Nose is so congested, need help

[stuffy]

Hi,
This is my first visit to the boards but I really need to find some relief. My allergies kicked in about 3 weeks ago and I am miserable. My nose runs, it is really congested, my eyes were itching, and I am just miserable. I take Vistaril an antihistimine for another medical conditon and that does help some. But because of this same medical condition I can't take decongestants. So here I am living in the shower to open up my nose. I have tried raw honey from local honey producers and that helped for awhile but right now I am miserable. I live in the DFW area of Texas and we have a long way to go before any frost or anything. I am praying for rain.

[Halls]

I also live in the DFW area am I understand your misery. Can you take another antishitimine like Zyrtec for your allergies? If so I'd consider that as an option.

One of the best things to clear out your sinus's is to irrigate w/saline. That will help w/the congestion and there is no drugs involved. You can make your own saline solution or buy the sinus care packs through your doc or buy them online. Do this about 3x times a day while allergies are real bad, and even do it when their not. You can also by an irrigation machine or just buy a spray bottle to use for irrigation, but the best is a irrigation machine. I might be selling mine soon seeing I can't irrigate anymore. Since we live in the same area,LOL!! Good luck!

[Marie55]

I also live in the DFW area and allergy season has really kicked off. Irriation of sinuses helps to wash out allergens that are creating the misery. You will be amazed how much junk will release and come out after nasal irrigation. Helps to reduce swelling too. I use combination salt and baking soda water for irrigation, 1/2 teaspoon each in 1 cup boiled water, strain thru coffee filter, fill clean nasal spray bottles, let cool, hang head off bed lying on back and squirt few times into nostrils, massage under eyes, rest a little bit then say kkkkkk while getting up to prevent solution from running down the throat. In a few minutes stuff will start releasing. Make fresh solution every week since it does not contain preservatives.

Besides irrigating I also use Beconase nasal spray during allergy season.

[stuffy]

That is wild that we are all from this area. I seem to be doing a little bit better today. I am praying that all this rain that keeps going around us will get here tonight. I am using more of the nasal saline so maybe that is helping in my nose. We also have 2 Hepa filters and ionizers going. Thanks for the replys.

[CheerAngel]

Hi stuffy, I have very bad congestion and runny nose, so I can relate to you. If the antihistamine that you are taking now isn't helping, you might want to change to another kind or adding a cocktail. Since you can't use decongestants, what about steroid nasal sprays? They are used long term and helps with the congestion symptoms and sometimes the runny nose too. The nasal steroid sprays shouldn't cause any bad side effects like the oral steroids if the dose is not too much. There are antihistamine nasal sprays too, called Astelin(i think). Maybe you would like to start irrigating like the others had said. And... since it's allergies, avoid it as much as you can. All the best!