reg (01/26/83)
I am seeking info/experiences/advice re nasal allergies, chronic stuffy
nose, and recurring nasal polyps. For medical reasons, I cannot receive
desensitizing shots. Neither nose specialists nor allergists have been able
to isolate the specific cause(s) of my condition, nor have they been able to
provide more than temporary relief. Is it possible that someone has
been cured or received some degree of relief from such a problem? Hands-on
faith-healers may also apply.
Dick Gunderman
BTL WHkeaton (01/28/83)
I have suffered a lot from severe allergies, lately compounded by
asthma. I have been taking desensitization shots for about seven years
but they don't seem to do me much good (possibly a little bit, but it's
hard to quantify misery). The allergy specialist I go to says that about
75% of people who take desensitization shots can be cured by them and that
I am probably in the other 25%. Also, there are apparently a lot of
"allergy clinics" that are just frauds. That puts me in about the same
position as Dick Gunderman, with nowhere to turn for permanent relief.
My solution for now (and my recommendation to others with the same
problem): Seek as much temporary relief as possible until research catches
up with our problem. It took me quite a long time to admit to myself that
there was the possibility that I would be stuck with this problem for life,
but after seeing several doctors, this became evident. I don't think anyone
can understand how bad this is unless they have the same problem.
Here is a list of my weopons against severe allergies. I am going to
go into a lot of detail here in hopes that it will help someone:
1) Find a good allergy specialist you can trust and stick with him
long enough for him to learn your problem well. Make it clear
that if you can't be cured, then you at least want relief of the
symptoms. This is the most important.
2) Cortisone -- very effective and potentially dangerous
It has the property that if your problem is totally allergy
related, cortisone will completely wipe out all your symptoms
within a week at the very most. It also has the property that
if it is taken constantly for many weeks it begins to cause
neat problems like schizophrenia. Those problems completely
disappear once the dosages are stopped, but then the allergy
symptoms come back.
Therefore, cortisone is normally used just for diagnosis
(i.e. if you take it and your problems disappear, then it was
allergies) and to recover from an extremely severe onslaught
when everything else fails (like when the pollen count skyrockets
if you are allergic to pollens like I am). Sometimes, if
absolutely nothing else works, cortisone is given every other
day to both avoid the side-effects and to give relief half of
the time. Even then, something else has to be done on the days
in between. I have really severe allergy problems but still have NOT
had to be put on the every-other-day program.
3) Beclomethasone Dipropionate (or Beconase or Nasalide):
This drug is new (just a few months old) to the nasal allergy
area. It was adopted because it worked so well for asthma patients
and somebody decided to make it into a nasal spray and try it out
on allergies. It is a corticosteroid which is not as effective
against allergies as cortisone is, but doesn't have the side-effects.
I use it now and it helps a lot, but when things get really bad
and my nose gets really irritated and starts to bleed a lot, this
drug inhibits healing of that local area and I have to lay off
for a while (that's usually when I resort to cortisone for a few
days).
4) Massive doses of antihistamines
This requires some "shopping" around. Sometimes it's hard to
find one that won't make you sleepy in the dose required to get
relief. I currently take about three Dimetapp (12mg) doses a day.
That's enough to make many people sleepy 24 hours a day, but I just
happened to find that this particular antihistamine provides relief
without making me sleepy. The different antihistamines behave
differently in different people.
Note: All of the above require prescriptions.
5) Electronic air cleaners
Since house dust is another thing I'm allergic to, an air cleaner
(not an ion generator but an electrostatic air cleaner -- ask your
doctor) provides some relief for me. They can cost a lot (hundreds
of dollars) but if your doctor feels it would benefit you he can
prescribe it for you and it becomes a tax write-off.
I still haven't found complete relief, but most of the time I can
get by when I use some combination of the "weopons". I hope my list gives
others with the same problem (Dick Gunderman, perhaps?) a new idea on how to
get relief. I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone.
As for faith healers, I don't know but it couldn't hurt to try. When
your this bad off, you'll try anything if it might have a chance of helping.
David Keaton
nmtvax!keatonjwb (01/31/83)
The comments by David Keaton on his relief for allergies are probably useful and reasonable. However-BE Careful with steroids. The non absorbed ones are probably best but the systemic ones (cortosone, etc) can cause a lot of problems. Also be careful with large doses of antihistamines as there is a well documented rebound effect such that increasing doses are required and the patient winds up with runny nose, etc DUE to the anti- histamines. This condition is hard to tell from the allergies themselves. This is not intended as criticism but just as further caution. Jack Buchanan (MD) U of North Carolina-Chapel Hill duke!mcnc!jwb or tucc!jwb