Allergy to outdoor fungus, anyone? Where to go? (sinus, bursting, diet)
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It appears I'm allergic to fungus/mushroom spores outside. I have no trouble inside the house. It's particularly bad in the fall when the mushrooms are bursting out of the ground almost before my eyes, but I have symptoms pretty much all year except they subside Dec - Feb. I live in the Pacific Northwest where it's quite wet, and until I moved here, I never knew I had allergies. I lived in Southern California, a more arid environment. I don't have typical symptoms - they're more like symptoms people have when allergic to indoor mold like black mold - neurological, inflammation, and muscular issues. I do sneeze and cough at times, but only when I'm very much in the thick of the dense forest. I do itch most of the time, though.
Are you allergic to outdoor fungus, mushrooms? Does this sound familiar to you? Did you move into it or leave it behind?
When I go back to SoCal to visit family, within a few hours, my symptoms are almost all gone. Every day there, I feel better and better, and within 3-4 days I feel my normal self again. I don't realize how bad I feel until I leave home and am gone a few days. Then when I return, within 12 hours, I'm all messed up again. It's glaringly clear. I've never had issues with pollen or grasses. I can mow with the grass clippings blowing in my face, and nothing.
I wonder if anyone else has experienced something similar with outdoor fungus and spores...
OP, I live in So. Cal 50 some yrs and been taking OPC's for 21 yrs. I had a history of allergy/sinus issues all my life prior to 1995, age 57. Did the whole drugs and allergist route and no help.
You could probably/possibly find improvement with your issues by taking OPC's.
Have you tried a 24 hour allergy pill? Zyrtec or Allegra? It's not fun having to take a pill every day, but lots of people have to do it.
Thank you for your suggestion, but...
After allergists threw their hands up and referred me to a research medical hospital to be tested by a the specialist immunologist for obscure diseases (which all came up negative), the specialist MD concluded that yes, I was having severe histamine reactions, he didn't know what was causing them, but he had a grand solution. He suggested I go to Costco and get the super-size bottle of fexofenadine (Allegra) and take up to 4 a day, 2 at a time. Then he said to continue my extremely limited low-histamine diet, and voila, my life would be normal again. He said the pills were utterly benign and some of his patients took up to 6-8 a day, no problem! You go, Dr.!
I take 1 anti-histamine in the am and 2 in the pm if I feel particularly bad, but I try to keep it down to 2 a day. I've found on some allergy forums that people refer to anti-histamines as their "sleeping pills" because histamine acts like a stimulant. I've gone up to 21 days only sleeping every other night because I'm so fresh-wide-awake that I can't sleep, so I stay up all night working. The next day I'm still not tired but so off and wrong that the world feels surreal. It's only the second night that I can sleep, but then the cycle begins again. It breaks if I don't leave the house for 4-5 days or if I leave for California. Histamine levels then begin to reduce and stop building up, and I can sleep.
I'd love to find someone else who's had similar issues and could share what he/she did to solve the problem. Was moving the solution? Did they have similar issues that were solved by leaving a place? Or did they find a new place caused the issues, like it happened with me? Or something else???
drugs never worked for me. OPC's did it...no drugs for 21 yrs. Allergy shots never worked...OPC's address so much with our health and allergies are a huge one.
OP, I live in So. Cal 50 some yrs and been taking OPC's for 21 yrs. I had a history of allergy/sinus issues all my life prior to 1995, age 57. Did the whole drugs and allergist route and no help.
You could probably/possibly find improvement with your issues by taking OPC's.
Thanks! This kind of supplement is right up my alley. I still think a miracle can happen and I won't have to move, but time is running out. The writing's on the wall, and I can't continue much longer when an obvious solution is in my face. I found this link that goes deeply into the mechanism of action and components of OPCs if anyone reading is interested. Thanks again, very much, for this suggestion.
Thanks! This kind of supplement is right up my alley. I still think a miracle can happen and I won't have to move, but time is running out. The writing's on the wall, and I can't continue much longer when an obvious solution is in my face. I found this link that goes deeply into the mechanism of action and components of OPCs if anyone reading is interested. Thanks again, very much, for this suggestion.
This is a very helpful link and I thought I saw most of them...there are so many. And yet so many naysayers continue to "fight" this short of a miracle supplement. It's mind blowing.
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.
OP, I live in So. Cal 50 some yrs and been taking OPC's for 21 yrs. I had a history of allergy/sinus issues all my life prior to 1995, age 57. Did the whole drugs and allergist route and no help.
You could probably/possibly find improvement with your issues by taking OPC's.
I'm intrigued! Do you remember your process, how much you took initially, how often, and if you ended up reducing quantity, eventually taking a maintenance dose? From the little I've read so far, OPCs are extracted from grape seeds and pine bark. Did you experiment with both, and did one seem more effective for you than the other, or are both effective for you?
Do you have a favorite source or brand? I really like Pure Encapsulations, and they have OPC-Sorb, but it also includes green tea extract, which sends my histamine levels soaring. However, this one seems the best of all because the OPCs source is both from pine bark and grape seed extract. All the others I've found seem to only be grape seed extract.
I can't find any that only include the pine bark, but in one of the studies I read, it shows that pine bark appeared to be more effective than grape seed extract for some conditions.
Sorry for all the questions, but this sounds right, viable, worth exploring. I've tried quite a few things over the years, and only a couple have significantly made a difference. One was glutamine for my dog. She had gut issues from the time I brought her home as a puppy, and after two years of trying different things, some conventional and many alternative, I tried L-glutamine. It sounded right for a variety of reasons, but I had NO idea what was coming. Immediately, she felt better and was able to eat. Her improvement occurred literally overnight. It was life-changing, and I know that she's still alive because of glutamine. That's why I rarely give up....and ask so many questions. I'll make sure to return to this thread to report my experience with the OPCs. It's great that you found relief after so many years, and if I can add my success, how lovely to help others, too! And if they don't work for me, well, that's good info, too.
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.
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I'll make sure to return to this thread to report my experience with the OPCs. It's great that you found relief after so many years, and if I can add my success, how lovely to help others, too! And if they don't work for me, well, that's good info, too.
