I Have Had It Up to Here! Part 1

Written by jodiojo

July 15th, 2010

Somewhere in the distance I hear Kas saying, "Can you smell that?"

Really, I have…with allergies.

They never used to bother me, but now they can torment me at the most odd times. I don’t know how you are with this season, but I myself do not normally suffer from allergies throughout the season. It’s more like certain activities bring on certain reactions. At first, I thought I was making it up in my head. But then I realized…

Allergies, as the Mayo Clinic states, occur when your immune system reacts to a foreign substance such as pollen, bee venom or pet dander. You may think to yourself, ‘I don’t have any allergies’ and then next thing you know…whammo! You start to sneeze non-stop. You want to talk about killing a great outdoor workout; or making you housebound during one of the nicest seasons, allergies are a true pain in the behind. But what happens when you do not suffer with allergies until you work out? What’s that all about?

I had an opportunity about a year and a half ago to work out at one of the most awesome athletic training facilities that are local to me. I would go twice a week and have one of the best workouts ever on some of the craziest stuff out there. It was great to try something new and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. But every week, without fail, when I would finish with the work out I would start to sneeze. It was weird. This allergy attack would be severe and last for at least 2 to 5 hours and it only happened when I left that facility. I have never been able to reproduce that again but I have found I am not the only one who has ever suffered with this. The word on the street is that this is exercised induced rhinitis. Do not quote me on this because to be honest with you, information on this is about as widespread as prosperity right now. You can find info on rhinitis and on exercise, but you have a hard time finding information on exercise induced rhinitis. As I gear up to do another post on this to give you the exact mechanism, here are 3 natural things you can do/eat to help relieve the symptoms and 3 foods to avoid that exacerbate the symptoms:

Natural Remedies

• Neti Pot—Just typing this gives me the heebie jeebies.haha Essentially, you wash out your nose with a mild saline solution. This is a favorite of Amy’s and I literally have to hide from her when she does it. I think I am scarred for life from camp when you would get water up your nose while swimming. Blech. But guess what? It works.
• Quercetin—is a plant derived flavanoid. Known for its anti-inflammatory properties, it can be found in foods such as red wine, black tea, garlic and red onion. Although this comes in pill form that you can easily pop, no natural remedy works instantaneously like a drug. This means it must be taken for a while so it may build up in your system to help you naturally block the release of histamines from your body.
• Stinging nettle—the herb of choice when it comes to hay fever symptoms. Just like quercetin, stinging nettle is known to have anti-histamine properties and when taken for a while, has maximum benefits. Doses of this herb range from 500 mg to 1000mg. Definitely consult your doctor before even thinking about trying any of these natural remedies.

Avoid As Much As Possible

• Dairy—I promise I won’t start my rant but if you find that your symptoms are out of control and you are eating 2 or more servings per day, go for this first. Knock it out of the diet until you can get the sneezing under control and then bring it back in slowly.
• Sugar—Is anybody still eating this and admitting to it? I feel like the world has gone anti-sugar overnight. But in case you can’t seem to knock the habit, here is another reason to try.
• Processed foods—Honestly, if you are still eating processed foods it’s most likely because you didn’t realize that the little bit you have held onto is processed. Deli meat, Yoplait yogurt, Dannon Fit n Lite are some of the foods people do not realize are processed. Get them out of the diet as soon as you can. They can really wreak havoc on the system.

There you have it: a brief look into a much deeper topic that is on the way. If you suffer from this phenomenon my heart goes out to you. For the short time that it plagued me I was miserable. Bouts would last so long that I felt as if I had had a cold or flu and it would literally ruin the day. This is not seasonal either so if you suddenly have this, do not think that it will go away with the weather change because it does not. It was not my normal allergy season when I suffered from this.

Part 2 of this article delves into rhinitis itself and the full mechanism (or as much is known about it) behind this bizarre condition. In the mean time, start eating some garlic laden food with red wine. If it does nothing else, it will at least help you end the day on the right foot. (wink)

Tags: allergies, hay fever, rhinitis, sneezing