Oh, I will say that I believe preventative measures are the only hope. When I head to Eastern Wa I load up on a double hit of benadryl. If I take it after I start having problems it does no good, so I take it before. Not very scientific, but I think that helps.
Long Shower, Benadryl now.
Make an appointment with an allergist tomorrow. Reducing seasonal allergy symptoms is a daily chore for those of us up here that suffer from them. I take Zyrtec every day from February through August. And I take Astepro for breakthrough symptoms. Plus I take Pataday eyedrops for eye allergies ($100 for 2.5ml after the insurance pays their part).
I lived 34 yrs & wasn't allergic to anything. Then for some strange reason I had the stopped up, runny nose that I could not get rid of. I went to the family doctor & said I had allergies. I took everything over the counter & nothing worked. I felt like crap all the time.
Someone finally told me of a great ears, nose & throat doctor in town. I went to see him & he said I had a severely deviated septum & recommended I do septum surgery & then allergy ***** test. We met our out of pocket deductible on our health insurance due to our 2nd daughter being born via c-section so I thought what the hell, the surgery will be free.
The ***** test was probably the best thing I've done. I found out exactly what I'm allergic to & now I know what to do to prevent the reactions. I'm addicted to indoor allergies but mostly dust mites.
I've had the septum surgery & am now doing allergy drops. They're similar to the shots except you do it yourself by placing drops of your allergens under your tongue.
I take Zyrtec daily & 2 puffs of Nasonex in each nostril every night. I also have an inhaler as I've developed allergy induced asthma.
I now feel 100% better & have very few allergy symptoms b/c of I'm on the correct medicine & I know how to limit my exposure to what's causing my reactions. My suggestion through all this would be to go see an allergy specialist. It make a complete turn around for me.
A huff on that monkey butt oughta clear things up......
I must say though that in reading your post at first it felt like a joke was building...
I have a couple friends who have had allergies their entire life. I always made fun of them & told them to "man up". Allergies were for pussies. Now when I break out the inhaler, they ask if my little pussy is hurting.
I deserve it.
So the summer like weather came late this year in the PNW, the usual late April / early May allergy season is just really picking up now with the pollen... Just got done mowing the yard and man I'm toast...
I've tried the over the counter stuff like Clariton (generic) and Allegra, anything else out there you'd recommend for hay fever?
For now I'm just sitting here with a cold beer, already feel a little better...