause mucous membranes in your nose, sinuses and eyes to swell, resulting in cold-like symptoms, says Mark Jacobson, MD, a Hinsdale, Ill., allergy and asthma specialist and president of the Illinois Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Seasonal allergies commonly affect people in the spring and fall, and while they’re typically not life-threatening, they can be life-disrupting. If not treated, chronic congestion from allergies can alter your sense of taste and smell and increase your susceptibility to chronic sinus infections and even asthma. But treatment options for people with RA are a bit different than for the general public. Most people can get allergy shots to reduce the need to medicate for symptoms, with the possibility of long-term relief and prevention of allergy-related complications, including asthma, down the line. But allergy shots are not advised for people with an autoimmune disease, such as RA or lupus, because they may cause disease complications.
People with autoimmune diseases can use over-the-counter antihistamines, decongestants or nasal sprays to treat seasonal allergies. However, they should first consult a doctor or pharmacist if they are also taking medications for other problems, such as depression, sleep problems or anxiety, to avoid drug interactions, including increased sedative effects.
Allergy medications can be confused with arthritis medications. A corticosteroid nasal spray prescribed to treat seasonal allergies does not replace a corticosteroid pill prescribed to reduce arthritis inflammation. Most of the corticosteroid in a nasal spray doesn’t get into the bloodstream, so nasal sprays have little systemic effect. Abruptly stopping oral corticosteroid treatment may cause potentially fatal adrenal gland problems.
Best bet for people with RA: Minimize contact with pollen and irrigate your sinuses with a saline nasal spray to flush them out. Avoid outdoor activity during the morning hours, when pollen counts are highest, keep windows shut and run the air conditioner, particularly in the bedroom."
~By Mary Anne Dunkin, Arthritis Foundation.
Since so many people suffer from seasonal allergies, I thought this might be of some help. I can only imagine how this effects your daily life. Hopefully, there is some medication that works for you. If not, then be encouraged: This too shall come to pass. :-)
Isaiah 10:27
It shall come to pass in that day That his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, And his yoke from your neck, And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.
12 Comments:
I did NOT know that pollen counts are highest in the AM. That is my favorite time of day and I just love the cool, crisp mornings the best! Sigh...
"This too shall come to pass.."
This is a very encouraging sentence, lieve zus.
Thank you =)
Gina,
Awww, I am so sorry. We too love to sit outside in the mornings and late evenings, when it's cooler, so I can imagine how disappointing that must be for you. But...forewarned is forearmed and it may help you control the allergies. The good news is, allergy-season is coming to an end!!!! :-D
God bless you, girl.
Love you, dear sister. I hope you are doing allright.
Audrey,
You are most welcome, lieve zus.
I always find that such an encouraging sentence. It's full of hope and faith. And so comforting :-)
God bless you. Have a wonderful day, lieve zus!!!
Luv ya.
God's Grace.
Corry,
praying you have a blessing of a day today!
huggs
Jel,
Thank you very much!:-) I pray you do as well.
((((HUGS)))) and love.
God's Grace.
I have seasonal allergies, except I have them all of the time. I take at least two different medicines and then they don't bother me, unless I forget to take them. I'm glad that I didn't live a hundred years ago before the medicines were available. I used to have like these attack things at night, before I realized what was happening, because I never got allergies until about eight or ten years ago, then I got them full blown.
Being a person who is allergic the world, I have taken allergy shots and allergy medication since I was 1 1/2 years old. That's a really really really long time ago. I wish the medicine nasal sprays worked for me but no such luck. However I have been able to cut how much allergy medicine I take from 4 pills a day to 2 by using this method.
Saline nasal spray twice a day in the am and pm. This is important make sure when you use it at night that you will be in an upright position for 1 hour otherwise you will flood your upper sinus cavity. I also gargle with salt water after I use the nasal spray. What has worked best for me is to lay with a pillow under my neck and do the spray and then sit up.
None of the new medications on the market work for me I have been using actifed since it was prescription. Its a bit tougher now to get since the drug dealers now use it to cut with drugs but its worth the hassle. I am in big trouble if they ever stop making the generics since the brand actifed is no longer in production. Actifed is part antihistamine and part decongestant but you have to stay away form it if you have heart problems.
A combination of saline and pills might work for someone else and always try 1/2 a pill first since they tend to do studies on men. Medication works different in women's bodies. Make sure though before you take half that the pill is scored to allow it, if it is time release you can not do it.
Another thing that might help is hot/warm peppermint tea. The peppermint has a menthol effect also peppermint in the tummy helps loosen mucus that may have gone down the back of ones throat. Which can cause a bit of uncomfortableness and nausea.
Chamomile tea helps to dry membranes but be careful. I would not drink chamomile tea for more then 3 or 4 days because although no studies in humans yet they do know that plants in which chamomile is introduced to help with fungus and such become dependant on it. Meaning if the chamomile is left with the plant for more then 7-10 days and then removed the plant gets sick again much worse and often dies.
Be careful with the use of Soy. I know it is really popular right now but if any of you were given soy based baby formula and spit up or threw it up you might be allergic. It may be why some people react to Asian foods even when no msg is present.
Also if you have an allergy to mold look at things like mushrooms and Lima beans or legumes type foods in your diet. Mold is deadly to me and mushrooms and Lima beans trigger the same response just smaller. I think it has something to do with how they are grown.
I know it is uncomfortable but try not to suppress a cough that is ridding your body of mucus unless of course it affects your ability to breath or you need to make a speech or something but in the case of breathing you need to see a doctor as that would not be good. Mucus traps bacteria so if you suppress your bodies ability to rid it, you could be setting up for an infection. A nasal triggered cough is a bit different cough drops are better for that then a dose of cough suppressant. Because that nasty stuff that the saline will let out into your throat needs to come out.
Give yourself some good bacteria to counter. Yogurt is the best way and if you drink milk or use it on cereal try acidophiles milk. The draw back is it seems to go bad sooner don't know why but that with yogurt can really help counter bad bacteria growth.
Move, move, move! I know its hard when we don't feel well, really I do, but movement helps clear the body of mucus created by allergies and illness. I don't mean a work out. Stand up if you can and stretch.
Eat something you like that's spicy that helps drain the sinus cavities, sit in a steamy bathroom you can get a facial too:)
I know not everything works for everyone. I have 2 diseases that cause rampant infections so I have learned how to help counter the effects allergies. Which create mucus and suppress the immune system. Which brings me to this..
DEAK are dangerous vitamins when taken in volume. They are not water soluble and can build in the body. No person with the exception of people with Cystic Fibrosis and a couple of others should ever need K. If you go outside and eat a yogurt or cheese you should not be low on D unless you have a bone adsorption issue or low iron. I know D is given for Osteoporosis but that is under a doctors care and monitored. E has some great things. It helps our memory and keep are blood running clean again though an excess means deadly consequences. A is toxic in high amounts. Specific diseases may cause a low blood level but A needs to be watched.
B complex is water soluble and a powerful antioxidant. Not only that it helps with iron which helps your immune system. You do not need C to absorb B. C helps you absorb some forms of Iron. B just works. Also C taken in to high amounts can cause allergy symptoms its better to eat some pears, oranges and apples there free calorie foods and do the same thing. But if you want to take C 250 mil is enough.
Use caution with herbs stuff like echanatia is wonderful however it needs a catalyst in the body to truly be absorbed. Many people use Golden seal root for that and that's fine. But be warned long term use of Golden seal can cause liver damage. I would suggest no longer then 2 weeks of Golden Seal if that's what you use.
Anyway I am done with my novel :P
When your life depends on controlling your allergies you learn stuff you never thought you would :)
Your loved
Andrea,
Good to hear from you, girl.
Yeah, you better not forget your medicine!
I am sure there were allergies a century and more ago. It seems however that more and more people are getting them. I also heard that last year's hurricanes have something to do with this year's allergies. I would have expected all the nasty stuff in the air to be "gone with the wind"!
God bless you, Andrea!
Mrs Zeke,
Wow, thank you so much for all that info, I learned some things I had never heard off! I think all of this is very valuable and if you allow, than I would like to put your "novel" (grin) in a post, so that everyone can read up on this information.
I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself, girl. I keep remembering you in my prayers.
Much love and God bless you!
God's Grace.
Thanks for the lovely e-card last week, Corry. Thanks to you and to your husband. It was a traumatic vacation, but we ended up having a great time (truly) and it was more relaxing than what I'd planned for us, so mayble God knew what Tom (in particular) needed and thus sent the 3 1/2 day sabbatical for me in the Durango, Colorado ICU!! Never know, but he enjoyed Durango a lot and ate some really good food every day, for which I'm really glad.
Anyway - thanks for checking in on me after we got back and sending the lovely card. I really appreciate it. I got a couple more cards in the mail this afternoon from friends at church and through Tom's work who found out I'd been just "a bit" under the weather. That's how I look at it now that I'm better.
Life is fragile no matter what, isn't it? Don't you think? What a blessing to be a Christian in this day and time and to enjoy all of the abundant blessings. Even here in the middle of allergy season.
Blessings! Dee
Dee,
You are more than welcome!
We are grateful your vacation turned out to be so good after all and even more grateful you can look back at it as being "a bit" under the weather! Yes, God knows what's needed and He works in mysterious ways but it's always for the best, even if it doesn't always seem like it:-)
Does make you realise though who is in control and that we all are here by His grace and mercy. Enjoy His blessings, Dee. As you found out: life is fragile!
Have a wonderful, blessed weekend girl!
God's Grace.
Corry you can do whatever you want. Be aware though you may get differing opinions. Ill try to be around to help explain if you do.
God gave us a wonderful working machine in our bodies that even with broken parts it still works. If we take care of it (I am guilty of not doing so) we need very little else. Very cool.
Your loved
Mrs Zeke,
Thank you so much. Both for your insights on this subject and your offer to help. I really appreciate it!
No doubt there will be different opinions. Not every one is the same or reacts the same to allergies and meds. What may work for one, may not work for another. But by sharing our experiences we may be of help. My motto is: if it only helps one person, than Praise be to God! :-)
Even when we have "broken parts" and that door is shut, God opens another. He has a reason and a plan for everything. Your part includes to take of yourself, so...DO SO!! grin.
Love you, girl :-)
God's Grace.
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