Is clarinex for sinuses

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, approximately 7.7 percent of adults and 7.2 percent of children experience symptoms of allergic rhinitis, commonly known as hay fever.
For these individuals, relief from symptoms may require the use of a medication to control allergy symptoms. Desloratadine is one of many allergy medications on the market that may be able to help.

What Is Desloratadine?

Desloratadine is a medication that belongs to a class of drugs called antihistamines, which are commonly used for the treatment of allergy symptoms. Desloratadine is the active ingredient in the brand-name drug Clarinex, and it is also sold as a generic medication. Desloratadine was first approved under the brand name Clarinex in 2001.
There are two generations of antihistamines that are commonly used for the treatment of allergies: first-generation antihistamines and second-generation antihistamines. First-generation antihistamines include medications like diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl.
Medications in this generation work quickly to treat acute allergy symptoms but are commonly associated with more sedating side effects than second-generation antihistamines. First-generation antihistamines are commonly associated with more drowsiness and sedation because they easily cross the blood-brain barrier.
Due to the tendency of these drugs to cause significant side effects, researchers began working to develop second-generation antihistamines. These drugs do not cross the blood-brain barrier as easily as first-generation antihistamines and thus, they are associated with fewer side effects than first-generation antihistamines. Desloratadine is considered a second-generation antihistamine.

What Is Desloratadine Used To Treat?

Antihistamines like desloratadine are commonly used to treat allergic reactions. However, not all types of antihistamines are used to treat all types of allergic reactions.
Desloratadine is most commonly used to treat allergy symptoms that affect the nasal passages and sinuses, including symptoms of allergic rhinitis. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis commonly include nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, and itchy or watery eyes.
Desloratadine is also commonly used for the treatment of an allergic reaction called urticaria, which causes hives, itching, and inflamed, raised, red areas on the skin. Often referred to as a skin reaction, urticaria is associated with itchy, uncomfortable skin.
While desloratadine can be effective for treating certain types of allergic reactions, it is not appropriate for use in all situations. Desloratadine is not approved for treating or preventing a serious allergic reaction, such as those caused by food, medications, insect stings, or other serious allergies. It is also not appropriate for the treatment of anaphylaxis, a severe and life-threatening type of allergic reaction.

What Causes Allergic Rhinitis?

Allergic rhinitis is an allergic reaction that causes symptoms that affect the nose and sinuses. Many people refer to the symptoms of allergic rhinitis as hay fever. These symptoms occur when a person’s body develops sensitivity to something in the environment that is otherwise harmless to most people, known as an allergen. When the individual comes in contact with the allergen, their immune system begins to mount a defensive response, known as an allergic reaction.
During an allergic reaction, the body starts to produce inflammatory mediators, including histamines. These inflammatory mediators start to bind to the receptors on the surface of cells in the body. When histamine and other inflammatory mediators attach to these receptors, allergy symptoms begin to appear.
For people with allergic rhinitis, these symptoms include runny nose, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, itchy nose or throat, nasal congestion, and sinus pressure.
The causes of allergic rhinitis vary from person to person, but symptoms always occur in response to environmental allergens. Some people with allergic rhinitis are allergic to allergens found outdoors, including pollen from grass, trees, weeds, or flowers. Others are allergic to indoor allergens, such as pet hair or dander, dust mites, and mold. Certain substances, such as smoke, perfume, vehicle exhaust, or air pollutants can also trigger allergy symptoms.
Some people with allergic rhinitis only experience symptoms during certain times of the year and have what are known as seasonal allergies. Seasonal allergies commonly occur in response to pollen that blooms during certain times of the year or mold spores that are released into the air at certain times of the year. Other people experience allergy symptoms year-round and are said to have perennial allergies. People with perennial allergies usually experience symptoms in response to allergens such as pet hair or dander, dust mites, cockroaches, or indoor mold. Some people experience both seasonal allergies and perennial allergies and need to take medications like desloratadine year-round in order to prevent symptoms.

How Does Desloratadine Treat Allergic Rhinitis?

Desloratadine and other antihistamines like it work by binding to histamine receptors in the body. This action prevents histamine from binding to the cells, which stops them from creating the chemical messages that cause allergy symptoms like sneezing, itching, and increased mucus production.
As a result, symptoms are prevented entirely or are less severe.

How Long Does It Take For Desloratadine to Work?

Desloratadine typically starts to work within an hour and reaches its maximum effect after about three to four hours. The medication has a relatively long half-life, and studies have shown that the medication provides significant relief for 24 hours.
As a result, the medication is considered effective for once-daily treatment and prevention of allergy symptoms.

How Do I Know What Dose of Desloratadine To Take?

Desloratadine is most commonly prescribed in a strength of 5 milligrams (mg). While studies have examined the effectiveness of doses up to 20 mg, the results indicate that taking a dose as low as 5 mg is equally effective at treating and preventing allergy symptoms and is associated with a lower risk of side effects.
As a result, the standard adult dose for allergic rhinitis and urticaria is 5 mg taken orally once per day.
For children between the ages of 6 to 11 months, 1 mg taken orally once per day is the standard dose. Children ages 12 months to 5 years are typically given a dose of 1.25 mg orally once per day. Children ages 6 to 11 years are given a dose of 2.5 mg orally once per day, while children 12 and older are typically given a dose of 5 mg orally once per day.

Are There Any Side Effects of Desloratadine?

As a second-generation antihistamine, desloratadine is associated with certain side effects. However, the side effects are usually less severe and are less likely to occur than the side effects associated with first-generation antihistamines.
Side effects commonly associated with desloratadine include:

• Headache
• Diarrhea
• Sore throat
• Muscle pain
• Sleepiness
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
• Tiredness
• Painful menstruation

While these side effects are considered common, make sure to contact your doctor if side effects are severe or last for an extended period of time.
Other side effects associated with desloratadine are considered rare but can be serious. Seek emergency medical attention if you experience any of the following symptoms:

• Rash
• Hives
• Itching
• Difficulty breathing or swallowing
• Swelling of the face, tongue, eyes, feet, lower legs, throat, lips, hands, or ankles

What Drug Interactions Are Associated With Desloratadine?

Like all medications, desloratadine can interact with some prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, and herbs. As a result, it’s critical that you tell your doctor about all medications and supplements you are taking, even if they are taken over the counter. Desloratadine is associated with some significant drug interactions.
The medications listed below may interact with desloratadine in a way that causes the amount of desloratadine in your system to increase.
As a result, patients are more likely to experience side effects, and the side effects experienced are more likely to be severe. Medications known to interact with desloratadine include:

• Ketoconazole
• Azithromycin
• Erythromycin
• Atorvastatin
• Ledipasvir
• Ombitasvir
• Ritonavir
• Lopinavir
• Paritaprevir
• Saquinavir
• Dronedarone
• Tacrolimus
• Sunitinib
• Vemurafenib
• Tamoxifen
• Vandetanib
• Lapatinib
• Fluoxetine
• Cimetidine

This is not a complete list of drug interactions. Consult a healthcare provider for other possible interactions.

Summary

Desloratadine is a second-generation antihistamine that is commonly used for the treatment of allergic rhinitis and urticaria.
Common side effects of the medication include sleepiness, muscle pain, dry mouth, sore throat, tiredness, menstrual pain, and headache.
The medication is usually given to adults and children ages 12 and older in a dose of 5 mg taken orally once per day. Younger children are given lower doses depending on their age.
Desloratadine is known to interact with a number of medications, so it’s important to give your doctor a complete list of all drugs and supplements that you are taking.

I have been dealing with allergies with congestion for a while now and have tried everything I could to alleviate the congestion. I’m not doing well on nasal steroids sprays since they made me feel very tired after a few days of usage.
H1 blocker did not do anything for me. I have tested positive for dust mite, cat, and dog allergies and have been aggressively dust proof my house. I wash my bedding weekly in hot water with detergent from allergy store, iRobot vacuum every day while I am at work, and I dust the wall and blind weekly. I am also doing immunotherapy at the moment but did not see improvement just yet (I know it could take a while).
My only symptom really was turbinate hypertrophy, and it made my breathing really difficult. When it first started, only when I lay down (rhinitis recumbency) but now it seems to progress to all day congestion. My right side is totally block and my left is only 50% open. When I look up my nostril, my right turbinate is touching right septum wall and my left turbinate is pretty dang close to touching left septum wall as well. The only thing that seem to work well for me was Afrin but we all know that it’s not a long term solution.
I have been to 2 ENTs and an allergists and have tried the following medical treatments without real benefits:
1) nasal steroids: Flonase, Rhinocort, Nasonex, Nasacort. 2) nasal H1 blocker: Astepro 3) oral H1 blocker: Allegra, Claritin, Clarinex, Zyrtec, Benadryl 4) oral decongestant: Sudafed (this help reduce congestion but raise my BP and HR) 6) Afrin: I called this God’s potion. It’s so nice to be able to breath. I can say that I am not addicted to Afrin itself but I can addicted to being able to breath. People take being able to breath freely for granted and don’t really understand the struggle.
I finally decide on turbinate reduction surgery and since I have deviated septum (right deviation in front and left deviation in rear with septal spur to the right in the middle), I opt to have both done at the same time. I called and consult with Dr. Steven Houser of Metro Health in Cleveland. He was great and offer a lot of great informations. I never felt being push to do the surgery when I consult with him but after explain to him everything that I have done for the past year, we both think surgery is the right approach for my problem. He did inform me of all of the risk associated with septoplasty and turbinate reduction (including bleeding and ENS).
The surgery is set for 6/25/21 with pre-op assessment and Covid testing on 6/23/21.
Pre-op assessment Standard 30 minutes questionnaires with nurse practitioner about your health history. At the end, you will receive package of what to expect the day of surgery. Covid testing is just standard nasal swap and if you have done this before, you’d know it is not pleasant.
Day of surgery There is no food after midnight the day of surgery and only clear liquid allow until 3 hours before surgery. My check in time is 11am at the pre-surgical center of Metro Health main campus. I was taken in pretty quick, and my wife is waiting outside. Once inside surgery prep area, I change into a gown and answer a few more health related question. I then met with Dr. Houser to go over the procedure one more time. I then spoke to attending and resident anesthesiologist to go over what to expect when I get put under. I was given versed before getting into the OR which took all the edge off tremendously. Once inside the OR, I was asked to inhale deeply on the mask for 4-5 times, and I didn’t even remember feeling asleep.
I woke up again in the recovery area with mild sore throat and very dry mouth. The pain on the nose is about 5 out of 10. The nurse asked whether I would like the pain med being push via IV line, and I said yes.
Dr. Houser came in to debrief me about the procedure. He said it went well with minimum bleeding. I was prescribed hydrocodone for pain and antibiotics medication. I am to use saline spray 6-10 time per day until post operation visit to take stents out in 11 days.
I got back home around 3pm and feel really tired and groggy. Pain wasn’t that bad at this point. I have mild bleeding from the surgery and still need gauze to prevent the drip. I took first hydrocodone and antibiotic around 5 pm. At this point I can freely breath out of my nose 100%
I set up my bed with bunch of pillow so I can sit upright on my bed to sleep. I took another hydrocodone at 11pm and 5am (every six hours). So far the pain has been manageable (3-4 out of 10). My throat still sore so I used chloraseptic lozenges to help with that. Didn’t get much sleep tonight not because of the pain but sleeping upright is not that comfortable.
Day 1 I had to change my gauzes several time last night but this morning bleeding seem to stop. I noticed a lot of dried blood around my nostril so I used cotton swap with peroxide to clean it out. The swelling inside the nose started today. I feel more congested than yesterday but still able to breath through the stents. I have been super congested due to my turbinate hypertrophy prior to surgery so mouth breathing did not give me anxiety (I heard many people have anxiety after the procedure because of severe congestion).
I have been using saline spray judiciously today (once every hour or so). I also did a nasal rinse this morning before post surgery nurse called. Apparently I’m not suppose to do the rinse until stents come out. OOppss.
The roof of my mouth hurt a bit when swollen so I stick with milkshake for today.
Overall pain today : 3 out of 10 Congestion : 5 out of 10 Dizziness : 5 out of 10 (side effect of hydrocodone) Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : HELL NO
Day 2
Notice a big clot in front of stent’s opening. I have been using saline rinse to keep flushing it out. It didn’t come out. Instruction said not to pick my nose to I’m going to leave it for now. This maybe the cause of my congestion today.
I have been on pain med strictly every 6 hours since surgery so my pain level today is pretty low.
Still have numbness in the roof of my mount and slight pain when swallow.
I am starting to phase out hydrocodone and substitute with Tylenol today.
Overall pain today : 2out of 10 Congestion : 10 out of 10 Dizziness : 5 out of 10 (side effect of hydrocodone) Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : HELL No
Day 3
Had some sleep last night. I have been using nasal saline spray like crazy like every hour or two. Still have some pain at the roof of the mouth when swallow. Stop taking hydrocodone last night and switch to Tylenol today. My plan is to phase out pain med later today (if possible).
Congestion is worst out of all days after surgery. I feel like there are mucus in the stents preventing air going in or out. I have been using saline mist to flush my nostril and have been getting cleathick gel like mucus with dark brown tinge coming out. Finally I used cotton swap soak in saline to slowly pull the string of mucus out and finally old blood clot came out at the end of it. This gave me such a relieve from congestion (for now). I have been spraying saline mist every hour today.
I can eat normal food today (one that doesn’t require a lot of chewing).
Generally just feel like big booger stuck inside my nostril. It almost feel like when you have a bad cold with slight pressure in sinus with congestion. I’m also still taking anti biotic as prescribed (12 days total).
Call Dr. Office and request to have stent remove earlier (originally set for 11th day post op,) and got the appointment move up to this Friday (7th day post op). VICTORY !!!!
Overall pain today : 1 out of 10 Congestion : 10 out of 10 Dizziness : 0 out of 10 (no more hydrocodone but Tylenol 360mg instead) Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : wife and I went to West side market for food shopping and walk. Still only tolerate for an hour before congestion/pressure got the best of me.
Day 4
I have no more pain today and no more bleeding. I can still see a few dried blood inside my nostril but not as bad as previous day. I’ve been using nasal spray judiciously still today (10+ times in a day) with cotton swap soak in saline to clean out the vestibule part of my nose.
Congestion today is still a 10 out of 10. I have been having thick clear mucus all day long. Since I do bot do nasal rinse I can’t really clean them out. I can’t really blow them out since instruction said not to blow my nose. I have been using saline mist spray in my nose and cotton swap to clean them out as much as I can. It feel more like you have a really bad cold without headache.
Overall pain today : 0 out of 10 Congestion : 10 out of 10 Dizziness : 0 out of 10 (no more pain med) Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : definitely can do more normal activity but congestion still keep you from enjoying the activity
Day 5
I had a pretty good sleep last night without too much congestion (or I got pretty good with mouth breathing).
Still have mild pain at the roof of the mouth when swallow food or drink.
Continue with my antibiotic.
Overall pain today : 0 out of 10 Congestion : 5 out of 10 Dizziness : 0 out of 10 Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : resume normal activity but not moderate to hard exercise. I spent 45 min doing light walk at the shore of lake with my wife today without issue.
Day 6 Nothing to report more here. Just continue with congestion and keep misting my nose with saline spray. The pain is still there when I swallow food too fast. I’m ok with chew my food really well and gingerly push the food as far back toward my throat as possible before swallow.
No more pain. No more headache. My congestion is still about the same level as past couple of day.
I’ll post stent removal tomorrow (7 days post ops). I heard mix story about what will happen after stent comes out. Some said the breathing is pretty good from this point on but some said there would still be congestion for another week or two until more healing happens. I guess we will see.
I think I’ll post up til day 7 and then will skip to day 25th which is my next follow up appointment. The. I’ll do 3 months post ops and 6 months post ops.
Overall pain today : 0 out of 10 Congestion : 7 out of 10 Dizziness : 0 out of 10 Bleeding : 0 out of 10 Can I enjoy any activity : resume normal activity but not moderate to hard exercise.
Day 7 (stent removal)
The removal was nice and quick. Doctor spray numbing/decongestant spray into my left and right nostril. He cut one stitch holding stents together and pull them out one at a time. There were blood clot inside the stents toward the back so I guess that what keep giving me congestion these past few days.
He then use suction machine to clean out left and right nostril.
The breathing was so much better after the stent came out. I was pretty happy.
Once the stent came out, the pain when swallow went down considerably. I feel a bit of cold air hitting inside of my nostril when I walked into the wind. It was around 67 degrees this morning with wind around 10-15 mph.
All and all it was a glorious day. My experience so far has been great. Recovery wasn’t as bad as I though it would be.
I have to finish my course of antibiotic and keep up with nasal rinsing and spraying for the next coming month. I can start doing moderate exercises 14 days post ops so I have about a week more to wait.
Day 23 (follow up appointment)
I’ve been keeping up with nasa rinse twice a day and spraying saline mist into my nostril 4-6 times per day.
Doctor looked into my nasal passage and said everything is healing up nicely. Straight septum and no perforation. Turbinates are still lateralized and not too small or too big.
I blew out a big chuck of dried booger yesterday when I rinse my nose (I blew pretty hard), and it must be the most satisfying feeling ever.
I feel alternate congestion these past 2 weeks (not really congestion but one side is more free than the other) so I asked doctor about it. He said it called nasal cycle, and it is pretty normal.
All and all it was a good surgery but definitely a rough one for sure. I’m sure I still have more healing to go through in the next couple of months until everything is 100% again.

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post, but I figured you all would know exactly what I'm going through.
I'm a San Antonio native and have been dealing with allergies (like most people here) my whole life. These past couple of years however it has gotten worse. I've gotten allergy attacks (trouble breathing and hives) and sinus infections.
What medicine do you take to help prevent and treat allergies? Claritin doesn't work for me, and Zyrtec makes me drowsy and groggy the entire day. Currently taking clarinex and flonase, but they don't seem to be working for me anymore.

First off I want to apologize that this post will likely be long, but I want to be as thorough as I can.
I am currently 34 years old. I grew up in a military family so I moved every couple of years when I was growing up. I've lived in Florida, Michigan, Texas, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, and even England. I developed severe hay fever sometime around the age of 10 while I was living in Texas. It was the late 80's/early 90's so the 24 hour allergy drugs were not available at the time. My choices were to suffer all day with sneezing, runny nose, and watering eyes carrying a Kleenex box around with me in school or to take a 4 hour Sudafed or Comtrex that would make me super drowsy and dry my sinuses out to the point that it was painful to breathe. Either way it was a lose/lose it seemed.
I suffered with hay fever every spring each year no matter where I lived. It seemed that northern Michigan provided the most forgiving environment to live in, but the misery of the allergy season always seemed to find me. I think it is also relevant to mention that I also ended up developing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) while in college. This further added to my burden. I had always had a bit of a touchy stomach when it came to digesting foods. The IBS would wax and wane and especially reared its ugly head when I was going through particularly stressful times.
It wasn't until my late twenties that I moved to the St. Louis area but lived on the Illinois side of the border. It was here that I began to experience my hay fever allergies to pollen in the summer and fall as well. I was thankful at the time that new drugs were now available that lasted 24 hours and didn't cause drowsiness. Unfortunately these drugs seemed to be less effective over time though. I once found Claritin worked great but the next year not so great, so I switched to Clarinex. The next year Zyrtec... They still helped, but the reduction in effectiveness was annoying. I'm not sure how common this is among others.
In the year 2009 I developed yet another problem. I began to notice that after having a few sips of one of my favorite beers I was developing a headache. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but the trend continued and the headaches ramped up in intensity each and every time until I could no longer ignore the correlation. A quick google search confirmed my fears... I had developed an allergy to one of the ingredients in my beer. I compensated by drinking different beers. It seemed the less hoppy beers treated me better. It was a shame because I enjoyed IPAs but had to give them up.
In 2010 the downward spiral continued. I started to develop neurological twitching symptoms accompanied with incredible anxiety and many other strange symptoms. I was terrified I was coming down with MS or Parkinson's or something. Blood tests, dexterity/coordination tests, brain CT scans, and multiple examinations all came back negative. I was told that it was just stress and they tried to prescribe me anti-depressants (even though I wasn't depressed). I knew that wasn't the answer though. But what was?
I ended up going to see a holistic doctor, really not knowing where else to turn or what else to try. I had never been to one before so I was out of my comfort zone. Part of me thought it was a waste of time, but I knew that if there was a chance I had to try it. This was where the possibility of food allergies were proposed as a possible explanation. I thought that this was crazy though because I couldn't fathom how a reaction to food could cause neurological symptoms. I think I even left the appointment that day disappointed and really not even ready to humor the idea that food allergies could be the culprit. It was in the back of my mind somewhere though, because I eventually came back around to it. I believe it was a while later I had woken up in the middle of the night in a sweat and had a full blown panic attack. It was horrible. The next morning I decided that I was willing to try anything, so I went on a special diet that day. The doc told me that the most common offenders were gluten and dairy so I took out both. I replaced my dairy milk with soy milk and started what some call the caveman diet.
It only took about 2 days until I noticed I was feeling dramatically better. The twitching was still there but it was far subdued from where it was before. My anxiety was better and the litany of other strange symptoms I was experiencing almost completely went away. I couldn't believe that it was working. I realized that I never noticed a correlation of symptoms with my diet because pretty much every meal contained something bad for me. I was never free of it long enough to feel better. I was conflicted with emotion, feeling a mixture of relief and doom all at once... I was relieved that I found some much sought after answers, but the doom settled in when I thought about all the foods I was going to have to give up and how difficult it would be. I had eaten these foods my whole life. Why now? Why me? Why???
To make matters worse, it did not take but a week or two until I started to notice I was developing a headache after drinking soy milk. This was yet another NEW allergy forming right in front of me. One week I was fine, the next I am not. I was starting to feel hopeless again. How could I eat anything new without developing an allergy to it. What other allergies did I have that I wasn't aware of?
I decided to go back to the holistic doctor. Then I learned about a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome (LGS). LGS basically happens when our digestive system, which is also the main seat of the immune system, loses too much healthy bacteria (or gut flora) to a natural yeast/fungus called candida. Our bodies need this healthy bacteria in order to break down and digest our foods so that the nutrients can be absorbed through the intestinal walls. Undigested food, waste, and foreign invaders are supposed to pass through the digestive tract and not get absorbed into the intestinal walls. This is how it is supposed to work. When we don't have enough healthy bacteria we don't break down the food and the nutrients aren't there to get absorbed. Furthermore the candida yeast in large numbers consumes sugars and goes fungal. This irritates the intestinal walls causing inflammation which in turn allows undigested foods and other foreign material into the blood stream.
Because our immune system is rooted in the digestive system it springs into action but quickly gets overloaded. It begins to see undigested food proteins (especially the complex ones like gluten and dairy) and learns to target them proactively. This further causes inflammation throughout the body and can even lead to autoimmunity because the immune system will target the tissues where these proteins find themselves. Your diet quickly becomes a self feeding fire.
When it was all explained to me it made a lot of sense. It explained the slow onset of food allergies that started back in 2009 with certain beers. It explained why I was still developing new allergies. The treatment was pretty straight forward and it involved an anti-inflammatory rotational diet. It was a bit difficult at first avoiding all sugar, wheat, dairy, and pretty much anything processed. I managed and eventually thrived. The docs also told me it was only temporary while I healed, so the thought of one day returning to normalcy kept me going. I also took some supplements that helped with breaking down and getting rid of the candida. Towards the end of my diet I began taking probiotics to get the good bacteria re-established.
I experienced results. Everything the holistic doctors were telling me was making sense and their advice was paying off. My skepticism about the alternative route was fading. They were earning my trust. There was more to come though.
I was on a special diet and supplements for a few months. I was feeling better but my lifestyle was still hindered by a very restrictive diet. I had to carefully plan my meals and pack if I was traveling. I was anxious to start working some of the restricted foods back in. Unfortunately the moment I had been waiting for was an ultimate let down. I finally tried a small piece of bread containing gluten to see if I would be OK, but I had a fairly quick response of increased twitching again.
My doctor told me that they were going to refer me to another doctor in their building who could help me with that though. I was a bit confused but was curious. This doctor specialized in allergy elimination techniques. This was the first I had ever heard of anything like that though, and I had been going for regular appointments for a few months. I probably would have written it off right away had they not already earned my trust, so I decided I wanted to learn more.
I went for my first appointment with this new doctor and was again placed outside of my comfort zone. She explained to me how the technique she uses was based on acupuncture. In acupuncture there are natural energy pathways that flow through the body called meridians. There are 12 meridians, one for each major organ. Each meridian flows through every part of your body so technically every part of your body maps to every other part. According to her it was discovered long ago that when we come into contact with an allergen or toxin, our energy pathways have a negative reaction and this gives subtle 'tells' through our autonomic nervous system, similar to how a polygraph will pick up on subtle tells to determine if you are lying. It's basically the same principle at work. They just use the 'tells' to determine if a substance is bad for you or not.
I was cautions and skeptical, but intrigued. The bio-feedback method that she used to determine if a substance was bad for me or not was through a muscle response test. I would hold a vial of substance X (I never knew before hand what it was) and I would hold my other arm extended out from my body straight. She would push down and I would try to resist. Despite my best efforts, there was always a subtle difference in my strength or resistance if it was something I was allergic to. I was pretty impressed.
In order to eliminate the allergy I would hold whatever vial for the allergic substance in my hand while I did some deep breathing and she would stimulate the acupuncture points along my spine (all 12 meridians run along the spine). This essentially acted as though you were hitting the reset button for your immune system's operating system. The combination of holding the vial while breathing and stimulating the acupuncture points did something. The next part was also important. She gave me a homeopathic remedy with what I believe were very small traces of the allergen that I would take under my tongue every few hours over the next 24 hours. It was important to avoid all contact with the allergen other than the homeopathic remedy during this time. The next day I would go in and she would make sure it worked and I was cleared to try eating whatever it was I cleared again. Imagine my absolute and utter delight when I was able to eat gluten again without having any twitching, anxiety, or anything else... I was thrilled, amazed, and completely in awe of what I had just learned. This felt like it was the best kept secret in all of medicine. How could something so amazing be so obscure and hidden? Why was this not on the front pages of magazines and newspapers? Why was this not on the internet as the most amazing discovery of all time?
I quickly learned why. Much to my frustration whenever I would tell a fellow allergy sufferer of this amazing option they would laugh, as I'm sure some of you reading this may be doing right now. I was slowly built up to a point where trust was earned and I was step by step walked to the point where I was ready for something like this to make sense. I had already experienced some pretty profound awesomeness from acupuncture in my treatments in the prior months. I found that when I came right out and told people it sounded too good to be true. It sounded like a scam. It sounded like a joke. I also came to realize that it isn't publicized because there isn't any money in it. Pharmaceutical companies make billions and have the machine that is modern medicine behind them. They have the marketing budget and armies of trained doctors. You can't patent a breathing exercise, acupressure, and a homeopathic remedy. There is no billion dollar industry. It is very simple, very basic, and it is almost too good to be true. So it goes widely unnoticed.
Using the techniques for allergy elimination I was able to overcome my hay fever as well. I haven't had to take any Zyrtec, Claratin, Clarinex, or any other 24 hour pill in 4 years now. I am as I was when I was a healthy child with no seasonal allergies. The diet and probiotics cleared up and eliminated my IBS as well. It is amazing how much better my life is now. Although I can eat wheat, sugar, dairy, and processed foods again I eat a much more balanced and healthy diet. I am much more keen now on what healthy really means and know that just because a frozen TV dinner is labeled 'Healthy Choice' does not mean it really is healthy.
I realize how all of this must sound. Many of you may write it off or laugh it off. I learned early on to not stake an emotional investment in whether or not someone believes me. I share my story not to pride my ego or to be somebody's savior. I share my story in the hope that somebody going through some similar hell that I was going through will consider it with an open mind and maybe, just maybe be able to find the answers they are looking for. I will not be so arrogant as to assume that everyone with allergies has Leaky Gut Syndrome. There are other theories that vaccinations and immunizations can cause similar confusion in the immune system. That is just one example.
I do believe that there are alternative medicine practices such as the allergy elimination techniques that may help others though. The trick I have learned is to figure out what in the body is out of balance and address it. Everything happens for a reason. I needed to heal my digestive system to restore balance before taking care of the allergies. When I asked why they didn't send me to the allergy elimination doc first they answered "You need to fix the hole in the sinking ship in order for the bailing of water to be effective."
I hope that this post of mine makes sense and at least has you considering the possibilities. Remember that skepticism is healthy until the point where your mind is closed to a possibility. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can. Thanks for reading and good luck.