Anyone using an allergy mask?
 

After riding my 8-mile round-trip commute a couple of days this week, I am barely functional today, even after an Allegra, Flonase, Zaditor, and Sudafed, each attacking different symptoms. The air is thick with pollen, and aerobic exercise pulls so much of this into my lungs and sinuses. Yuck.

I have seen masks for sale that are supposedly designed for outdoor exercise just like this, but does anyone here have any real world experience and recommendations? I have some disposable N95 masks left over from last year's wildfire season, so I'll give those a try next week, but I'm a little worried about air flow and my glasses fogging up at stoplights. Thoughts? TIA

Claritin

Super helpful, thx

My thought is to just stay exposed to the seasonal pollens and allergens in my area. Hopefully, I become conditioned to the naturally occurring air borne irritants around me and will have a reduced histamine response. This is my operating theory with poison ivy as well, although sometimes I still rash up a bit.

Some people swear by consuming local honeys in season as the bees are building their honey from the pollens around them.

Ever use a neti pot? I've avoided a few (though not all) possible sinus infections by getting the gunk washed out. One theory behind the neti pot is that it can help wash out the gunk that accumulates in your nostrils and sinuses, which can supposedly help with pollution and pollens.

The dust mask might help. There are also cycling-specific pollution masks available (primarily from UK/EU/Asian retailers). I've seen them used by bicycle commuters in polluted areas, such as London.

I’m essentially doing the same thing with aerosol saline spray, and it helps. I just bought this for $14 on Amazon (activated charcoal filters, ear holes to prevent slipping down the face, velcro wraparound), so I’ll see how it goes:

https://www.amazon.com/MoHo-Activate.../dp/B07CNHDK61

I never liked riding with a mask, it made it more difficult to breathe comfortably. I used to have pretty bad allergies, and tried Clartin, it sort of worked. Ome day my brother said he quit taking it because it made it feel as if things were crawling on his legs. I had experienced the same sensation while working on the laptop with my feet propped up on an ottoman. I attributed the feeling to static electricity making the hairs on my legs stand up. Well, it wasn't, it was the Clartin. I stopped taking it, and the feeling went away.

After stopping Clartin, when I had bad allergies, I began taking Benadryl only at night when I went to bed. It helped me sleep, and I had fewer symptoms during the day. Now I rarely need it.

Good luck.

Last couple of years, the wildfire smoke has been getting horrible so I bought one and plan on using it this year.

After two days of riding (my commute isn't intense, but I push myself, so I end up breathing very heavily), I can say that the mask made a huge difference in my "recovery" today. Last week, I rode Wed/Thurs, and I was a mess on Fri. This week, it's been windy on top of the high pollen count, and after riding Mon/Tues, I only have mild symptoms today, even without all of the meds I took last Friday. I'm sold on the mask.

My glasses fogged up at stoplights a bit, and I had to adjust the mask some during the ride, but it's a small price to pay for being functional and foregoing all of those meds.

For the last year I have been drinking Yerba Mate tea instead of coffee. For some people, including me, it has some anti-hystamine effectiveness, as well as anti-inflamatory effectiveness. You can google it and read my account here:

Less Morning Stiffness, Fewer Sinus Problems: Unexpected Benefits of Yerba Mate...

As usual, Your Mileage May Vary...

I've had horrible allergies my entire life, and I've tried chemical and homeopathic remedies with mixed results for each. The point of this exercise with the mask was to test avoidance of allergens, and it was honestly a watershed for me. I was concerned that I'd have to limit cycling in the gorgeous California spring, but now the anxiety is gone.

noobinsf -

Moving from California (no allergies) to Texas ( holy sinus torture) I have tried ever over the counter pill that exists. My allergies just laugh at me especially when I have to cut the lawn. I for that I use a mask with two filters that are used for painting cars.

Went to the ear nose specialist and started getting shots weekly at a clinic almost an hour away one way. Nothing except feeding his bank account.

I complained about it to a retired friend who owes horses and used to make runs to the Mexican border for his prescription fill ups.
Long story short he told me about an steroid injection he uses called
CELESTONE SOLUSPA
(betamethasone sodium phosphate and betamethasone acetate) Injectable Suspension, USP. It will last 6 months before his allergies kick up again.

He brought me an injection pack and I put it on. It was pure heaven. Worked in less than 4 hours and it lasted 8 months. Ask Doc about the shot, he stated if iIgave that shot to my patients I wouldn't make any money so i choose to not provide it.

So just a suggestion you will need to go to a local border town or find a way to get injection shipped to you. doubt a US doctor will write up a script​.

lastly use at your own risk and hope it helps you.

Cheers

https://www.rxlist.com/celestone-sol...tm#description

This mask is similar to what I use to do yard work. Alot cheaper than the one from the paint shop.

https://m.harborfreight.com/P95-Main...rge-67727.html

Local unfiltered honey. 1 teaspoon per day.

This was prescribed by my daughter's pediatrician years ago to build up tolerances for local pollen.

I've been doing this myself for several years, but I put it in my morning coffee instead of using sugar.

While it won't make you immune to everything, it helps tremendously and is cheaper in price and easier on your body than taking OTC or prescription meds.

But, the humidity and weather changes here in Texas still mess with your sinuses something fierce on some days. For that, I use Afrin Severe Congestion pump mist nose spray.

Dangerous. And if your problems are solved for 8 months with one injection, there are other underlying causes. Or rather you did 8 months of injections :eek:

Apologies for digging this out from last year, but allergy is here for me.
PNZ is having some nice dry days and my eyes are all itchy. Flonase is the one I normally use and has some relief but is kind of bad right now as I type this.
Also do my NeilMed nasal wash that helps at night.

Interested on your mask - which kind of mask do you use for commute, I want to try too because if I am bad with few days of sun, this will be very bad going forward .....

Shoot, it looks like the mask I have linked in post #6 above is no longer available. Here is what looks like a similar mask:

https://www.amazon.com/Breathing-Pol...231818&sr=8-13

I’ve been really happy with the results, night and day difference.

Thanks!!!! I will try it because today my eyes are killing me.

On those windy days where it looks like someone emptied chalkboard erasers on my car, this mask works great, and there is no recovery period. If I ride without the mask, it takes me the full next day to recover, even with my normal antihistamine regimen.

Just looked the weather com for pollen report around here.
It is none until Tuesday, low yesterday and today. Yesterday didn't ride because I have to go dentist.

I do it all year long and have been doing so for at least 4 or 5 years. It should be local (as possible) unfiltered (raw) honey to have the proper effect.

I have a teaspoon in each cup of coffee when I'm at home. Or in tea. I could do it straight, but I consume at least 6 x 8oz. cups of coffee at my house each week.

I learned it from my kid's pediatrician years ago. While it took a full pollen season to take effect, I hardly ever have a runny nose or eyes from pollen related allergies anymore.

Let's see, a bottle of local unfiltered honey might cost me $10.00 and last one month. While expensive for honey, it's much cheaper than medicines and my head doesn't feel doped up.

Edit to add: Clearly I couldn't see that I already posted in this thread. :crash:

I read about it somewhere before. Yes, it is an all natural way to go and will invest on hunting some local honey this weekend and looking forward for next year.
The allergy this year is hitting me very bad..... and just couple dry days after pretty much raining whole Feb.

Those kill-joys over at American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology weigh in on the efficacy of consuming local honey: There is no scientific proof that eating local honey will improve seasonal allergies. One study, published in 2002 in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, showed no difference among allergy sufferers who ate local honey, commercially processed honey, or a honey-flavored placebo. link

hmmm reminds me of a mid-June ride 6/13/18 CCRT solo. picked a good weather weekday. wound up being windy forcing lots of pollen & other plant matter down into my throat & eyes. I was hacking for pretty much the whole 45 mile ride! I remember the green pollen along the trail swirling in the wind & piling up in some areas almost like snow

I see they state that their injections are still worthwhile, though.

Those people should get outside away from the lab more often and give nature a shot.

My first week wearing mask on my commute.
- At the first day I was stopping very frequently to blow my nose - remove mask and blow/maybe drink some water
- Tue, I tried to keep a bit loose and lower the mask and blow nose while riding and noticed that it was not that effective since I was getting itchy eyes
- Wed morning didn't use mask since we got rain from Tue to Wed. On way back did same as Tue and got some itchy eyes - I do nose wash and eye drops when get home
- Thur, I fit tight the mask to my face and notice my eyes were less itchy
- Fri, same as yesterday, but I replaced the filter that was getting dirt - my eyes are very happy today.
Just saw on weather.com that tree pollen is very high today ... hunmmm?! it seems some measurement problem. It was very low these past days or no pollen.

Getting some more filters so I can survive better the Spring here

these are too restrictive for cycling. wore one for a cpl hrs for a recent hospital visit. it was borderline fine just sitting & talking

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...222923e696.jpg

Tree pollen level around here is high for couple of days and with coronavirus I am enjoying early morning bike rides around home before checking in into my computer for work.
Allergy is not that bad lately.
I take shower and do nasal rinse after the rides. Not much Flonase recently and also not using the mask.
Also I am having some local raw unfiltered honey as suggested in this thread - from Costco - that initially gave me some stomach problem, but now seems ok.
it looks like the honey is making a good difference, since on previous years shower and nasal rinse would still leave me with itchy eyes and was having Flonase twice a day.

Glasses fogging trick - tape the nose bridge area of the mask. Been doing this for the 3M dust masks as long as I've been riding fix gears and that a time span of eras. I always used masking tape (because boat builders always have an infini8te supply). I take the new mask and put a 3" strip of say 1" tape along the top edge, centered at the nose, then another piece just below. Looks odd but works. Never tried it for cycling but I don't see why that would be so different.

Edit: I have always used 3M dust and asbestos masks, the ones with two yellow straps. Now my last box (from Home Depot) has masks that are smaller and I don't get a goof fit so I am going to look harder next time. But sort of that, those masks are good. They hold up and can be washed. Straps fail first. I could never get an acceptable fit with any single strap mask. My two strap 3Ms stopped fiberglass dust at two weeks old, working 40 your weeks than a single strap mask brand new.

Ben

Have you tried an immunotherapy course, getting shots of whatever pollen you’re allergic to over time?