Question:
I've been suffering from dust mite allergies for several years,
which appear to have brought on some rosacea symptoms around the
time I hit menopause. I have mostly ocular rosacea, and occasional
bouts with hive like reactions and a little bumpiness and redness. I
follow all the instructions to keep dust mites under control in my
house, but still have the skin symptoms, among others.
I've tried all the antihistamines, - Claritin worked for a time,
then my eyes really started bothering me. I tried Astelin, a nasal
spray antihistamine, which caused a lot of side effects. I tried a
sample of Zyrtec, which made the reactivity of my skin calm down
considerably, - but after taking it for a few days, my eyes started
getting very red, and I also slept poorly, mainly because I had a
backache during the night and well into the next day. I thought I
must be imagining this, but when I stopped taking the Zyrtec, the
backache went away.
Has anyone in this group had this experience? After the recent
experience with Zyrtec, I'm not sure what to do. I would rather not
have to take any antihistamines, given how lousy they make me feel,
and would also rather not take steroid sprays to address the dust
mite allergy and associated rosacea symptoms.
Answer:
I don’t have dust mite allergies, but my son does. He also has asthma. He’s
found that zyrtec and all the other antihistamines have side effects and/or
only work for awhile, so we researched other methods on the Net and found
some good articles on quercetin, a bioflavonoid. However, when he took the
“normal” dose, it didn’t work for him, so he increased it fourfold and it
worked. He built up to it gradually, because it can cause diarrhea and/or
stomach upset, although it didn’t for him. He takes the NOW brand that has
800mg quercetin and 200mg bromelain in two capsules. The bromelain makes the
quercetin work much better. When he tried cheaper capsules without
bromelain, they didn’t work half as well. It’s helped his asthma, also. He has many fewer attacks and even
when he has a cold, which is a big trigger for him, he usually can ride it
out with just extra breathing treatments, where he used to need steroids
whenever he had a cold.
Your puffy eyes might be due to a chronic sinus infection, low
thyroid function or just allergies. You might want to consider a TSH test
for thyroid.
You might search the site for Nasalcrom - it is now available in
generic and it has helped me a lot. My allergist never told me about
it until I asked - it works very well, hardly any side effects, but
has to be used 3-4 times per day so patient compliance can be poor.
I also use Singulair with vert good results., but it causes side
effects for some
I also use optivar (ocular antihistamine) as needed. A lot here use
patinol (but it changed my prescrition) or restasis just for eye
symptoms.
I like the Quercetin suggestion - it did not work for me bu it does
have a very low side effect profile.
Have you tried an air filter? I use one in the bedroom and found it
really helped my indoor allergies. I still sneeze, just not as bad..
Also, opening the top covers so the light can shine on the sheets
during the day may help. They don't like light..especially sunlight if
your bed is by a window.
Yes, Nasalcrom is excellent. Brilliant stuff. But I hardly ever use it, or antihistamines, until seriously congested, when it's a bit late. It really is best to take them well in advance, preventing any kind of ... whatever.
Since I didn't do that, I am so full of hay fever, my head feels as if it is stuffed with cotton wool. Have been taking antihistamines + Panadeine (paracetamol & codeine) round the clock for the past two days and am now slightly woozy. Being strictly teetotal, that's the only time I ever get spaced out, but it saw me through Christmas dinner without needing a lie-down. ;)
Yes, because New Zealand is one of the first countries to see the sun, we're well into Christmas while most of you have yet to go to bed and see if Santa Claus has visited overnight.
I think I need what our Aussie neighbour Jen-Bear calls a "nanna-nap"!
