Is there a downside to allergy medication?

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 10:48 am

My son seems to have pretty bad allergies. We will have him tested soon, but he has had a "cold" basically since he was born, 7 years ago. He is constantly blowing his nose, stuffy, breathing through his mouth, post nasal drip, snores, etc. His eyes also itch him. It's pretty disgusting.

I am just wondering if there is any downside to medication? In general I go pretty natural--healthy eating/lifestyle, natural cleaning products etc. I don't like to give medication unless it's really safe and important to do so.

amother

Linen

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 11:10 am

I have terrible allergies, and if someone where to take away my medication I wouldn't function. I would suggest you give him medication. The downside of not having medicine besides for his symptoms is also being embarrassed. I used to feel very different being busy with all my tissues in school...and other kids staring. I'm also working with an acupuncturist, naturopath...but until syptoms go away you need to take medication.
There are some side affects...one medication makes it hard for me to fall asleep and dries up my mouth very much, so I learned to take it in the morning when it's hard for me to get out of bed, so it's actually helpful for me. And I need to drink a lot. It takes a lot of paying attention to figure out what the side affects are.

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 11:42 am

amother wrote:

Try getting off dairy and gluten first. This made a profound difference for me and my kids and now nobody needs to be on meds.

Yeah, So that would be a problem because he only eats gluten and dairy. He has never tasted meat, chicken, or fish in his life and isn't a big fan of fruits and veggies either. He has a history of trauma which greatly affected his eating habits, in addition to sensory issues.

creditcards

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 11:50 am

amother wrote:

If gluten and dairy free helps him it's worth the effort. I have my daughter gluten free. In beginning I thought there are no foods but found lots of them. Gluten free pasta tastes like regular. My whole family eats it. Oats certain companies. Potatoes. Rice. All kosher lpesach food (Non gebroks). general mills multi grain cherios. Quinoa. French fries, sweet potato fries. Dr prager fish sticks. Dr prager has a whole line of gluten free.
She also started liking food she used to not like.

octopus

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 12:13 pm

If it was seasonal, I think its not a big deal to be on allergy meds. Because it passes and it is not 24/7 365 days a year.
It sounds like your kid has year round allergies. There are other things a person can be allergic to besides food! The constant nose blowing- one of my kids has that and is allergic to dust mites. Going to the allergist was the best thing we did. My child has been on allergy shots for 3 years. Inject a little bit of the allergen into the system on a consistent basis, and the body learns to tolerate it. It doesn't work for everyone, but its worth exploring. My child doesn't need allergy meds like he used to because his body can handle it now.

creditcards

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 12:16 pm

octopus wrote:

Wow. Does it actually work? It's the first time someone told me it actually worked for them. Most people give it up before it actually starts working...

amother

Jade

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 12:41 pm

If this bothers your son you can have a gentle talk with him about his options. If he has a say in it he may be more likely to cooperate. You can tell him options are treating the root or treating the symptoms. See which he prefers. Get a well-rounded book that speaks about all options. Inform him of conventional and non-conventional theories. Let him be an active participant. Let him check out internet sites or library books. Just beware the non-conventional books and sites are more difficult to find.

animeme

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 2:01 pm

Get the testing done. If he's allergic to dust, you can pull up the carpet in his room or vacuum extra, and change his curtains to blinds you can wipe down, and minimize stuffed animals or wash them often. If it's food, you deal with that. And if its the air ones (pollen, ragweed, they can span the year)....

I'm a fan of allergy meds. The major side effects tend to be minor drowsiness, so you give them before bed. But even without meds, for the nose you cacan m do nasal spray. A plain saline like Ocean can do wonders for a lot of people. There are also medicated sprays, but you want to use those under doctor direction, including the over the ciunter ones. Some people like sprays more than oral meds, and some use them in addition.

amother

Smokey

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 3:44 pm

Allergy medications can change your life! Some fo affect sleep (either making you sleepy or making it harder to fall asleep), but then you just adjust what time of day you take them. Also, the newer ones have less sleep side effects than the ones I took as a kid. If you try several kinds of pills and they cause side effects which interfere too much, you can swtich to nasal sprays, some take care of eye allergies as well. They are not quite as effective as the pills, but still do a good job.

I second allergy shots! I had them as a kid, and they also changed my life. They do wear off after about 8-10 years for some people, but then you can just do them again. And for those 8-10 years, my asthma mostly went away, and I didn't have to take medication regularly.

As far as stopping gluten and dairy, this really doesn't work for everyone in terms of allergies (for those it does, that's great, but they are not the majority). Also, it is VERY hard on a child to cut out gluten and dairy, not just in terms of eating habits, but socially as well. I was allergic to dairy and several grains growing up as well (in addition to my seasonal allergies), and not being able to eat at other kids houses or the cake at someone's birthday or a snack given out at school was awful. Allergy medication has much less of an impact o na child's life and health than cutting out two major food groups (not to mention having to make sure that the kid gets enough calcium and other nutrients, which is doable obviously, just an extra hassle).

In short, allergy medication is the best thing ever! and allergy shots are amazing! You can't imagine how much it improves your quality of life.

amother

Linen

Sun, Nov 26 2017, 11:46 pm

amother wrote:

I wrote above about antihistamines being a good choice for most people. Then I noticed posters writing about medicated sprays and eye drops.

Those contain steroids and can cause steroid addiction, leading to a host of other problems.
Never pays to mess around with those.

Sprays never helped anything for me. Only pills did.

rowo

Mon, Nov 27 2017, 5:43 am

We use the medication in conjunction with complementary therapies.
One of my kids has seasonal allergies (where we leave it's really bad) and for a while it was triggering their asthma.
We do specific vitamins, probiotics and fish oil... to build up the immune system and help the body cope with it all. But at the same time I'm not going to let my kid suffer for months on end, so we use antihistamine, eye drops etc etc

Recently I also started to suffer from seasonal allergies and with the help of a health care practitioner the last season was SO much better! I did acupuncture, vitamins and supplements and small dietary changes.

It can definitely help!

amother

Smokey

Mon, Nov 27 2017, 6:02 am

amother wrote:

Some nasal sprays and eye drops are steroids and some are antihistamines. So do keep in mind that there are nasal sprays and eye drops which are non-steorid. Allergists sometimes prescribe one or the other, or even both together.