Inertianinja

i usually have pretty bad allergies, but a zyrtec in the morning usually gets me through the day without a problem.

for example, today: all day out in the world, no problem. then i go for two laps around central park on my bike, and my head & eyes felt like they were going to explode. i had to stop twice for tissues, and when i got home my eyes were on fire.

anyone else feeling like this? tips on how to cope?

Jeff Wills

Around here, allergies are pretty much a fact of life. A lot of my riding is done in the Willamette Valley, the grass seed capital of the world. Thousands of acres of lawn grass.

The "normal" decongestants don't do anything for me. I pretty much live on Claritin-D (ranitidine/pseudoephedrine) from March through June.

Torgrot

Yesterday when the wife and I went for a ride, there was so much cotton wood fluff floating around it was like it was snowing. By the time I got home, my eyes were burning and the nose was running. I use the plain Claritin since I can't use the Decongestant due to my eyes. It is exceptionally bad for me this year, as I stopped smoking a year ago April.

torgrot

moneal

Well this is interesting because I've never been bothered by allergies and wow, the Wednesday before the Labor Day weekend, I noticed that my throat was getting scratchy when I got near my cat. I didn't pay attention to it and then I got really sick. I was counting on having a really fun holiday weekend, but instead I was on the sofa tending to my head, eyes and nose. I've been taking zyrtec every day and it has worked, but I still have the sniffles.

I notice when I take in a lot of dairy that it gets worse. I'm hoping to make a trip to a vitamin shop this coming weekend and maybe I can find something that'll work better than the zrytec.

nahh

yeah, this season is affecting me a little bit more than others, and I know others who are feeling the same way. Singulair usually works, but i find myself having to use benedryl on top of it too.

JanMM

Ranitidine is Zantac. Loratadine is 'the non-sedating antihistamine' in Claritin-D.
I take the occasional loratadine tab for high-pollen days in Indiana.

Spasticteapot

Yes. I've been on allergy shots for years, and it's done a lot to deaden the springtime red eye, asthma, sneezing, coughing, dizziness, and nausea - and I still feel like crap.

I'm debating whether to go for a Darth Vader style respirator or move to some sun-blasted desert.

Forget the vitamins - they're placebos.

Fexofenadine (allegra) is terrific stuff. It's perscription-only, but you can get it cheaply as a generic.

Ka_Jun

Yeah...very bad year.

DX Rider

Oh yeah. The pine pollen was burning my eyes badily on Sunday. It felt like I had a layer of talcum powder on my eyeballs.

dcmurf

I developed hay fever later in life - around age 40 and had a helluva time each early spring until I consulted my doctor. I now take loratadine tabs and two different nasal sprays (much to my surprise, the names escape me now). It bothers me to be taking so much medication for 3 months out of the year, but it beats the hell out of having a running faucet in my head.

GTALuigi

i don't want to jinx myself, but this is the first time in years, i've had none of the usual allergy symptoms yet.

normally i've been all over itchy & sneezing + running nose for the next 6 months...

it used to start late march all the way to late fall (november-ish)

Heifzilla

It is bad this year. I don't have asthma but I have been finding myself having asthma symptoms after my rides, where I can't seem to get a deep enough breath in and I feel sort of like I am suffocating I have also had nights where I feel like that, too, usually when the windows are open. i know it is allergy induced because I feel the same exact way after I am around rodents, too (I'm a vet tech) and I know I am extremely allergic to them.

I take a Zyrtec and within the hour I am feeling better.

jef09

I have struggled with this most of my life and it seems that this year and last were the worst. I can't use zyrtec as it makes me sleepy for days, so I have been combining claritin with something else at night. So far so good, I can at least cope.

bkaapcke

Actually, my allergies have gotten a little better each year since I started drinking Smart Water exclusively. It is free of mold spores, which were keeping everything activated, all the time. Pollen season just pushed it all over the top. bk

Coop500

When I was a kid I used to have to get shots, but then I "grew out of them" as my doctor at the time put it. For some reason last fall, nearly 25 years later, they came back with a vengeance and now I take an Allegra everyday, but by 3-4pm I am back to sneezing and sometimes have to take a benedryl or something similar.