Natural relief for Allergies

[fielderman]

Does the only thing that seems to help allergies is medications? I hate medications and they make me so drowsy it is hard to focus but I have year round allergies. I would like to find something that is natural and safe with out the drowsiness. I wonder does anyone know of anything that could help?

[Sannah]

Hi, removing allergens from your environment works better than medications (closing windows during pollen season, showering before bed to remove pollens, dust mite covers, cleaning, etc.). Eating yogurt everyday or taking probiotics daily also improves gut health and this is where your immune system is.

[THANASI]

I have the same problem, all year round. Right now I can hardly sleep at night. I have an extremely ithcy throat, runny nose and itchy eyes. Meds do work for me (combination of zertec and nose spray) however, I hate taking them so I don't and I suffer. (besides the fact that the nose spray is 80 bucks (rhinocort)) I have heard from more than one person that there are natural ways to cure this, someone even said it matters what I eat? So if anyone knows pleeeeeease help before I chop my entire head off!

[gcsmithjr]

I know that Dr. Andrew Weil (he is an actual M.D.) recommends two natural treatments for allergies - Quercetin (400 mg) twice a day and Stinging Nettle (One to two capsules every two to four hours) - but he also says that it can take 6-8 weeks to see improvement.

I tried the natural treatments for about a month (in addition to using a HEPA filter in my bedroom and cutting down on my exposure to allergens) but didn't see much improvement and went back to over-the-counter Claritin (loratadine) which doesn't make me drowsy.

I don't know if his recommended natural treatment works for everyone but he's a fairly reliable source. If you really want to try a natural treatment you might give it a try (I'll stick with loratadine).

[Shannatoo]

yes, there is natural relief for allergies! I have tried several things and found them to be effective. My ND had me try taking quercetin (1000 mg a day), I've heard nettles capsules are also effective.

In addition the the quercetin, she had me using a natural nasal spray (called "xlear"). I also used a saline nasal wash (called nasaline) to help get all of the "stuff" from my sinuses.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to get a hepa air filter to keep in your home to help eliminate any dust and things like that.

You might also want to look into some food allergy testing (particularly IgG). I know that once I found and eliminated the foods I had allergies to, I was amazed at how much better I felt!

Good luck!

Shanna