jobs, dogs, and allergies...
So I've been thinking. (Scary, I know!) I have been considering and looking for a job that I can be passionate about. I'm not really passionate about teaching anymore... I don't really have a desire to teach anymore.
You can ask anyone who has known me for any length of time... I love dogs. Always have, and I probably always will. I realized a day or two ago that I can't imagine any job better than working with dogs for the rest of my life. I think what would be really great would be a job where I could somehow train dogs to become service dogs or animal-assisted-therapy dogs.
Only one problem with this... I was born with allergies. I've had hay fever my entire life, plus a huge cat allergy and a minor dog allergy. It runs in the family - the whole family is allergic - so I've never owned a dog.
I've attempted to treat my allergies with medications, and have tried Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra, but all to no avail - I have terrible side effects on those meds that are worse than the allergies themselves. So now I am attempting to find another way to treat these allergies.
So I'm throwing the question out to the world. Does anyone have any ideas for treating these allergies without needing prescription medication? Surely there is a way for me to control these allergies through diet, exercise, and perhaps minimal OTC meds. Any ideas??
You can ask anyone who has known me for any length of time... I love dogs. Always have, and I probably always will. I realized a day or two ago that I can't imagine any job better than working with dogs for the rest of my life. I think what would be really great would be a job where I could somehow train dogs to become service dogs or animal-assisted-therapy dogs.
Only one problem with this... I was born with allergies. I've had hay fever my entire life, plus a huge cat allergy and a minor dog allergy. It runs in the family - the whole family is allergic - so I've never owned a dog.
I've attempted to treat my allergies with medications, and have tried Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra, but all to no avail - I have terrible side effects on those meds that are worse than the allergies themselves. So now I am attempting to find another way to treat these allergies.
So I'm throwing the question out to the world. Does anyone have any ideas for treating these allergies without needing prescription medication? Surely there is a way for me to control these allergies through diet, exercise, and perhaps minimal OTC meds. Any ideas??
posted by Tidy Bowl at
3:37 PM
6 Comments:
Gotta love allergies. I've suffered with them my whole life similar to you. Just a three weeks ago I decided that I'd had enough of the sneezing, etc. when I'm out playing golf, so I visited an allergist who after the allergy testing told me I was allergic to everything (pollen, mold, animals, weeds, grass,dust) put me on the nose spray & Allegra D. He also said though that I'm a good candidate for shots, because the prescription meds won't take care of all of my symptoms on the worst days. Shots are the only way to permanently change the immune system. Apparently, I'll go through a 5 year process that should take care of most of my allergies.
Unfortunately I would bet that diet and exercise won't cut what you've got if they are like mine. Staying inside in a clean house with the windows closed is probably the best drug-free option. I'd love to hear if there are any other solutions out there, but I don't think there really are.
By
Anonymous, At
May 01, 2007 5:17 PM
Janna- you and me both!
I haven't seen an allergist yet - and actually (temporarily) I don't have health insurance right now, though I will be signing up through a Blue Cross/Blue Shield PPO soon. I want to see an allergist, though, and get "official" allergy tests - I mean, my knowlege of my allergies thus far is just based on anecdotal evidence. (I pet a cat, it makes me sneeze.)
I also suspect that shots may be the only way to go for me. But if there is any other way, I sure would love to hear about it. Like I said in my post, I would really love to work with dogs as a career - but if I was miserable with my allergies all the time, that wouldn't be a fun career. So surely there are other things I can do to minimize allergies!
I'll let you know what I find out!
By
Tidy Bowl, At
May 01, 2007 5:26 PM
Um, yeah. You're stuck allergic to dogs. There really isn't an OTC product designed to attack dog allergies... like I said before, NasalCrom is your best OTC bet, and it takes about 3 weeks to see any effects. That's why you should start it a few weeks before allergy season begins.
Shots are your only way to go. You have no insurance, so you're stuck for now.
Despite what people may tell you to do, some of which I'm guessing will be quite wacky, DON'T DO IT! Any homeopathic allergy solutions do NOT work. Being around dogs will not work. Sorry.
Diet, exercise, etc has nothing to do with allergies. The healthiest person who takes care of themselves in all the right ways can still have allergies! These things are totally unrelated (unless you're like 2 days old and eating formula instead of from your mother).
Allergies are developed by your body recognizing an allergen as "foreign" and attacking it, in this case... dog allergens. In the process of seeing the allergen for the first time, your body prepares for future visits by the same allergen (ie dog) by remembering the identity of the dog allergen (like a photocopy) and making cells that will have no other duty in life, but to recognize the dog allergens in the future and alert your body to attack! Therefore, any time you are around a dog in the future, your little cells that recognize dog allergens, tell your body that the "evil ones" have arrived and all kinds of reactions occur, leading to histamine release (hence why you need certain antihistamines) and mucus production and sometimes even asthma attacks if you have a bad enough allergy.
Therefore, diet, exercise, and ... quite frankly, 99% of OTCs will have no effect on dog allergies.
Claritin is for seasonal allergies such as hay fever, pollen, mold, etc. It isn't designed for pet dander. That's why you have no success with treating DOG allergies, yet it works for other allergies.
Hope that made SOME sense. I have trouble trying to explain complex things in normal terms. Just ask Germ. He lives in a state of confusion with me!
Bunnyservant/Beth/Still don't know my password
By
Anonymous, At
May 02, 2007 3:08 PM
Actually, Boof, that made perfect sense. I've done a whole lot of research in the past couple of days, and I've pretty much come to the same conclusion.
As far as homeopathic treatments, basically the only homeopathic treatments for allergies that exist are acupuncture and yoga. And there is no scientific evidence that either one of those works - only anecdotal evidence. So they very possibly could be having the same effect as a "sugar pill" or "placebo" if you know what I mean.
As far as diet and exercise, while I have found a few different "purification" diets that claim to alleviate allergy symptoms, but generally everything I've found has just been along the lines of what I would call a healthy diet with moderate exercise... for example, eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies and taking the dog for a walk every day. While I don't doubt that a healthy diet and moderate exercise may ease allergy symptoms somewhat (as opposed to being morbidly obese), as far as I can tell there is no scientific evidence supporting this.
So I suspect that I am back to allergy shots. I'm not opposed to those - believe me, I'm not afraid of needles! Just want to know all my options. Hopefully I can find some kind of decent insurance that will cover this.
Hope you find your password!
~TidyBowl
By
Tidy Bowl, At
May 02, 2007 5:21 PM
There are also homeopathic products that are supposed to "sensitize" you to different allergens... for instance, if you're allergic to pollen, it has some kind of pollen in the tablet form. This treatment actually does NOT work, but hey, they make a lot of money, so they're happy!
Beth
By
Anonymous, At
May 03, 2007 5:02 PM
Yea... I've read about a couple of supplements, natural plant extracts, even particular recipes which are supposed to ease symptoms, but again there is little if any scientific proof as to their effectiveness. Kind of like taking vitamin C or echanasia (sp?) for a cold... Grandma swears by it but a lot of studies show that it only has a minimal effect.
By
Tidy Bowl, At
May 03, 2007 5:21 PM
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