Talking Allergies

Anyone have any success with homeopathic or natural treatments for seasonal allergies?

Nope. Only time I tried it, I ended up in the hospital. That's all BS as far as I'm concerned.

One of my sisters has been to a naturopath--not for allergies though. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss naturopathy. I think that a lot of their medications are from indigenous cultures, and sometimes traditional treatments do work by virtue of the fact that they have been used for thousands of years. Sometimes they don't---it's hard to tell without clinical trials, but I keep an open mind about these things.

There are some areas of naturopathy that seem to be becoming mainstream....
I know that naturopaths prescribe flaxseed oil as well as probiotics (yogurt, and especially Kefir) for their allergic patients.
I heard the last part of Dr.Denburg's (from McMaster in Hamilton--he's the director of the AllerGen program at McMaster University) talk at Allergy Expo today, and he mentioned that there are some clinical trials which show that young kids who are fed yogurt regularly are less likely to develop allergies. (The theory is that if our immune system doesn't have a chance to react in our sterile environments that it tends to overreact to the wrong things. Feeding young children 'good bacteria' may be a safe way of giving the immune system the necessary work out.) As well, he said something about a few studies on the benefit of the intake of omega-3s through polyunsaturated oils (like flaxseed)....I can't remember whether he suggested that nursing mothers should take this or children....but in any case it is a possibility that flaxseed oil is good for the immune system. I wonder if flaxseed oil and probiotics would strengthen an adult's immune system or whether it only helps with allergies while the immune system is developing. In any case, this just goes to show that mainstream medical professionals might want to look into testing some of the remedies that have long been prescribed by alternative health practitioners.

The understanding of the physiology of allergies from an alternative health point of view also seems to be different. But just because a model isn't 100% accurate doesn't mean that it doesn't describe the symptoms and the causes. i.e. I'm not sure about the whole "toxin" theory of allergies....*but* we do know that pollution increases an individual's tolerance of allergens. <editorial comment here: I meant "*de*creases and individual's tolerance....">

I tried homeopathic medicine for seasonal allergies and almost ended up in the ER! Never again...

Many "cures" are based on probiotics and flax seeds, but I still have to find a source of probiotics that doesn't make me sick... then I may think about giving it a chance, but it's going to be at least another year before I search again... my system's been through enough for this year. My uncle considers himself cured from his allergies (which I question in the first place, but that's another story...) since he started to take probiotics... but I personnally don't think probiotics can cure anaphylaxis! Be carefull about what you read and talk to your doctor before testing one of those cures. This is my personnal opinion of course.

Mylène

That's two who ended up at the hospital.

Just to clarify my last posting---Dr. Denburg wasn't suggesting that allergies could be 'cured'. (As well, he emphasized that the studies on probiotics and omega-3s are preliminary---i.e. they don't know for sure yet, but this is a promising area of research).
But they might be (in part) preventable. A person with a genetic predisposition towards developing allergies doesn't automatically get allergies--it's something in the environment which sets them off. No one really knows all of the factors involved in the development of allergies. The question is whether the use of probiotics early in life can prevent the immune system from going into allergic mode. I don't think I'd feed a kid pills containing bacteria......but feeding a kid yogurt (the kind with live bacteria and without tons and tons of sugar) should be fine unless the kid is allergic to milk or sensitive to foods high in histamine, etc.

No one can 'cure' anaphylaxis. My understanding of naturopathy is limited to my sister's experience, and her naturopath never even suggested that this would be possible.

But allergic reactions *can* be modified--we know for sure that stress, tiredness, general health, pollution levels, etc. all affect our allergic responses. It isn't that we suddenly lose or gain allergies because of these environmental factors, but that these factors affect the severity of the reaction. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if eating yogurt and Omega-3s would help alleviate some seasonal allergy symptoms and perhaps reduce the need for medication. Of course, I may be totally wrong in suggesting that what might help prevent allergies can have an effect on the immune system later on in life. But yogurt and Omega-3s are healthy for us anyways.

I'm sure there are some good things about the whole thing... but my experience hasn't been positive at all! When I was younger, I was even told to take fish pills that it would cure my fish allergy... I thanked the "doctor" and told him I didn't consider death as being cured... but have heard of some people that would be willing to try "stupid" things like that in hope of a cure!

Mylène

Might I ask what homeopathic treatments each of you used? I would hope to warn others as to what not to try given that 2 people had such serious reactions to homeopathic treatments

Just curious as I used to take Sabilia by Borion and didn't really have any problems. This product is by no means a 'cure' but more of a OTC-like pill.
I really don't like the drowsiness on the one hand / racing heartbeat on the other of most allergy medications which are out there - so I'm searching for something that will help keep my seasonal allergies under control.

It's been over 10 years since I tried any of that stuff, so brand names is not what I remember... I ruled out every "natural" treatement out there, sorry. I test extremely positive to any seasonal allergies and my immune system is hyperactive, so anything I would give it to react it would fight to the end... hopefully not my end, but I don't want to find out, so I stay away from anything that triggers any kind of reaction.

Mylène

I currently use a product called Aller-ease that I get from the health food store. Seems to work the best since they took Seldane off the market.

And I've noticed probiotics help a bit as well.

I've also noticed that using the bed and pillow encasings work wonders against dust mites, and hepa filters of course.

Like Mylène, it has been almost ten years and I don't remember what it was but like her, I decided to stay clear of any of those products.

Thanks, Kellyjo. I might look for Allerease the next time I'm in the vicinity of a health food store. What probiotics do you find work? At the moment, I'm trying to eat lots of yogurt and am having a bit of Kefir most days. --Lisa

Hi Lisa. Sorry I kept forgetting to look at the actual name of the probiotics that I use. I finally did.

Anyway, they are called Bio K plus. Here is a link to there website...

http://www.biokplus.com/homepage.asp?la ... id=365&f=1

They seem to help in some ways. Especially if you are ever on antibotics for anything.

Hi kellyjo, Thanks very much for the tip! Lisa

Probiotics are also good for yeast infections, aren't they?