https://mynorthwest.com/kiro-radio/struggled-the-crud-for-months/4197232

Me - 3 weeks & counting ---but better the last couple of days

>irritate the linings of our noses, our throats, and our lungs

Just getting over the annual allergy-induced CRUD here. Cedar fever was especially miserable this Winter.

It's so thick it gets hazy.

https://www.fox7austin.com/video/fmc-8tffr8pu3qmfywxd  (video @ 50 second mark)

>cedar

That looks worse than the pine pollening here.  Yes, our *every* outdoor surface is thick yellow, but I don't think it floats fog-like.

>crud

LPJ brought it back from Disney. She's 3.5 weeks with it today, but better.  I would have have had it a lot easier if I could have pseudoephedrine. AFAIK, all I can have is Tylenol.

Yup. Two weeks downright sick followed by two weeks of relapse any time I exerted myself. Finally over it.

>cedar

If this is a problem for you, I strongly recommend seeing an allergist. It will improve your quality of life, which was half my reason. But also, I was worried that I had chronic inflammation/histamine response for essentially half the year (Nov - Mar is cedar pollen season here) and we've learned how inflammation affects all sorts of health outcomes.

For me, it has been life changing and has given back several months of outdoor fun every year. I was incapacitated by it at times (came home from work once and my wife said: "You look like you were in a bar fight. And lost.")

Now, both at home and visits to Austin, I usually don't even need an OTC antihistamine. It's wonderful.

My allergist, BTW, did his residence or fellowship in Austin.

What type of treatment worked for you, ergo?

The standard immunotherapy. These formulas have basically not changed in 100 years. It's an extract of protein or proteins from the target allergen. Most people are allergic to the same proteins, but some people are not. So it's possible that it won't work for you.

Most allergies they treat for have a 70% to 95% response to shots.

For delivery, you can choose shots or drops.

About 20% fewer people respond to drops. So if 90% are responders to shots for allergy X, about 70% will respond to drops. For this reason, they don't usually do drops for dog allergy, because that's only 70% for shots and drops down to 50/50 for drops.

Because I am far from the doctor (2-hr drive each way), shots were a non-starter for me. If I lived in the city, though, I probably would have done the shots.

Fortunately, I was a responder to the drops.

I started in February, 2024. I felt that by November when the cedar started to kick up, I was doing better. I asked my doctor after one year (still in cedar season) whether I could expect to see any additional improvement over the next year. He said, "Oh yeah!"

The next season (this one) I was roughly 21-24 months in and the difference to the first year was huge. Almost more than double the difference. Like the difference between, "I think this might be helping as long as I keep up on my antihistamine pills," and "I'm basically cured and don't take OTC meds anymore unless it's really bad."

Two years is supposedly full effectiveness. Three more years to fully "set" the immune system. Then you decide whether to just keep prodding the immune system or let it ride and see if you backslide.

Drops are not covered by insurance. My doc is the best I've ever had about frank conversation about costs. As I was thinking it, he said, "The drops won't be covered by insurance, but given how far you have to drive, it will be a lot cheaper for you to administer the drops at home than to drive here every week."

Shots are covered by insurance and you can do accelerated courses where you take two shots per week. At least at my doc, you do not need an appt for the shot (I see this when going in for my checkups). They have your meds and a window and you show up between 8am and 6pm and a tech gives you a shot. People are in and out in 5-10 minutes.

If you travel a lot, the drops are great. I started during a time when I was going to have a ton of travel. So I would have had to wait six months to start shots. With the drops, my doc gave me a 6-month supply and I was fine.

My cocktail costs $900 for what ends up being a 7-month supply. I, however, have a double prescription (two vials at a time instead of one) because I'm allergic to so many things.** So I think my drops are on the expensive end. Still some of the best money I've spent.


**Allergic to so many things.

Your intake appt, they have this array of needles that they press into your back and tests for 60 allergens. It takes about 15 minutes to get a response. The tech came in after 15 and asked me to turn around and show my back and when I did, she said, "Oh my. Let me get the doctor. I'll be right back." (exact words)

At this point I'm contorting to look in the mirror and the doctor walks in asks me to turn and show my back. When I do, he says while standing about 8 feet away, "Oh my. You're allergic to everything. That cedar bump is huge." (again, exact words).

My allergies were annoying, but fully manageable (don't adopt a cat) except cedar. That was killing me.

Thanks for that great info. ergo. I did shots for a couple years, but that was before moving to cedar country. After this season's misery, I'm going to re-explore shots or drops.

I cough something in the beginning of January, was lightly sick for about six days, then I got what felt for the flu for four days where I was really tired, had a fever, and the chills.  It got better and sort of reverted to acting like a cold again.  After that the cough settled in along with what felt like a cold again -- that lasted for another three weeks. 

TRav:

Just FYI... last couple nights we slept with the windows open. My wife, who in theory "doesn't have allergies" had to get up both nights and pop a Zyrtec. I had no issues.

A couple years ago, it would have been windows closed, filters running and me taking the Zyrtec.

LM:
That sounds a lot like what my dad and I had. Not Covid. Not flu. But at times felt like one, both or neither

Trav - recent article by BBC on sublingual drops with brief mention of off label usage for tree allergies

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260313-hay-fever-the-new-wave-of-effective-cures-for-seasonal-allergies

>windows closed, filters running and me taking the Zyrtec.

Yep that's me. Thanks for the article, too.