My Daily Atlanta Headache (Dunwoody, Duluth: to buy, allergies, live in)

[RoslynHolcomb]

So this is about my tenth consecutive day of headaches. When the air quality is bad my allergies let me know it. This summer hasn't been as bad as previous ones, but it is frustrating. I'm allergic to pollution, particularly gasoline fumes and smog--in other words, I'm allergic to Atlanta! It was significantly worse when I lived in Birmingham, better in Huntsville, even though Huntsville is known as The Valley of Death because of the allergy problems people have there.

How do other people cope? I take Zyrtec during the day and Benadryl at night. Zyrtec does nothing for the headache, though it does help the wheezing. I rinse with the neti pot constantly, but it's awful when you have a headache. I'm tired of feeling drugged all the yime. Is anyone getting allergy shots? I got those when I lived in Birmingham, but they didn't seem to help much.

[researchnerd]

My DH had allergy shots for 2-3 years and they helped immensely. It was a huge pain, but he no longer needs allergy meds (he was taking three different ones per day) except during pollen season.

I don't know if it's the air quality or not, but I've had the Sinus Infection From Hell for two weeks straight. It's miserable.

[waronxmas]

The late stages of Summer are always the worst for me. It's as if all of the smog and pollen has built up and just decided to hang out in the air.

One thing that works for me well though are Pseudophedrine + Loratadine pills.

[ATLTJL]

Allergy shots are made to desensitize you to specific pollens.

I'm not sure if there are allergy shots for smog or gas fumes.

What part of Atlanta do you live in? I have noticed that since I moved from Buckhead to Duluth, the air quality seems much better up here. At least where I am, there are lots of trees and no really major roads around. I know Cobb county seems to have pretty bad pollution. I don't know if they just produce their own, or if the wind from Atlanta brings it to them.

[lastminutemom]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

So this is about my tenth consecutive day of headaches. When the air quality is bad my allergies let me know it. This summer hasn't been as bad as previous ones, but it is frustrating. I'm allergic to pollution, particularly gasoline fumes and smog--in other words, I'm allergic to Atlanta! It was significantly worse when I lived in Birmingham, better in Huntsville, even though Huntsville is known as The Valley of Death because of the allergy problems people have there.

How do other people cope? I take Zyrtec during the day and Benadryl at night. Zyrtec does nothing for the headache, though it does help the wheezing. I rinse with the neti pot constantly, but it's awful when you have a headache. I'm tired of feeling drugged all the yime. Is anyone getting allergy shots? I got those when I lived in Birmingham, but they didn't seem to help much.

This is the first summer that I have had allergy symptoms, I normally have them for a few weeks in the Spring. I took shots many, many years ago, but I agree don't think there is one for pollution.

Have you tried any of the other over the counter allergy meds? A physician friend just told me that Allegra, Zyrtec, etc all work slightly differently and have can have different side affects. Might be worth a try.

[RoslynHolcomb]

I take Zyrtec, but I'm thinking about switching to Allegra. Zyrtec doesn't make me slerpy, but I feel so drained and sluggish. Not the thing with two active kids! I think August is worse than July because so many people leave town on vacation. I live in Dunwoody.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Allergy shots are made to desensitize you to specific pollens.

I'm not sure if there are allergy shots for smog or gas fumes.

What part of Atlanta do you live in? I have noticed that since I moved from Buckhead to Duluth, the air quality seems much better up here. At least where I am, there are lots of trees and no really major roads around. I know Cobb county seems to have pretty bad pollution. I don't know if they just produce their own, or if the wind from Atlanta brings it to them.

That shouldn't be the case as the wind usually blows to the South or East.

[residinghere2007]

I take Claritin-D for allergies (the 24hour kind, they can be pricey but Zyrtec makes me sleepy and benadryl did nothing for my allergies at all). Mine have gotten better over the years. When I first moved here I would literally break out in hives when I went outside and had to deal with constant congestion/head cold type allergies.

Now I only get sore throats every once in a while. There was a period where I didn't have the money to buy my meds and I think not using them as often got me used to dealing with the many allergens in this area. I figure my body just got sick of overreacting lol!

[ja1myn]

I'm from NY and the only thing that works for me is Allegra. Allergies have been better since moving to Atlanta.

[ATLTJL]

Have you tried Flonase, or one of the other similar steroid nasal sprays?

They really helped me one year when I was having awful attacks. I know they are indicated for nasal congestion, but I found them to have overall anti-allergen response effects all over my body. I never got headaches or wheezing, but it did help with watery eyes.

Flonase has gone generic, so it shouldn't be too expensive even if you are without a prescription plan.

I know Atlanta allergies can be really unpredictable. Sometimes I even get it worse in the fall than spring. My allergist put me on Flonase and said I could just take it all year, which I did for a couple of years. It helped a lot.