Darned allergies!!!

[Blisschick]

About 7 years ago I had one of those allergy tests done where they poke your back with a bunch of allergens to determine what you react to. I knew I had a few issues, but I had no idea that I was literally allergic to EVERYTHING. This was a surprise to me because I'm an actively outdoors, in-the-dirt kind of person, and was very biologically challenged as a kid, y'know, way before parents learned to freak out over their kids being unnaturally clean. To find out that I was allergic to my beloved animals along with food in general was kind of upsetting, but the kind of person I am, I figured I'd rather suffer with some discomfort and allergy tabs than give up what made me happy. (Gerbils were high on the list, but since I don't own any...pfft!) Among those I had a slight reaction to were feathers.

Tonight I brought in my sweet, cuddly Peepers, who thinks he's more...hmm...he acts more like a dog than a chicken. He's very sedate for two month old, likes to stretch his neck out sleeping, and doesn't say a whole lot. He and I snuggled in for the night, me reading until he started giving me the hint the light needed to go out.

I noticed when we first laid down that my throat got a little itchy, but I figured it was some of my residual cold, especially since I don't have any perceivable reactions to handling my birds. I finally got rid of it, got comfortable, and went to sleep. Then, about 20 mins ago, I wake up to my throat itching and I can feel my throat and lungs tightening up and I got a really dry cough. It's at this point I realize that it's probably Peeps setting my allergy off, so I put him in with a girl I have in with a bum leg and pop a couple of Benedryl. Since typing this, my breathing has relaxed and now my nose is running, the cough productive. My whole thought right now is that this really sucks! I'll be able to bring him in to socialize with, but won't be able to have a snuggle bird.

I never had a reaction to my OEGB when he was a snuggle bird.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

mabe it's the powder stuff on the feathers. my cockatiels do that and i can't snuggle with them if they aren't sprayed down some. i can't think of what the powder is or why they do it. kinda like a dander mabe like cats have. i have to get a warm bottle of water to mist them so they don't have so much all over. my cat i have to take benadryl to snuggle with her,lol.

 

[Heidi]

It is tough having animal allergies. The whole time my babies are inside the house I'm stuffed up and have headaches. I still cuddle them. I'm allergic to cats and dogs too.

We have a dog in the house, but I vacuum and mop alot to keep down the allergins. Poor cats live in the garage and when it's really cold in the "man's theater room" in the basement.

 

[tink]

Stacey...Dont know if you saw this on Oprah but she showed a Neti Pot. It is used for washing out your nasel passages. My husband has allergies so bad that he has lost his sense of smell. I dont remember a time when he could smell and we have been married for 27 yrs. Well he is starting to get it back after using this pot. Funny....he is not sure he likes being able to smell our dog's pooots!!! lol

Check into it.....might help you with yours
Tink

 

[lacyloo]

im allergic to ,

coackroaches
grass
hay

no food allergies , "thankful for that"

 

[Smitty's Farm]

Hey Stacey, Have you thought about talking to your Allergist about doing the shots? My best friend is allergic to everything and is a big animal lover, so she opted for the shots and she said it helped tremedously and still kept her zoo of animals in the house.

 

[BirdBrain]

Quote:
The same company that makes the Neti pots makes a Sinus rinse that you can get at Walgreens. It comes with a squeeze bottle and I use it all the time with my kids. Works great to get out the gunk.

 

[Blisschick]

Smitty's Farm :

Hey Stacey, Have you thought about talking to your Allergist about doing the shots? My best friend is allergic to everything and is a big animal lover, so she opted for the shots and she said it helped tremedously and still kept her zoo of animals in the house.

I started on those way back when I first got the allergen test done, but they were expensive and I couldn't afford to go in every week. We don't have insurance now, so I can only imagine how expensive it is to do it now.

I'll have to look into that nasal rinse...I hate using nasal sprays, but it might help.​

 

[tink]

With the neti pot you use sea salt water. You can also get additives for what ales you....working great for us....
Tink

 

[jjthink]

Those of you with troublesome allergies may want to look into a noninvasive allergy ELIMINATION technique called NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques).

One of my vet's offices practices this on dogs and cats and her husband performs the technique on humans (incidentally, he recently relocated to Florida and she now does a lot of work there too). I've known people allergic to everything under the sun experience tremendous relief with their NAET treatments.

This is an oversimplified explanation but as I understand it the general idea is this: when your body has an allergy it is interpreting the allergen as the enemy, and the body basically pitches a fit in one or more ways (runny eyes, itching, whatever). NAET "teaches" the body to no longer see the allergen as an enemy by having the body accept the energy "fingerprint" of the allergen as friend. One need not know what they are allergic to to receive these treatments. The folks learned in the technique are able to figure it out.

Sounds very Star Trek, I know, but increasingly, it seems to be gaining support and understanding. When one of my cats was quite young he had abdominal discomfort for nearly a year - I had every test imaginable done and nothing turned up, so the presumption was that some basic ingredient in cat foods was an allergen for him. Within 24 hours of an NAET treatment, he never had the problem again. Coincidence? Maybe. But most interesting!

Anyway, check it out of you want. If NAET truly works, it is of great interest to me because then many people who say they want to but cannot adopt dogs, cats or other creatures in need of a home because they are allergic might with NAET be able to adopt and then there would be fewer homeless furries and feathereds.

JJ