Spring allergies and outdoor play time.....WDYD?

[lablover]

We are dealing with it too. DD is on Singulair and Zyrtec, and we just added Flonase to the mix 2 days ago, because her nose was still running. I hate all of the medication, but if she has any side effects from it she doesn't show it. I heard a cough last night, so the Flovent may come out too if that continues. 4 meds just kills me but I've learned that the alternatives are worse. Last year we had a scary episode of respiratory distress and DH and I spent the month of May switching off and staying inside with her. This year keeping her inside all the time wouldn't work, so we are trying to find the mix of meds that will work for her. I kept wondering what I should expect with the drugs because of the continuing symptoms so I asked the allergist if I should expect her to be able to play outside normally and she said yes, so I'm hoping she is right. She said it was just a matter of finding the right "cocktail" of meds for her. Easier said than done of course. If DD is happily playing by herself inside then I just let her be - it's sad because it is beautiful outside this time of year.

[egoldber]

Sarah can't take Singulair because it causes behavioral issues.

I can't imagine taking away her recess! It's one of the things that makes school bearable for her. It's her "favorite subject".

She actually did OK today on the camp visit, even though there were tons of oak trees and the cars in the parking lot were all COATED with pollen. I made sure to have her change clothes as soon as we got home.

All of those meds would have me in bed, I am not sure how she is wanting to play on all of that, they just make me feel drugged and don't help much with symptoms.

Huh. None of these meds have drowsiness as a side effect except Benadryl, which is why I only give it in small doses when really needed. I've tried not having her use them (or cut them off too early because she was "doing OK") and as a PP mentioned, that was terrible. She ends up on oral steroids and with sinus infections.

[karolyp]

I've had a few friends use the local raw honey for themselves and their kiddos with allergies and it has helped. It doesn't get rid of them entirely but they've all said that it's lessened the severity.

**disclaimer** no honey for under 12 months though

I've heard the same thing too. In fact -I went to a Earth Day fair last week and they had a honey stand where the seller was also claiming that. They however recommended the darker honeys such as buckwheat and avocado and to take 1 tsp a day for children and 1tbsp for adults.
this is their site: http://www.winterparkhoney.com/honeyforallergies.htm

[MontrealMum]

With a child that has such severe outdoors allergies - trees, plants, etc. - I would certainly shy away from herbal remedies such as honey or anything similar. I mean - what is honey made from? Think about it. Maybe not the best idea for a kid with a severe pollen allergy. And I would definitely not administer anything herbal w/o the advice of an allergist, or in the absence of an allergy test. W/O that you have no clue what ingredients might set her off with a severe reaction. Being herbal does not make it safer - especially for someone that is allergic to plants. In fact it could be quite dangerous. I mean, herbal sounds good and all, but it's plant based and not regulated by the FDA. I remember when my SIL who is into holistic things started giving echinicea to my nephew who has a ragweed allergy - ragweed is in the same family as echinicea - it was not a good experience for poor DN and SIL ended up having to give him all sorts of meds that she'd initially been opposed to because of a reaction she'd caused by giving him something he was allergic to

I will be the voice of dissent here as someone that has suffered from severe allergies for her whole life. Yes, you could keep her indoors during her high allergy season, and during high pollen times. But she's not going to be able to stay indoors like that her whole life. She's going to have to learn to deal with the discomfort at some point. It's miserable to feel how she must be feeling - I know what it's like from personal experience, so please don't think I'm trying to sound callous. But if she's not asking to stay inside, I'd let her go out and be with her friends, and do the things she loves. Just shower her off and wash her hair to get the pollen out afterwards and make her change her clothes as precautions. Realistically, besides tweaking her meds I don't see what else you can do.

ETA: obviously, I wouldn't send her outside if she's having severe asthma attacks or her throat is even beginning to close/or she's wheezing, but if it's not dangerous, I would. I would also look into desensitizing allergy shots if you haven't already. IIRC she's a girl scout and they do a lot of things outside, so this is going to keep coming up.

[erosenst]

We're right with you. We still haven't found the perfect cocktail. Added Nasonex this year to last year's Advair, Zyrtec and Patanol. (Have also tried a bunch of others...). Stopped the Advair to see if she still needed it with the add'n of Nasonex this year...and just decided we need to get more tomorrow - her eyes are swollen and itchy, and the sneezing is starting again.

I also have terrible allergies...and can't be out at this time of year - DH does most of it. But because of my allergies, we never drive with windows open, and we never have our windows open at home. (When we built our house, we didn't even put the screens in.) If you limit some of that, it will allow her to be outside a little more. (You may know this - but most people without allergies don't.)

At some point, she'll be your guide. Abby, who LOVES the water, asked to not go to swimming yesterday because her eyes already hurt. And what keeps me inside are the pounding headaches. (My 'cocktail' means I don't sneeze or have runny nose/eyes - but I can't totally get rid of the congestion in my head most of May and August...or any time it's hot and muggy.) But she was willing to sneeze and have itchy eyes to play outside.

Good luck -

Emily

[Sillygirl]

Would she tolerate sinus washing? I use the squeeze bottle - higher volume and better washing than the neti pot. I have only mild allergic rhinitis and just once daily washing clears it up entirely. My ENT colleague swears by it. I use NeilMed.

[egoldber]

She has such sensory issues, I can't imagine she would tolerate sinus washing, but I'll ask her tomorrow if she thinks it would help.

[belovedgandp]

I see sinus rinsing was just mentioned. I wasn't a believer, but started after a sinus infection in February. I personally have never had a spring allergy season go so well. I hated keeping the boys inside because my body couldn't handle it. We've been outside 4-6 hours a day at least 5 days a week for the past six weeks. In past years I would have been down for the count, but with Nasacort and sinus rinsing twice a day I've fared well.

So sorry she's having so many issues. It's just miserable when they get out of control and can take a bit to catch back up.

[LarsMal]

With a child that has such severe outdoors allergies - trees, plants, etc. - I would certainly shy away from herbal remedies such as honey or anything similar. I mean - what is honey made from? Think about it. Maybe not the best idea for a kid with a severe pollen allergy. And I would definitely not administer anything herbal w/o the advice of an allergist, or in the absence of an allergy test. W/O that you have no clue what ingredients might set her off with a severe reaction. Being herbal does not make it safer - especially for someone that is allergic to plants. In fact it could be quite dangerous. I mean, herbal sounds good and all, but it's plant based and not regulated by the FDA.

This is a really good point. I have pretty bad allergies and have to stay away from almost all herbal stuff, even natural/organic shampoos bother me. I tried using California Baby products on my kids and both DS and I had reactions to the sensitive body wash stuff. I asked my allergist and dermatologist about it and they both agreed that many of those natural/organic/herbal products have pollen in them, so it wasn't surprising we had reactions.

[egoldber]

Wow! I never thought about the more natural shampoos having pollen! I tried a few on Sarah and she hated almost all of them and several gave her a rash. Poor kid. Maybe I will just stick with Cetaphil.

She also gets the pollen reaction to fruits on her lips in the spring also, so she is pretty sensitive.