The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday in the noon hour.
QUESTION: Without a doubt, it’s allergy season. How bad are your allergies, and what helps you cope with them?
Talk about it….
Real bad around Pine. The whole mask thing actually helps so will probably continue to wear them.
Same here. My whole life I’ve had bad springtime allergies. 2020 was the first time I didn’t have allergies, OR any colds or influenzas. Will I wear a mask the rest of my life? Nah!
Likewise. Oak as well as Pine for mee. The mask helps when I do yard work because there are both oak and pine all over the neighborhood. Beautiful trees but ah-achoo…
Constant runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezing. Guess I should be using my nasal spray. However, compared to how bad they were up in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, I’ll take the Bay Area any day.
I’m only allergic to house dust and dust mites, so pollen, and anything else outdoors doesn’t bother me. When I got an attack, my nose would run like a faucet and I would be miserable all day. Years ago I got allergy shots twice a week, and they helped 100%. Then one day, my doctor prescribed Fluticasone, a nasal spray that I use twice a day, and it also works 100%. It’s now sold over the counter as Flonase, but I still get the prescription because it’s a lot cheaper with my co-pay. I haven’t had an allergic reaction in over ten years.
Pretty bad. I take Zyrtec and Benadryl at night and Flonase in the morning. I use prescription eye drops because the drugstore brand does not cut it. I will also take a tablespoon of local honey everyday
My allergies are mid, sometimes worse on other days. I use nose spray eye drops and zytec pills. Works perfectly.
I have no problems only maybe slight runny nose. They say that eating local honey from local bees will keep you from getting allergic reactions.
Yes…my wife buys local bee pollen from Harvest House. Works well for her.
Bill’s Ace Hardware on Clayton Road (Dianda Shopping Center) in Concord also sells local honey.
A bee keeper in Moraga told me that for the honey to help with allergies the bees had to be active within 3 miles of where you are.
@JJ2~
Yes,….3 to 5 miles.
I’m lucky to have a bee keeper next door to me.
Terrible on some days. Pseudoephedrine always does the trick.
Allergic to privet tree pollen and wild mustard blooms, so I wear a mask during the seasons they are blooming.
I also wear a mask to protect against dust mites (especially dusting books and shelves). “Tylenol Severe” is the best thing if one of those awful headaches ensues.
I have also had reactions to the formic acid in ant bites (Benedryl gel applied topically).
Benedryl pills help, too.
But my reaction to any sting from a member of the hornet family means immediate Epipen injection and “Please get me to ER as fast as you can, and if we don’t get there in time, please don’t ever blame yourself.
Antler, oh darn!
That’s crappy about the sting reaction.
I don’t have any allergies to speak of, get sneezing attacks once in awhile, no medication. As a child I had allergic reaction to certain fruits, broke out in red itchy hives. Rhubarb (very popular in Denmark in the summer) was one, other fruits as well, especially if I ate them before they were ripe. Where I grew up we had different fruit trees (plums, pears, apples) black and red currant bushes as well as gooseberries, so it was tempting to pick them of the bush, even if the were not ripe, but I paid a price, and eventually learned to wait until the fruit was ripe.
hanne~
Found out not too long ago, that gooseberries & tomatillos (in the same family) are poisonous, if unripe. Thank goodness you survived by getting nasty hives and not worse.
Not too bad. A trip to the coast is helpful…
Bee Pollen capsules have really help me
build up my resistance to plant allergies.
I used to be severely allergic to cats, but ever since I stopped eating them I haven’t had a problem.
As a cat lover, that is not funny. I developed an allergic to my cat, after I had had cats for years. However, when I stop stroking their fur and just scratched them behind the ears or under the chin, no problem.
@paranoid pablito…As someone who’s been owned by a cat or 10 through my life, that was funny.
We had a cat for 19 years, and was fine. Then we baby-sat our Daughter’s 2 cats for 3 1/2 years till 2 months ago, Their fur was light & fluffy,…boy-o-boy, I has a stuffy nose the whole time.
No more Cats. I’ll just enjoy the neighbor’s cats who visit me,…outside.
Dogs & cats are like 4 legged dust wipes. They go outside, climb the trees, walk thru the bushes and roll on the ground, picking up all kinds of pollens, molds,dirt, etc. and then come inside to share them with you
You could be allergic to what is actually on your pet’s fur and not necessarily be allergic the pet itself.
I’m allergic to cats and dogs, too, but my last cat was an “indoor only” which wasn’t a problem. Prior to that I had a household of three indoor/outdoors. I got by pretty well with a wipe for cats by Martha Stewart specifically for people who are allergic. You just wiped them down when they had rolled, or been outside, and they worked really well. I also had a shampoo for cats to reduce allergens, but as you might imagine the cats weren’t wild about that. Neither was I. They sometimes actually seemed to enjoy the wipes, however.
Severely allergic to trees, grasses, dust and dust mites, mold, Spring, and Fall, not getting my way, rude, and bossy people. Anaphylactic asthma attacks complete with epipens, stuffy nose, itchy eyes, itchy skin, irritability. I sincerely believe a heart irregularity I’ve been experiencing of late is allergy related. Have had allergy shots multiple times and they are the only thing that works for me. I have inhalers and nose spray prescriptions that are only mildly helpful, a bunch of expensive over the counter stuff that doesn’t really help. Long overdue for more shots.
@ Gittyup…. I’ve been mildly allergic to all the same things, all my life, but the shots never helped. Allegra is effective ….that and Flonase Nasal Spray.
@Dr. Jellyfinger I’m glad those work for you. I haven’t had any luck with either since they released them OTC. They may be a different dosage than the prescribed version.
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My allergies happened in late May/early June and it was very mild… I’m free n clear til next year.
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Really bad ‘seasonal allergies’ pretty much year around.
I use generic Zyrtec every day. Flonase when that isn’t enough. And eye drops when the pollen gets to my eyes.
I’ve tried local honey and all of the other folk remedies. They didn’t help me.
One word: Allegra! That was a great day when that became OTC drug. This year hasn’t been as bad, but trees and dust are my big allergens. I usually only take seasonally out here, but when I go home to NY, I take one every day just in case.
In Denmark we had several varieties, some green, some red, not sure they are the same as the once you are referring too. Anyway they definitely don’t taste good if they are not ripe, I have rarely seen gooseberries here in the States.