<p>One of my coworkers has been suffering from horrible allergies the past couple of weeks… she never had them before. She went to see her doctor about it and he hasn’t really been able to help her. Her eyes are so watery and she feels miserable. She said she tried taking Loratadine and it didn’t help at all. He prescribed her Fexofenadine but it is not really making too much of a difference either. I told her that I have pretty bad allergies as well and the only drug that works for me is Cetirizine (Zyrtec). I get really really sick when I’m around certain things and if I take one of those an hour ahead of time I can be around ANYTHING. </p>
<p>Anyone have any additional advice for her? I told her she can get the cetirizine OTC if she wanted to try it out - I think she was going to call her doctor to make sure that it was okay since he prescribed something else…</p>
<p>I’m not a doctor, but I have kids with allergies. It would be best for your friend to see an allergist who can test for allergies to various substances. </p>
<p>Yes, she should try the allergist. I developed allergies in adulthood (in my early 30s). Still got em… :(</p>
<p>Here are a few thoughts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It takes a while for the medications to start working when you first take them. My doctor always advises I give a new medicine several days if I try something new.</p></li>
<li><p>Last year my doctor put me on fairly large doses of Vitamin D because my levels were low. My allergies were AWFUL during that time. (One of my kids said, “Your overhall health may be better, but your quality of life is terrible right now”) I was able to cut my vitamin D dose back after a couple of months when my blood levels tested as normal, and the allergies subsided back to where they had been. No clue what was going on there – immune system boost gone haywire? Can’t find any studies or info on this happening to others. Just glad it is over.</p></li>
<li><p>The allergist may not find everything, they just test for common stuff. For example, I am allergic to guinea pigs (probably the dander). No other animals (fine with dogs & cats, for example). I figured this one out on my own from the itchy eyes and sneezing every time I petted the little guy or cleaned his cage.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>She’s about my age - mid to late 20’s. I told her to be thankful she didn’t have them till now, haha!</p>
<p>We had a 1 on 1 meeting today and I had a bunch of stuff to review with her… so I didn’t get to talk to her very long about it… it just happened to come up during our meeting when she mentioned calling out sick yesterday (which was kind of funny because I called out yesterday too… Woke up feeling like a truck ran me over… non allergy related tho… I kind of got a kick out of it because both of us are very very good when it comes to attendance and we both happened to miss the same day)…I told her I’d ask around and see if anyone had any suggestions. I feel really bad because I know what she’s going through… except I know what medication I can take that relieves it for me. Her eyes are all red and watery and she said she’s been all nose runny and just general allergy symptoms. Never had any before this year. I know mine have been really bad the past couple of weeks as well so I think somethings just in our air up here right now… I woke up the other day with ridiculously watery eyes myself and I don’t get that way unless I’m around dogs or cats or smoke without taking anything first. I’ve never seen an allergist myself but I have a big laundry list of things that set mine off… hay fever… cats… dogs… dust… smoke… perfumes… certain colognes… some fruity scents from bath and body works… etc. I wonder if she got a new pet or perfume recently or something. Maybe her fiance did and she didn’t even realize it.</p>
<p>I’ll mention to her about the allergist… she didn’t seem too keen on the family doctor that she has been seeing. She said he wrote her a script and she went to fill it at her pharmacy (20 min away from her dr) and it turned out he wrote the script wrong. She said it took her awhile to get that straightened out. Then when she went to see him last week or something for it she was like could you please double check it to make sure it’s made out correctly before I get to my pharmacy this time and he goes “I’ve been doing this for years I think I know how to write an RX by now.”</p>
<p>Some people swear by the netti pot. Nasal irrigation to keep the allergen down in the nasal passages. Also the running of an air conditioner keeps the room dry or maybe an air ionizer. My daughter has seasonal allergies and was told by her doctor, that she should start taking her claritan 6 weeks prior to the start of the grass and trees growing, because it is hard to get it under control once the spring season starts and the allergies come in full swing.
Good luck, I know it can be miserable.</p>
<p>One thing I am allergic to is mold. Most years I have a lot of trouble in the spring – I think there is mold-like stuff on the ground as the snow melts in our part of the country, so during that damp period in Apirl I am very snuffly.</p>
<p>Have her use over the counter eye drops for allergies, can’t think of what they are called off hand. My daughter uses them and they work well in conjunction with allergy pills. If she wears contacts, she just needs to use the drops and wait 10-15 minutes before putting in her contacts.</p>
<p>My allergies are just kicking in. (I’m in PA.) I also recommend the neti pot. (We had a whole thread about them a while back.) She might also try showering at the end of the day. If her hair has pollen in it after being outside during the day when she goes to bed it will end up on her pillow and she’ll be sleeping in it all night long.</p>
<p>The thing that helps me the most is a prescription strength Fluticasone nasal spray (Flonase) - there are some other brands that work well also. These contain corticosteroids. I do take Loratadine in addition to the spray but the nasal spray is the one thing that really makes a difference.</p>
<p>This spring seems particularly bad around here.</p>
<p>Testing is very helpful, as half the battle with allergies is minimizing exposure. You need an allergist for testing. At some times of year, everything sets me off. Other times, not so much. If she has some dust allergy, and the trees are blooming, which is a spring allergy, the dust will set her off more. Some people with allergies are more symptomatic when eating a lot of dairy products, though this is not accepted by the medical community, for the most part. If there’s any thought that animal dander or dust is part of her problem, keeping a very clean sleeping environment can help. Wash bedding in hot water, dry in a hot drier. Keeping windows closed, and an air filter on if pollen is the problem can help. </p>
<p>Beyond that, there are a number of anti allergy eye drops on the market. Using those, along with an oral antihistamine, and nose spray hits the problem from a variety of angles. Flonase is very good. An over the counter spray to try is cromolyn. It needs to be used regularly to be most effective.</p>
<p>He gave her a script for eye drops too… and told her not to wear her contacts. She replied with “I don’t wear contacts… or glasses…” It just seems like her doc didn’t even look at her chart.</p>
<p>I have season allergies (one of the worst allergy seasons on record here.) BUT, when I was taking allergy pills every day, I finally went to an allergist. What was actually causing my chronic symptoms was 1) hypothyroidism, and 2) chronic dry eye.</p>
<p>Missypie, that is a very interesting post. My doctor recently tested my thyroid function and the readings indicated some hypothyroidism (going back for more tests in a couple of weeks). I have done a few things with my diet to work on this (making sure I am getting enough iodine and eliminated soy) over the past few months. I have noticed that for the past few weeks, when my allergies would usually be at their worst for the year (that spring thaw/mold thing), for once I have had no increase in my allergy symptoms. Hmmm…</p>