Home Allergy & Asthma Treatments

It’s that time of year again.  The birds, the bees, and the flowers are all about, as well as the feathers and pollen, and if you live in a desert location like I do, the dust!

Nature is a beautiful thing, unless you suffer from allergies and asthma, like my sons and I do.  While we take medications throughout the year to control our symptoms, the springtime tends to flare up our allergic symptoms more, and we’re unable to manage them with our regular allergy and asthma control medications.

During the year, my sons and I take Zyrtec to control our nasal allergy symptoms.  DS2 and I both have Albuterol inhalers as well.  Lately, I’ve started taking my Flonase again, and that seems to help a great deal.

But beyond the prescription drugs (FYI – you can buy Zyrtec and store brand equivalents over-the-counter now), what can be done when, despite being drugged up, you’re still suffering?

Saline Nasal Spray

Unlike Flonase and Nasonex, and other steroid nasal sprays, saline nasal sprays have no medication in them. This enables you to use it as much as you want without the risks that over medicating yourself could create.

Saline nasal spray works by cleaning out the allergens inside your nose.  A salty mist, much like the sea air at the beach, puffs up your nostrils and loosens up the crud and allergens, allowing you to effectively blow your nose and clean everything out.

The other benefit of the saline mist is that is also moisturizes your nose when it’s dried out and irritated.

Neti-Pot – Wash Out Your Nose

I was recently introduced to the neti-pot.  This is an absolutely fabulous little thing, and it definitely comes in handy when you feel allergy symptoms coming on.  They are relatively inexpensive (I purchased a Walgreens store brand), however they are a little complicated to use.  You must read the instructions carefully, and it definitely takes practice to master it (I’m still working on it).

Basically, how it works is you fill the little pot with warm water and mix in some solution included with it.  You stick the spout up your nose (yeah, I know, sexy right?), lean your head over a sink (you’ll want to do this in the bathroom with a mirror in front of you, just an FYI),  and tilt your head so that the water runs into your nose and out of the opposite nostril.  If you feel and taste the solution in your mouth, lean your head forward more to prevent the solution from dripping down your throat.

If it burns, you may have used too much solution mixed with the water, or the water is too hot.  You don’t want to burn your nose, simply moisturize and cleanse.  Try using half a packet of mixture instead, if you’re a beginner, or less if it irritates you.

When you’re finished, gently blow your nose.  Repeat as necessary as per the instructions included in your kit.

The first time I used the Neti-Pot, I absolutely loved it.  I was feeling the slight tickle in my nose, and I just knew I was going to feel worse and worse as the day progressed if I didn’t do something. I used the Neti Pot, cleaned and moisturized my nose, and felt so much better.  Go buy one, and learn how to use it before your next allergy attack comes along, so you know how to use it before your symptoms reach unmanageable heights.

Dry the Air?  Moisturize the Air? Which is it?

Depending on who you ask, the answer for allergies and asthma is to live someplace dry.  For others, living in an area where there is no humidity flares up their symptoms.  It seems to be different for everyone.

If you live someplace that is extremely humid, and you are ill, then dehumidify your home using a dehumidifier or cranking up the air conditioner.  I have never had this problem, but this is what an allergist once told me to do if necessary.  This could be extremely important if you live someplace where the humidity is so bad that you have to worry about molds and mildew growing in your home.  Mold and mildew is unhealthy for everyone, even people without allergies. But if you have allergies, it’s even worse.

If you live someplace dry, however, the dry air may help you to a point, until the dryness becomes severe and your throat and sinuses start to itch and burn, causing excessive mucus to develop and, if you have asthma, make you cough and wheeze.

I used to have a warm mist humidifiers because I was told they were healthier;  the heat kills bacteria.  However, with my asthma and bronchospasms, hot mist in my face when I’m already experiencing symptoms actually makes it harder for me to breathe.

During our last ER visit for DS2′s asthma flareups, a nurse on duty told me to use a cool mist humidifier. He said you want to moisturize the airways without heating them up.

I have to say, it was the single best advice I’ve received regarding asthma, and allergies!  I have since placed a cool mist humidifier in my bedroom and my sons’ bedroom, and our night-time symptoms have improved.  We feel better.  My husband even said he feels better when he wakes up (no headaches or dried out sinuses), and he doesn’t even have allergies and asthma.

I have less symptoms in the morning thanks to the cool mist humidifier we use, in addition to changing from taking my Zyrtec in the morning to taking it at night.  It’s made a huge difference in my life.

When All Else Fails…

Medicate yourself more, if necessary and safe.  In addition to my Zyrtec and Flonase, if my symptoms are simply unbearable because it was excessively windy that day or there’s an absolutely gorgeous flower that just bloomed in my neighbor’s front yard, I’ll pop a single Benadryl.  If you are sensitive to Benadryl, and it puts you to sleep, I wouldn’t recommend this. Lucky for me, it takes 2 of these pills to knock me out, so one doesn’t bother me at all.  It just takes the edge off of my symptoms so that I can function.

If your asthma is triggered by allergies, this can help you kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  However, you should always speak with your doctor if you have trouble managing your asthma.  She may prescribe you a preventive inhaler, such as Flovent, to help with prevention and management of your symptoms.

Prevention & Avoidance

Maybe this should’ve been the first portion of my post, instead of the last, but honestly, we all try to avoid the things we are allergic to.  However, when you are “allergic to the world”, as my friend always puts it to me, it’s next to impossible to avoid everything that gives us a runny nose and cough without sealing ourselves up in a sterilized bubble.

So, a little common sense injected in here – if you are allergic to pollen, don’t visit a nursery (I wish I thought of that before we went – I must’ve been having a blond moment); if you are allergic to dust, put a mask on before dusting and vacuuming your home; and if you are allergic to animals, don’t have pets!  I mean, really! Are you crazy?

Don’t know what you’re allergic to?  Visit an allergist and get allergy testing.  That’s the next step for DS2.  I know what his food allergies are, but I haven’t a clue what his environmental triggers are, and his biggest problem is his asthma.  Gotta get to the doc and figure it out to give him the healthiest environment possible.

Attention to these details is definitely improving my quality of life.  I have never had to be so aware of these things because my allergies were always sufficiently managed by medications.  Whether it’s our new location or my allergies have changed and worsened, I am not sure, but I must be more diligent now than before.

I still plan on seeing an allergist and getting hooked up with allergy shots.  That is my next step, in addition to becoming a better housekeeper.  But that’s a post for another day.

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