Allergies and flying...

The Non drowsy Sudafed is also on the approved list. I have used that alot
over the years.



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:j4Isc.57787$gr.5667473@attbi_s52...
On Sunday we spent all day outside, getting the pool ready at the inn. It
is
shaded by giant river birch trees, which -- at this time of year -- are
shedding lots of little flakes of pollen (?).

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't
help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article v6Jsc.114175$xw3.6706572@attbi_s04,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


1. Okay, so I may have exaggerated a bit. My eyes were extremely swollen,
and I looked like the Devil incarnate -- but I could still see out of them.


Give Loratadine a shot (brand name is Claritin, but it's available
cheaper as a generic). I was on Allegra for years, switch to Loratadine
when it went OTC. It seems to work a bit better for me.

2. In my experience, my allergies completely go away above pattern altitude.
Not much pollen up there, I guess.

My experience is the same as yours. When my allergies are really bad I
go flying.

In article ,
(leslie) writes:


: I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
: shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
: FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't help.
:
: Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
:

Sleeping in a room without allergens helps:



You can, to a large extent, "allergy proof" yourself for the duration of the
pollen season by following a daily regimen starting at the very first reports
of pollen in the Spring.

Twice each day, follow this procedu

1. Wash out yor nose with a saline nasal spray. Let it soak a while and then
blow your nose.

2. Put 2 squirts of NasalCrom sray into each nostril and resist the urge to
sneeze till it soaks in.

Do it every day at the same two times, it does nothing to help symptons when
you have them, it is a preventive measure.

The NasalCrom is a Mast Cell inhibitor, those are the cells that mediate the
allergic reaction. You would not want to suppress them year round, as they play
a part in the immune system, but for the couple of months that they are the
problem rather than a part of the solution, it can make a big difference in how
you will function and how much other medication you will need.


--
Wm. Donald (Don) Tabor Jr., DDS
PP-ASEL
Chesapeake, VA - CPK, PVG

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:j4Isc.57787

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen.

*sniff*

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?

Claritin is FAA-approved, I believe. I use the two pretty much
interchangeably with no side effect. Plus, it's non-prescription now.

-c

On Tue, 25 May 2004 13:43:43 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:


I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?

Jay, I found myself allergic to grass pollen. This didn't really
happen until I hit around 40 or so. I suffered with the summer
allergy for a number of years before finally going to an allergist.
Did the pin prick test and found out what was the culprit.

The doctor recommended and prescribed Flonase, and I've considered it
a miracle drug ever since. No symptoms, no sneezing, just normal
life.

By the way, Jimmy Doolittle also had allergies. He also commented
that the only relief he got was to fly above it. No wonder he got so
proficient, he flew every opportunity he got during the summer. ;-)

Corky Scott

Jay Honeck wrote:

After that I decided that sneezing wasn't so bad...

Yep, some people can't take them. I'm into about year 7 of the things, and tree
pollen is one of the allergens. Before starting the shots, I used to use
Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride and Advil. Avoid the "allergy" or "sinus" variants of
Sudophed - they made me pretty woozy. For some reason, generic versions of Advil
didn't work well for me, but the Walmart generic of Sudophed worked great.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

Pixel Dent wrote:

In article v6Jsc.114175$xw3.6706572@attbi_s04,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


1. Okay, so I may have exaggerated a bit. My eyes were extremely swollen,
and I looked like the Devil incarnate -- but I could still see out of them.


Give Loratadine a shot (brand name is Claritin, but it's available
cheaper as a generic). I was on Allegra for years, switch to Loratadine
when it went OTC. It seems to work a bit better for me.

2. In my experience, my allergies completely go away above pattern altitude.
Not much pollen up there, I guess.

My experience is the same as yours. When my allergies are really bad I
go flying.

I'll second that advice. I was using Zyrtec (sp?), until my last 3rd
class medical, when I was told that it's not approved. So I started the
loratadine (the OTC I use is called Alavert) and it actually works
better than the Zyrtec.

DanH

We have one here called flixonase - it's a twice a day nasel spray that
takes a few days to become effective - in my case it was 100% effective -
and I get hayfever pretty bad (I can soak 5 hankies in an hour! - sorry to
be gross!)

CC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:j4Isc.57787$gr.5667473@attbi_s52...
On Sunday we spent all day outside, getting the pool ready at the inn. It
is
shaded by giant river birch trees, which -- at this time of year -- are
shedding lots of little flakes of pollen (?).

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't
help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:j4Isc.57787

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen.

Hey Jay,

I'll give you my PIREP on three allergy meds I tried. My doc is a pilot
and understood completely when I said any medications must be 'pilot
friendly.'

Clarinex -- worked pretty much the same as Claritin. Did a great job on
my problems with pollen, dust, and cat dander. Claritin is now over the
counter -- and expensive. Clarinex is covered mostly by my health insurance
minus copay.
Allegra -- seemed to work slightly better than Clarinex. But you
already know about this one.
Zyrtec -- Best of the three for me during the trials described below.

My doc gave me a week of samples of each of the above. To test them, I
stopped taking anything for one week. Then I took one daily, starting with
Clarinex, and kept notes. In between each brand I laid off for six to seven
days. I settled on Allegra in the end because it had the most severe trial.
During the Allegra period we spent four days living in an RV at a primitive
camp smack in the middle of a cattle ranch in SoCal in April surrounded by
beef cattle on open range. The wind blew every day, the wildflowers were in
full bloom along with the cottonwoods and oaks, and the grasses were knee
deep.
Two weeks later, I was at home in the desert doing the Zyrtec which while
my notes said it was better didn't have the same environment as the Allegra.

Good luck, pal,

Casey

Yes, I'm also a big fan of the cortisone nasal sprays. I've used beconase
and flonase in the past and they are totally effective with absolutely zero
side effects. No contest compared to the usual over the counter
antihistamines and decongestants.

Mike

"Cockpit Colin" wrote:

We have one here called flixonase - it's a twice a day nasel spray
that takes a few days to become effective - in my case it was 100%
effective - and I get hayfever pretty bad (I can soak 5 hankies in an
hour! - sorry to be gross!)

CC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:j4Isc.57787$gr.5667473@attbi_s52...
On Sunday we spent all day outside, getting the pool ready at the
inn. It
is
shaded by giant river birch trees, which -- at this time of year --
are shedding lots of little flakes of pollen (?).

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes
swelled shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my
usual FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever),
didn't
help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"