Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I started in 1995 I had attended a lecture on LifePlus Pycnogenol. When the MD's and researchers said "they may prevent cancer"...I was sold. Bought the Pycnogenol and I think it was 100mg and took them every day for the first year. What happened and I was totally surprised was the allergy issues were like cured in a few days. I have never touched another allergy drug in all these years. I never expected that. I took that LifePlus product for a year and then found out about Grape Seed Extract. And went with that for the following years. 2016 has been a touch year for allergies as down here we have NO RAIN and I believe the pollution just hangs in. So I've had a lot of mucus and just started taking a 100mg pycnogenol too. There are many good brands and I hope mostly at iherb and luckyvitamins. I used swansons brand grape seed ex for years too.
It's hard to say you could have a profound experience or subtle.
My gum and eye health is pretty amazing for my age.
Oh, wow, then you started with the pine bark extract as opposed to grape seed extract since Pycnogenol is made from pine tree bark. This is very good to know. Clearly the grape seed extract is as effective, or you would have noticed a difference and switched back to Pycnogenol. That, too, is very good to know! I'd love to hear if you see an improvement in your symptoms now that you've begun taking Pycnogenol again what with no rain and pollution of late.
I'm SO excited to try this! I'm going to start with the Pycnogenol because "It also protects the nerve cells against beta-amyloid, or glutamate induced toxicity, accelerates wound healing processes, reduces scar formation, decreases histamine release from mast cells, and inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokine actions(3,4)" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3203267/
The bold type explains why you had such allergy relief when you started taking the Pycnogenol. I hope this works for me as well. I'll keep this thread updated with what happens. Thanks!!!
If cost is an issue, Swansons has a decent 100mg Pycnogenol. 30 caps for under $20. I still buy these and even make up a moisturizer with the powder from their capsules.
If cost is an issue, Swansons has a decent 100mg Pycnogenol. 30 caps for under $20. I still buy these and even make up a moisturizer with the powder from their capsules.
Well, you know how I said I like Pure Encapsulations the best? They charge $118 for 60 capsules! Yikes! I think I'll look into Swansons. BTW, how many do you take a day now? The bottle suggests 1-4 a day, but do you remember if you took more initially and then tapered down over time?
I'm curious about the moisturizer...do you notice a difference if you don't use the moisturizer with the Pycnogenol included? You have me deeply, deeply intrigued, let me tell you, jaminhealth!
The bottle of Swansons says 1 per day. I think and this is back in 1995 with LifePlus Pycnogenol, it was 100mg capsules and 30 a month and I paid $40 a month back 21 yrs ago and did this every month for 1 yr.
I use nothing but the Pycnogenol moisturizer I make up. I use a base of aloe vera cream or Vit E cream and if I have both of these creams I mix the creams, and add the contents of 100mg Pyc capsule. This I use twice a day and I have hardly any lines and wrinkles. I still get 50-60's in age from those who don't know me. I'm 78. These OPC's work on the inside and outside of our bodies. Swansons carries a Pycnogenol cream and years ago I bought theirs and then started to make my own. Pycnogenol is pricey but it WORKS...so shop for best prices. HOPE this all works in your life.
My grandkids have been taking Grape Seed for a couple yrs, they are teens. And pretty healthy considering they are exposed to a lot of germs. High school and college.
What jaminhealth said may work but I just wanted to chime in since you asked if anyone else had ever had this.
I was severely allergic to mold. If I went into a damp cellar, I would nearly collapse. If I ate mushrooms (mold) I would sort of fall off the chair I was sitting in. Of course the doctors had no idea of what was wrong with me. Finally I got allergy tested and they found many types of mold that I was allergic to. We had mushrooms growing in the backyard so we cut the trees down but every fall when moldy leaves covered the ground, I would be dizzy and weak. I could never go into our basement or any damp place. Worse thing was that I worked in a library and the old moldy books bothered my allergies too.
I got the allergy shots and they helped a lot. No drugstore pills or prescription pills helped. Eventually I moved! I live right next to the ocean now, out in the sun. Trees can't even grown in this sand. And my mold allergy seems to be gone!
If all else fails, MOVE to a dry, sunny place. Sunlight kills mold.
On your Washington residence, I have a bridge friend who is selling her large home in Topanga and moving to Annacortes for economic reasons. For me at this late age, I need warm and dry. Good luck.
I meant to address this part of your post earlier. I think this thread is going to consist mostly of my posts.
I live close to Anacortes, and yes, the property is going to be less expensive than Topanga, but I'm not sure the COL is going to differ much.
You know...unless people absolutely LOVE the rain and gray, this area is awfully hard on people used to the sun. I was always drawn to dark, wet, cool places, even as a child, so this was my dream to move here from San Diego, but I have to say, at about 8-9 years in, I began to wince when fall turned to winter because I knew gray and wet would prevail for the next 5-6 months. To my great surprise, I'm currently debating which is worse: the heat or the cold. I used to hate, despise the heat, but as I get older and less willing to wrangle with cold, gray, wet weather for months on end, the heat is starting to seem easier to work around. I may be deluding myself, however. Anyway, I hope she loves it here. There's a great deal to love, absolutely. It sickens me to think I might have to move...but I also hope she's left herself a back door, just in case.
I was severely allergic to mold. If I went into a damp cellar, I would nearly collapse. If I ate mushrooms (mold) I would sort of fall off the chair I was sitting in. Of course the doctors had no idea of what was wrong with me. Finally I got allergy tested and they found many types of mold that I was allergic to. We had mushrooms growing in the backyard so we cut the trees down but every fall when moldy leaves covered the ground, I would be dizzy and weak. I could never go into our basement or any damp place. Worse thing was that I worked in a library and the old moldy books bothered my allergies too.
I got the allergy shots and they helped a lot. No drugstore pills or prescription pills helped. Eventually I moved! I live right next to the ocean now, out in the sun. Trees can't even grown in this sand. And my mold allergy seems to be gone!
If all else fails, MOVE to a dry, sunny place. Sunlight kills mold.
Thank you, thank you for taking the time to share your experience. It sounds so familiar, so much like what I've experienced. Apparently, mold and fungus attack the nervous system and create all sorts of odd neurological symptoms. I have been actively working with an acupuncturist since last February and taking herbs, and symptoms have improved a great deal, but I still react to the outdoor fungus. That hasn't changed at all, unfortunately. We've just about accepted that we'll have to move to a drier, sunnier place and have been researching. I want to know if I'm some oddball, but if someone else had similar issues that resolved by moving, I won't feel so bad about needing to move. Maybe my situation isn't all that unusual after all.
I'm so glad your symptoms resolved. It's a nightmare feeling so wrong in your body. Enjoy your sun and ocean, yeah!!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
