Fifty Plus (50+) - Alergy Season opening day.

Well, we've gone straight into spring with temperatures in the 60's. I've noticed that the last few days I've gotten up in the morning with that gritty mouth, slimy throated, swollen eye (no.........not for that reason) feeling that signifies that the trees are about to sprout leaves and that pollen counts are headed for record levels.

Does anyone have a remedy for allergies that works with cycling instead of against it. Anything I've ever tried either dehydrates me or causes me to nap through ride time or causes me to have the "dancing around bugeyed hyper" feeling that makes me think I should double my BP control dosages.

Going out to ride trails in the woods becomes a real problem this time of year. Now I can really tell stories about what the patch is for on the back side of your glove thumb. :D

Zyrtec 10mg work for me. I've never noticed any side effects.

I also suffer from allergies and my doctor sent me to a specialist last year because of the frequent sinus infections. His suggestion was Nasonex, an over-the-counter allergy medication and daily use of a saline nasal spray.

I've also been considering purchasing a Neti Pot to see if it helps. It's been recommended by a couple friends who have seen a big improvement in their allergies since using it.

Ahh, an issue near and dear to my heart... I've suffered for so long.
I've found a combination of injections, Flonase and Claritin to be very effective.

I'm about a month or more ahead of you on the arrival of allergy season. I couldn't ride in Spring or Fall without my antihistamines and steroid nose spray. Zyrtec and Nasarel are the current choices and seem to work very well for me. There are many others. Claritin or Zyrtec are available without prescription now, but you'll need one for the sprays. I use generic equivalents for the antihistamines and save a bundle vs. the overpriced name brands.

Claritin works for me, especially after I've been taking it for a few days. No side effects. Now itchy eyes are another case. Unless the rain washes the pollen out of the air, which it often does around here, my eyes feel like I rubbed sand in them after a ride.