(Part 2) Top products from r/Allergies

So it sounds like we can rule out dirty vents aggravating allergies since its like radiant heat & not forced air. That leaves the very low relative humidity as the most likely culprit for aggravating sinus issues. I personally have this issue during winter which really messes with my sleep quality & makes me even groggier in the morning. A good humidifier right next to my bed helps quite a bit w/ that so I'd recommend trying that & having a weather station that includes indoor humidity or just a cheap humidity sensor to help you monitor it.

For an initial solution I've had a good experience w/ cool-wicking humidifiers from Hunter if you want to try a cheap option 1st & I currently have this Honeywell which is great if you can afford a little more high end:
-Honeywell HCM350W Germ Free Cool Mist Humidifier White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QAYJPO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_cOZXDbY47PV2D

My ENT & plenty of reviews I've seen online have all said to avoid ultrasonic or warm mist humidifiers as they can add impurities or even ozone to the air. An Evaporative / Cool Mist humidifier is what you want.

I've also personally benefitted from smearing some Ayr Saline Gel around my nostrils before bed to keep my sinuses moist while I sleep so that’s another super cheap option worth trying:
-Ayr Saline Nasal Gel, With Soothing Aloe, 0.5 Ounce Tube https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010NSC1U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_49ZXDb7GBXTYZ

You may have trouble keeping your entire room well humidified depending on the size so maybe see if right next to bed w/ the air flowing towards you is good enough or if you need to invest in a room-sized solution. I've had great experience w/ product advice from the online chat at AllergyBuyersClub.com if you end up having to do that. Good luck feeling better!

>in your personal opinion do you think meat would be a problem with this?

I don't think so. I note that the Sonnenburgs follow what I will characterize as a very plant-heavy "Paleo" diet with some meat and fish. The Sonnenburgs are part of a group of scientists who have been studying the Hadza people in Tanzania. Researchers have been studying the Hadza as proxies for our evolutionary ancestors. For more about this research, visit this Web site. The Hadza eat meat in the form of game animals they hunt. The huge difference is the amount of fiber the Hadza consume each day. The Sonnenburgs state that the Hadza typically consume 100 - 150 g of fiber per day. The average American typically consumes about 14 g of fiber per day. That's a huge difference.

In the interview I link to, the Sonnenburgs recommend consuming at least 30 - 40 g of fiber per day. They recommend getting this by eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole-grains and legumes. What you want is to develop a very diverse gut microbiome by consuming a wide variety of fiber. Also, try to eliminate as much highly-processed food and sugary drinks as you can.

>What kind of plan do you think would work for me?

The Sonnenburgs give some diet recommendations in their book, The Good Gut. In my own life, I follow a vegan diet which is a "hybrid" between those recommended by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. John McDougall. I have calculated that I typically consume 60 - 70 g of fiber per day. I probably drink at least 48 oz of water per day to help process all that fiber.

The book Food Allergies and Food intolerance has pretty good guidance on hypoallergenic elimination diets, with some samples of various strictness at the end. It might work better to eliminate common food allergens in general, not just the ones that were positive on your skin tests.

I am allergic to cats and married to a cat lover. I also receive allergy shots.

Do your allergy shots include cat allergen? If not, they will not work for cat allergies since you won't be building an immunity to that particular allergen.

I have had absolutely no issues with our cat and I play with it and pet it every day.

One product that I believe is really helping my allergies is called Allerpet. We wipe our cat with this every week or so and I believe this alongside my shot treatment has been the reason for our success.

As a person with severe allergies myself, definitely get a bracelet. They have some nice ones on the first website I linked down below and it could definitely save your life one day. Also if you have to carry around an EpiPen I suggest getting some of these keychains (second website) to put on whatever you use to carry it in in the event that someone needs to find it and use it on you.

https://www.americanmedical-id.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Epipen-Inside-Keychain-Allergy/dp/B07PY1FHM1/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=epipen+keychain&qid=1566374305&s=gateway&sprefix=epipen+k&sr=8-1

You'll get the usual advice of flonase or something similar, zyrtec or something similar, and, yes, I've heard some give very positive feedback re installing a whole house HEPA system. I would also urge you to give this a try. I've used it for about a year now and there's no doubt it has helped. Good luck to you.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RWFFHY/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B006ZOC2B0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1BVQ4HDYTR8RAWV982WT

That's odd. I won't comment on the family situation, so I'll stick to some medical items:

1. Do you have an air purifier? Put it in your room. If you don't have one, go find a HEPA purifier: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_1?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A510192%2Ck%3Aair+purifier&keywords=air+purifier&ie=UTF8&qid=1479692287&rnid=2941120011
   
   
2. You're likely already taking an antihistamine, right? Make a quick call to your doctor and ask if it's fine to double up on it for the holidays knowing you'll be around known triggers.
   
   
3. Get a 3M N95 mask to prevent issues when you're not in your room: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002YKBV2/
   
   
4. Carry an Epipen or something similar. Use this to have the copay waived: https://www.epipen.com/copay-offer/
   
   
5. Take benadryl to help too. You might need it at night to get a restful night of sleep.
   
   
6. When you talk to your doctor, ask if there is anything else you should do to be well prepared.
   
   Generally speaking, to the extent that you can find activities for you and even the family to do outside of the home, the better for your condition. Do you have your own transportation? If it's really bad, and I only say this from a medical perspective, go back to school, and find a way to not have to live at home if the situation is going to continue.
   
   My hope, for you, is that the dogs are small and won't create too much of a problem. Sorry you're stuck in a hard situation.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017D16PW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Better cheaper option. Also multiple sizes so you can use thicker filters which work better.

You definitely want an antihistamine, it'll dry up some of the crud too. As far as a neti pot, I'd suggest something like this.

Clif's Builder's Bars don't have peanuts for the most part. (Avoid the "Peanut Butter" flavor.) The only downside to those, and pretty much all Clif products is they seem to have a fairly high sugar content. They are easy to find in a lot of stores. Target and Walmart sell them in boxes of 6 for around $10-$12 I think.

Another one to look at is Balance Bar Bare. Fairly high protein, no peanuts in the Sweet n' Salty Almond flavor. Hard to find in stores, but you can buy them on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Bar-Nutrition-Energy-Chocolate/dp/B000R8Y920

Sounds like me. Maybe a dozen times a year my face just turns into a river. Days like that it's a struggle to remain functional. My routine is:

• Sudafed: 24-hour dose of actual pseudoephedrine (phenylephrine is worthless), can take an hour to start kicking in.
  
• Benadryl: one or two doses, can take 30 minutes to kick in, chew if in distress (be careful though, diphenhydramine can kick hard).
  
• Mucinex: if I'm also coughing up mucus, guaifenesin is ok.
  
• Aspirin: for the inevitable headache that accompanies sinus-rage.
  
• Vick's Vapoinhaler: when my nose is also sensitive and irritated, this thing can calm it down immediately and continuously, best part is no max dose per day so it's completely as-desired.
  
  (edit formatting)

I don't have cat allergies myself so I can't attest to this personally, but I've heard that using bath wipes in addition to brushing helps.

I like olive oil soap. It's pretty common online and in health food stores.

"Kiss my face" is the brand I know off the top of my head, but there are a bunch of them.

Is there any way to tell them that you are really worried about your allergies and can't dogsit? Tell them you can't afford the bill. It's sad when we don't feel comfortable telling family about our allergies. My sister keeps insisting on a big function at her 3-dog house, I have to explain over and over that I CAN'T.

I have allergic asthma as well. Terriers/schnauzers are the best type of dogs for me to be around (tolerable- My parents have a cairn terrier) Helps to get the dog allergen sprays (that you spray onto the dog) but ideally you shouldn't have it in your house. But if you do, a mask/or nose filters, latex gloves+bathe the dog in anti-allergen shampoo. Maybe your parents could pay for that? The dog shampoo listed below helped me last time I stayed at my parents. i doubt it would do much for a big black lab, but that terrier/scnauzer type dander is more manageable.

Nose Filters
https://www.amazon.com/WoodyKnows-Allergens-Pollution-Particles-Replacement/dp/B00SHELUP0

Allersearch Laboratories Pet+™: Anti-Allergen Pet Shampoo, 16 oz.
https://www.amazon.com/Allersearch-Laboratories-Pet-TM-Anti-Allergen/dp/B000BKA66C/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1480265950&sr=1-1&keywords=dog+allergen+shampoo

Spray
https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Remover-Deodorizer-16-Ounce/dp/B0002ASL5E/ref=pd_sim_199_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0002ASL5E&pd_rd_r=KHGHA6DHDJRBCEY20YZF&pd_rd_w=NEyml&pd_rd_wg=rcpdy&psc=1&refRID=KHGHA6DHDJRBCEY20YZF

Something like this

Check out Mast Cell Activation Disorder and a book by Dr. Lawrence Afrin:

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Bet-Against-Occam-Activation/dp/0997319615

I don't know if that is what you have, but it might be worth a look into this.

The one I use is OrthoMolecular. I was using a different supplement last year called AllerC which was similar, but when I went to the store to buy more this year, they were out. That's how I discovered DHist. This is one of the cheapest ways to order it but if you want to try it out they make them in bottles with 40 capsules or so. https://www.amazon.com/Ortho-Molecular-Product-Natural-D-Hist/dp/B0006ON6D8

ALSO, this is a good book on that subject: The Sneeze-Free Cat Owner: Allergy Management & Breed Selection for the Allergic Cat Lover