Allergies

[JonathanBelles]

22 times?
Is that per minute or per hour?

My allergies have not acted up as yet, largely due to the fact that its still Winter here and nothing has flowered as yet.
That will change in the next few weeks. But for now, we are safe.

-justin-

in a row

[Miss Mary]

To parents of children with allergies: here's a list of things I did when my 18 yr old daughter (now in college) was diagnosed with asthma. These suggestions were given to us from her Pediatrician and they really helped.

- Made her bedroom as dust free as possible.
- Removed all stuffed animals, heavy drapes, similar items that would hold dust.
- Vacuumed everything once a week, even lamp shades, cold air returns, etc.
- Washed all furniture, window sills, flat surfaces that would collect dust, with Murphy's Oil Soap, using a sponge, toothbrush to get to all tight crevices. Be sure to dry furniture right away if you do this. Spraying Pledge and then moving it around with a dust rag, just moved the dust around more. The hot soapy mixture removes the dust completely.
- Washed all bedding in hot water, once a week.
- Encased the mattress and box spring in allergenic plastic liners with zippers.
- I then used a cotton mattress pad so it wouldn't feel like she was sleeping on plastic.
- Kept the door closed to the rest of the house. Ran the A/C. Never opened the windows, unless I wanted to air it out for an hour.
- Fresh night time air, just before dawn, is the worst for allergy sufferers I was told.
- When I did all of these things (along with her allergy meds), I swear her room did feel and smell so clean. The thinking is that kids spend 10 to 12 hours sleeping in a clean room like this. And that's half their day. They're breathing in dust and offensive allergens otherwise and they wake up feeling awful.

We did order a nebulizer for her asthma meds and only needed it when she was really bad. Nina's pretty much outgrown her asthma though. Whew. But I thought I'd at least mention these suggestions. They saved us plenty of times. They were a lot of work, but in the end I was glad I took these extra steps in helping her feel better.

Mary

[Skywatch_NC]

To parents of children with allergies: here's a list of things I did when my 18 yr old daughter (now in college) was diagnosed with asthma. These suggestions were given to us from her Pediatrician and they really helped.

- Made her bedroom as dust free as possible.
- Removed all stuffed animals, heavy drapes, similar items that would hold dust.
- Vacuumed everything once a week, even lamp shades, cold air returns, etc.
- Washed all furniture, window sills, flat surfaces that would collect dust, with Murphy's Oil Soap, using a sponge, toothbrush to get to all tight crevices. Be sure to dry furniture right away if you do this. Spraying Pledge and then moving it around with a dust rag, just moved the dust around more. The hot soapy mixture removes the dust completely.
- Washed all bedding in hot water, once a week.
- Encased the mattress and box spring in allergenic plastic liners with zippers.
- I then used a cotton mattress pad so it wouldn't feel like she was sleeping on plastic.
- Kept the door closed to the rest of the house. Ran the A/C. Never opened the windows, unless I wanted to air it out for an hour.
- Fresh night time air, just before dawn, is the worst for allergy sufferers I was told.
- When I did all of these things (along with her allergy meds), I swear her room did feel and smell so clean. The thinking is that kids spend 10 to 12 hours sleeping in a clean room like this. And that's half their day. They're breathing in dust and offensive allergens otherwise and they wake up feeling awful.

We did order a nebulizer for her asthma meds and only needed it when she was really bad. Nina's pretty much outgrown her asthma though. Whew. But I thought I'd at least mention these suggestions. They saved us plenty of times. They were a lot of work, but in the end I was glad I took these extra steps in helping her feel better.

Mary

Mary,

Also is it Nina or Laura that has a nut allergy?

Eric

[Tstormwatcher]

Today has been an allergy free day for me so far. I think the freeze we had last night and the cool temps today have helped. My wife and I dusted all the furniture and vacuumed all rugs today too. Either this has helped or my shots are taking affect quickly. By the way, my record for sneezes are 5 in a row.

[Miss Mary]

Eric - Nina has the peanut allergy. She can eat other nuts though, since the peanut is in the legume family. From what I've read about allergies, is it's logical that she developed asthma later on, after finding out she has the peanut allergy. It all was a natural progression, from what I read somewhere. But by late teens, sometimes you can outgrow asthma. Since it's very mild now, she's just about outgrown it. People rarely outgrow peanut allergies though, that's for life.

BTW, there's a strong medical theory that if an expectant mother eats a lot of peanuts or peanut butter, she can pass this allergy onto her baby. I ate PB, on whole wheat bread every single day I was pregnant with her. AND every single day I tried to nurse her, for 6 weeks. We found out she had the allergy when she was 11 months old (after a cookie from the bakery at the Kroger bakery, while grocery shopping).

I used to really beat myself up over this since I thought I was eating a very good protein. I abstained from all alcohol and caffeine, I was so careful. I really believed that eating peanut butter was very healthy. I also ate one egg a day (another suggestion from my pregnancy book). I just hard boiled a half dozen at a time and ate them cold. She not allergic to dairy - whew there!

But I do caution pregnant women to go easy on the peanut products. Better to be safe than sorry.

Okay back to the allergy discussion at hand.

Mary

[sunny]

I made the switch to Claritin D last night. Don't want to scratch my eyes out this morning, but my chest is still very congested

[Miss Mary]

Sunny - be careful, Claritin D can be addicting! It's even more non-drowsy than plain Claritin for me. Better than coffee even. It contains that medication they're trying to control now. What is it again? Pseudoephedrine that can be made into Methemphetimine? Something like that.

I used to love how Allergra D made me feel - energy and allergy free. But our insurance Rx card wouldn't cover it. First it was a $50 co-pay, up from $30, then they wouldn't cover it at all.

That's when I tried generic Claritin D (Kroger brand), but it tends to keep me awake at night. If you experience that side effect, there's a 12 hour Claritin D.

I do hope it helps.

Mary

[sunny]

Oh Mary, I took it last night and slept like a baby!!! The same thing with an antibiotic. For me, it's like taking a sleeping pill - good night! Regular Claritin did nothing for me, which is why he suggested the "D".

[Skywatch_NC]

Eric - Nina has the peanut allergy. She can eat other nuts though, since the peanut is in the legume family. From what I've read about allergies, is it's logical that she developed asthma later on, after finding out she has the peanut allergy. It all was a natural progression, from what I read somewhere. But by late teens, sometimes you can outgrow asthma. Since it's very mild now, she's just about outgrown it. People rarely outgrow peanut allergies though, that's for life.

BTW, there's a strong medical theory that if an expectant mother eats a lot of peanuts or peanut butter, she can pass this allergy onto her baby. I ate PB, on whole wheat bread every single day I was pregnant with her. AND every single day I tried to nurse her, for 6 weeks. We found out she had the allergy when she was 11 months old (after a cookie from the bakery at the Kroger bakery, while grocery shopping).

I used to really beat myself up over this since I thought I was eating a very good protein. I abstained from all alcohol and caffeine, I was so careful. I really believed that eating peanut butter was very healthy. I also ate one egg a day (another suggestion from my pregnancy book). I just hard boiled a half dozen at a time and ate them cold. She not allergic to dairy - whew there!

But I do caution pregnant women to go easy on the peanut products. Better to be safe than sorry.

Okay back to the allergy discussion at hand.

Mary

Hi Mary,

I have a cousin Peyton in MO who has a peanut allergy, also. Don't know if he's allergic to other kinds of nuts or not though.

You never went off-topic, Wxbuddy...as allergies are allergies...whether hay fever, peanut, etc.

Eric

[pojo]

Goodnes..... I have seasonal allergies and also allergic to sulfa.... meds have to be specially prescribed. To make matters worse.... I'm allergic to the influenza vaccine.... yea... no flu shot for me! That's nothing.... military LOVES wool.... and I mean it! Unfortunately, that is another allergy........ needless to say, I have a fun time honking my nose and sneezing!

[Skywatch_NC]

Goodnes..... I have seasonal allergies and also allergic to sulfa.... meds have to be specially prescribed. To make matters worse.... I'm allergic to the influenza vaccine.... yea... no flu shot for me! That's nothing.... military LOVES wool.... and I mean it! Unfortunately, that is another allergy........ needless to say, I have a fun time honking my nose and sneezing!

Are peeps who are allergic to flu shots...allergic to eggs then? That's a key ingredient in those shots.

[JonathanBelles]

Goodnes..... I have seasonal allergies and also allergic to sulfa.... meds have to be specially prescribed. To make matters worse.... I'm allergic to the influenza vaccine.... yea... no flu shot for me! That's nothing.... military LOVES wool.... and I mean it! Unfortunately, that is another allergy........ needless to say, I have a fun time honking my nose and sneezing!

Are peeps who are allergic to flu shots...allergic to eggs then? That's a key ingredient in those shots.

huh? eggs hmm i did not know that

[alicia-w]

Because vaccines are an important part of children's medical care, some people have been concerned about kids who are allergic to eggs receiving flu and measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccines. The vaccines are grown in cultures from egg cells and may contain a small amount of egg protein. Experts say the MMR vaccine is safe for people who are allergic to eggs but advise you to ask your doctor about getting a flu shot.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/egg_allergy.html

[alicia-w]

The only food I'm allergic to is cashews, which is fine since I dont really like them anyway.

I used to get nasty reactions to typhoid and yellow fever shots. thank goodness i dont need those anymore.