I found out that I am not allergic to anything...but I still have weird reactions and mine is called vaso motor rhinitis....it really blows.

my voodoo doctor says he can fix this kind of stuff. I can tell you more about it if you're interested.

Allergies suck. Are they food or environmental?

The researchers have actually discovered that there's a strong correlation between allergies and acid reflux, and the standard procedure now is to make sure both are treated. I'm glad to see that your doc is at least doing that much. :P

Hopefully the food allergens will be minimal so you can just take a minimum amount of meds and go about your business. Food allergies are a royal pain.

Awwwww! Darn it! Are you absolutely positive? I think I might just do dinner since I haven't decided what else to do. :(

::sighs in relief::

::hugs with big grins::

Now you get to start the great experiment of avoiding the "I might be allergic to this" things to see if anything makes a difference. Keep good notes!

Wow, you sound like me. 2-year sore throat, though, would be nighttime postnasal drip, if it's allergies--or at least that's what happens when my sinuses drain.

But dust mites are pretty easy as far as the main offender goes--get allergy covers for your bed (a couple bucks for pillows, about $30 for a mattress cover) and make sure you wash your bedding in hot water. Cloth couches are often to blame, as well, which is why my goal in life is leather furniture (I'm half there with the chair!). Carpets are also big contributors--carpet holds EVERYTHING in--so get a vacuum with a HEPA filter (I prefer hardwood floors for this reason, and my goal in life is a Dyson vacuum). (Which I see now, reading the carpets, you already know about.)

By the way, Claritin doesn't do a THING for most people I know with bad allergies. On the other hand, Zyrtec is wonderful, and the only one on the market that actually works on pet allergies and dust mites as well as trees and grasses.

A huge help for me is my bedroom HEPA filter/air cleaner--if I get a good night's rest the daytime allergies do better. Allergies and asthma are often worse at night, so take your Zyrtec at night (and in the morning, if they're really bad--my dr. said it was okay to take Zyrtec twice a day and to add Benadryl on top of it if they were really bad).

Let me know if you need any other pointers on environmental stuff around the house, and if you learn anything I've never heard of I want to hear it. :)

So sorry about the allergies, Janci. I'm lucky and usually don't have any environmental allergies, or if I do they're not too bad. When I lived in south Provo I had them every spring. Then I moved to Orem and they went away. But Sudafed was good enough for me; I'd just take that and it would dry my sinuses so I could breathe. Yay! Benadryl was the worst. I tried that when I got hives from ALL detergent (my then fiance had his clothes washed in ALL, and as you can imagine, from cuddling I got hives. Didn't know I was allergic to that detergent till then.) Benadryl just made me sleepy, but did nothing for the hives. Took Allegra and the hives went away with no noticable side effects. Basically I have really sensitive skin, so my allergies are in the form of rashes, hives, etc. (can't wear anything but gold, especially earrings). Good luck in sorting the allergy thing out!