Managing springtime allergies

[Charlene Marshall]

I’m confident we’ve discussed allergies on our forums platform before, but each spring I’m reminded of specific allergens that make my respiratory symptoms worse. With a disease like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), I don’t need anything to exacerbate the shortness of breath and cough I already have on a regular basis.

This year, I noticed my lungs were particularly sensitive to certain trees that went into bloom; although, they seem to be better adjusted now for the most part. The only persistent symptom is a runny nose, which I can only attribute to allergies as I don’t have any other symptoms of a cold.

Has anyone noticed their allergies are particularly bad this year?

As an IPF patient or caregiver, are there things you do to lessen the respiratory impact of allergies each spring? If so, I’d love to hear your tips!

Charlene.

[Joseph Lovett]

You might try using Xclear nasal spray. It’s saline solution softened with Xylitol. It clears the pollen out of your nasal passages and you can use it as often as you like as it has no pharmaceutical in it.

[Karen Martin]

Here in  southwest VA the pollen counts have been especially high this spring.  Trees and grass pollens are fierce!  Even using Zyrtec and Flonase regularly, I still have days that the drippy nose just won’t give up!  These meds are cumulative in effect so it’s important to continue using them regularly if they are what your doc prescribes.  I keep seeing articles about huge flower blooms across the US as well as fires to the west of me and with the weather what it has been, I’m not at all surprised at the thought that stuff is being borne many miles from its origin.  I wish you luck conquering your runny nose!

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