JUNIPER will have you headbanging squeezes everywhere, if you haven't started already. so what's your record for continuous sneezes in a row? i once did 14, stagger, stagger,
kleenex,
kleenex, sneeze, sneeze, stagger, 8 more sneezes, tissue, tissue, etc.
well, if you haven't found a cure yet, here a few things that work:
•
allertonic, from herbs, etc., will help build up natural immunity to juniper. take 1-2 pills, 5 times a day
•
QBC plex, from
solaray vitamins. it contains
quercetin,
bromelain and vitamin c, all great for reducing allergy symptoms.
• eat local honey or local honey products. they contain pollen from the
juniper flowers, which build immunity to the allergen.
* some people have consumed juniper berries over the course of a year to build up immunity to juniper pollen and cure their affliction for good. i haven't tried this one yet and am not sure where to but junniper berries. and i don't mean drinking lots of gin.
• vitamin c and other things like
echinacea and
goldenseal that boost the immune system help too.
*
claritin is one of the best solutions. it wont prevent all of the symptoms, but it will take care of 80 to 90% of them. it will definitely stop the headbanging-sneeze-a-thon." there's also claritin-d, available only by perscription, which is much stronger than the regular claritin you can buy at the grocery store.
•
benadryl and other medications and
basic antihistamines help, but sometimes just in the beginning, while making you drowsy. however, drowsy is better than continuous sneezing. there are other heavy-duty perscription medications available too.
• eye drops help the itchy eyes somewhat, but perscription eye drops work best.
• if nothing else is working, or if you've built up immunity to the regular medications, there's always, the steroid nasal spray. that'll kick it, but use as a last resort.
• some people wear dust masks. a dust mask will only keep some or most of the pollen away from the potential sneeze factory. it will not prevent all pollen from entering your nose, even carbon filter dust masks. the reason being that when you breathe out the mask moves slightly away from your face, allowing pollen to enter. a chemical mask works best, but is big and bulky and is often difficult to breathe in. oxygen is good. i used to wear a dust mask until the unthinkable happened. yes, i sneezed while wearing one.
uggh! i never did that again.
• a good idea, if you are having a serious problem with the junniper, is to go outside as little as possible and keep the windows rolled up while driving. the less you breathe of outside air, the less problem you will have. at home don't open your windows. once the dust blows in your house, it will land everywhere and cause you problems.
• a sealed up house and a good air filtration system will recirculate the air in your house, while filtering out the junniper pollen.
• also, several humidifiers throughout your home will do a good job of reducing airborne pollen in your home.
• some wash their face after being outside. the idea being to wash off the pollen that collects near the eyes and nose. i've had limited to little success with this method, but it works for some who have severe itchy eyes.
i met someone several years ago who was so proud of himself one summer for cutting down all his juniper trees, on his
eldorado property, thinking he would be spared from his winter affliction. it didn't help. what he didn't realize is that juniper pollen can travel for miles and miles on the fierce winds we have in this state. the funny thing is , the very next year, the bark beetle came and killed all his pinion trees, so now he has no trees on his little one acre.
occassionally, when the wind blows
thru a juniper, ripe with pollen, it looks like the tree is on fire with light-green flame and rust red junniper pollen buds. it's a unique phenomenon.
addition: on march 17, 2007, santa fe had the highest pollen count EVER; higher than anywhere in new mexico, higher than any recorded time in history. they attribute it to the prolonged rains we had last summer/fall and the giant snow storm we had over new year's, keeping snow on the ground for over a month.
Labels: allergy, allertonic, bromelain, dust mask, eldorado allergy, herbs etc, juniper, local honey, pollen, quercetin, santa fe allergy, vitamin b, vitamin c, winter allergen, winter allergy
