Live Allergy Free » Environmental Allergies

Post Nasal Drip – Causes and Treatment

Chloe Orford — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:55:42 +0000

Is your nose constantly dripping? Perhaps you can feel something running down the back of your throat.

Are you familiar with that constant ‘eh hem’ sound you make whilst you clear your throat of mucus?

Constant coughing and chest infections can be caused from excessive dripping of mucus down the throat. Yep mucus is a great breeding ground for infections!

If you have the above symptoms, you may have what is termed ‘post nasal drip.’

Why Does Post Nasal Drip Occur?

There can be two forms of post nasal drip – thick and sticky that can often be yellow/green indicating an infection or it can be thin and watery. Both types of post nasal drip have very different causes.

Thick and Sticky

Thick and sticky post nasal drip can occur as a result of an infection usually triggered by upper respiratory infections during a cold. When the sinuses aren’t being cleared properly, the excessive mucus is forced to drip down the back of the throat.

Chest infections and coughing usually result from this type of post nasal drip.

Yellow/green post nasal drip usually corrects itself after the upper respiratory infection has cleared.

If the mucus is yellow or green long term in absence of a cold, there is still an infection which must be assessed and treated by boosting the immune system and using anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents.

Where there is thick mucus without the yellow/green colour, it may be caused from the lack of moisture in the air which can dry out the mucus membranes of the nose.

This dryness forces your mucous membranes to work overtime to try and produce the mucous to protect the lining of the nose. Overcome this by ensuring you drink enough fluids to keep your body hydrated, and using a saline nasal drop to lubricate the nose.

Thin and Watery

The thin and watery type of post nasal drip tend to have it either daily or weekly in absence of an infection. There can be many triggers of this type of post nasal drip -

Food Sensitivities – I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but many people who have post nasal drip that is constant and quite chronic can be reacting to gluten or dairy. When these are eliminated, the post nasal drip tends to completely eliminate itself. If you think this may be you, going through a Naturopath or Doctor for an IgG antibody blood test will determine what foods you may be reacting to.
Environmental Irritants – Dust, dust mites, mould, animal dander and pollen can all act like an irritant in the nose in sensitive individuals. These allergens irritate the mucous membranes of the nose, making your nose produce more mucus to protect itself and trap the irritant to eliminate it. As a result post nasal drip can occur.
Cold air - Air conditioning, and cold climate can cause your nose to run more.
Spicy Foods – Spicy foods increases circulation and makes the mucus very watery causing your nose to drip

Natural Treatment

Avoid food you are sensitive to once you have been accurately tested through an IgG blood test
Bromelain – Assists with reducing swelling of the nose and inflammation that can make your nose feels like it’s blocked and you can’t blow the mucus out. It will also reduce the stickiness of the mucous if you have thick sticky post nasal drip
Quercetin - Reduces allergic responses by inhibiting histamine release from mast cells that trigger an allergic response to environmental allergens that can lead to a runny nose. This will assist those of you with post nasal drip commonly triggered by dust mites, mould, pollens and animal dander
Neti Pot - This is a tea pot shaped device that involves using a salt water solution that you use to wash out your nasal passages. Do this twice a day and it will help clear out allergens, excess mucus and any bacteria.
Avoid spicy foods- If you find that spicy foods can cause your nose to run, try to avoid it as much as you can. The worst is when you’re at a restaurant eating something super spicy and you are having to wipe your nose every 5 minutes! Curry powder, chilli,
Increase your immunity – If you are prone to sinus/chest infections caused from your post nasal drip then improving your immunity will be very beneficial to prevent these infections from occurring. Assess your diet by ensuring you are eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, minimise fried foods, junk foods and sugar, drink 1.5 – 2L of water daily. Zinc and Vitamin C are very important for healthy immunity. Herbs such as Echinacea, Olive Leaf, and Astragalus may be beneficial to take as a preventative.

Post nasal drip can be quite a mystery to treat at times, I hope that the above has given you a bigger picture into what may be causing your post nasal drip so you have a better chance of getting rid of it for good!

Please post your experiences on post nasal drip and what may or may not have worked for you.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome Part Two – Underlying Causes and Treatment

Chloe Orford — Sat, 08 May 2010 05:43:06 +0000

There are many underlying causative factors that could have initiated your sensitivity to low amounts of chemicals in your environment.

You may genetically have a poor capacity to detoxify certain chemicals – 50% of the population have this genetic tendency towards slow detoxification of chemicals. If you do not have a family history, it is still very possible to develop MCS in our modern environment.

Over exposure to large amounts of chemicals could have triggered your MCS, even viruses or severe stress can leave your immune system hypersensitive to its environment.

Often nutritional deficiencies caused from a poor diet, gastrointestinal inflammation and excess alcohol intake can greatly deplete the body of specific nutrients essential for adequate detoxification – causing more and more chemical/food sensitivities.

If your body does not have the tools it needs to detoxify chemicals properly then you are definitely going to know about it.

Symptoms such as headache, irritability, fatigue, restlessness, muscle pain and poor thinking to name a few may occur as you come in contact with chemicals your body can’t cope with.

So what can you do? You can give your body the tools it needs to function optimally and to detoxify chemicals properly.

Supporting Your Body to Heal

Avoiding chemicals that you know can affect you is of the upmost importance whilst you work on your body through dietary and lifestyle changes.

By doing so it will alleviate the symptoms that you experience so that you can at least function a lot better.

How to Avoid Chemicals in Your Environment

Avoiding chemicals completely is of course impossible and out of your control.

But what you do have control of are the chemicals used in your home – by doing the following you can greatly reduce your overall exposure to chemicals.

Eat Organic – This will help you avoid pesticides and agricultural chemicals used on spraying crops, fruits and vegetables that you could potentially ingest.
Drink Filtered water – Chlorinated water through the tap can cause problems in susceptible individuals
Avoid wearing perfumes/colognes – These often create headaches in MCS
Use unscented natural skin care and cleaning products – If you use chemical laden skin care products such as body lotions and face creams that you put on every day, you are adding to your overall toxic load as it can be absorbed through the skin. Cleaning products are full of harsh chemicals that can be inhaled as can skin care products that are highly fragranced. Look for all natural alternatives. Yes that does include makeup, shampoo/conditioner, mouthwash, toothpaste and laundry detergent.
Avoid artificial colours and flavours that are added to processed foods – Eat closest to nature as possible by organising your own meals
Avoid toxic paints – The fumes from paint can be extremely toxic to your body and can linger long after the room has been painted. Avoid this at all costs.

Optimise your diet

Eating fresh fruit and vegetables are very important to ensure that your body receives the nutrients it needs for proper detoxification. Antioxidants are also very important to protect your cells and tissues from the damage that can occur from toxic chemicals.

If you are confused on how to eat healthy, then visiting a nutritionist or a naturopath can put you on the right path to help modify your diet to suit you.

Optimise your Gastrointestinal Tract

A sluggish and unclean digestive system can cause your body to become very toxic – giving your body more work than it can handle! A healthy digestive system will help support your body to detoxify chemicals a lot better.

Think of your digestive system like a waste disposal bin. Every day you top it up with food regularly throughout the day, but before it gets really stinky and fly infested you must empty it out!

With your digestive system, it must be emptied everyday – 2-3 times is optimal but once a day is the absolute minimum. Anything less than this and you will start having problems; problems with your immune system and problems with your liver which is the main organ that detoxifies chemicals!

So to ensure you are emptying out the trash regularly you need:

Adequate fibre – Food sources such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains like oats, brown rice, whole wheat (unless you have a gluten problem) and barley, legumes, nuts and seeds. If you still have a problem getting enough fibre you can use 2 tablespoons of linseed/flaxseed meal separately or psyllium husks (but make sure you follow with a lot of water)
Healthy Bacteria – Good bacteria also known as probiotics are very important for the proper functioning of your digestive system. They prevent the overgrowth of bad bacteria/candida; they assist with the absorption of nutrients and support a healthy immune system
1.5-2 Litres of Filtered Water Daily - Drinking filtered water is important so you can avoid chlorine and bacteria that may be present in normal tap water. Drinking enough water is important to soften your bowel movements so you do not become constipated

Nutritional Supplements

Though you may be eating as healthy as you can be, the foods you may be eating may not be as jam packed with nutrients as you would like to think.

The soils may have been depleted with nutrients where the foods were harvested; storing vegetables/fruits for long periods of time before being eaten can have little nutrition once they reach your mouth. Cooking your foods at high temperatures for long periods of time can also destroy the vitamins, and enzymes naturally present.

Supplementing with nutrients alongside a healthy diet may be beneficial for you to really ensure your body receives the nutrients it needs everyday for adequate detoxification.

Any of the following may be beneficial to you – but before supplementing please ensure you talk to a Naturopath or qualified health professional to ensure it is right for you.

Multivitamin

A multivitamin will give your body the minimum requirements of vitamins and mineral it needs every day. Multivitamins can be made very differently so do your research before you buy one. What you want to aim for is one that has reasonably high doses of the following:

Vitamin B1 – 20% of those of you with MCS are commonly deficient in B1. It is necessary for aldehyde detoxification that’s found in many artificial scents and fragrances
Vitamin B6 – 60% of chemical sensitive individuals have been found to be deficient in B6. It is necessary to support an amino acid Taurine with the removal of toxic chemicals
Folic Acid and B12 – A deficiency of these two nutrients are increase your sensitivity to chlorine and xenobiotics (estrogen mimicking chemicals that can have a negative impact on your hormones)

Magnesium

A deficiency in Magnesium can greatly affect your detoxifying capacity, as it is essential in 500 enzyme systems of the body. To learn more about Magnesium and deficiency symptoms, I have covered it in more detail here.

Protein

Protein is made up of twenty amino acids that all have specific roles to play in the body. Many of them such as methionine, taurine and the branch chain amino acids are extremely important to support your liver to detoxify toxic chemicals.

If you are a vegetarian and find it difficult to receive enough protein for your body every day, then it could be a good idea to look into a vegetarian protein supplement such as pea protein or rice protein that is going to ensure you receive the amino acids needed for proper liver detoxification support.

Those of you with poor digestion may not be digesting the protein component of food adequately which can result in a deficiency in a number of amino acids needed for chemical detoxification.

To find out if your digestive system needs help please go here for more information so that you can learn how to treat your poor digestion so you can absorb these essential amino acids properly.

Liver Detoxification Supplements

Impaired liver function is often found in Multiple Chemical Sensitivity individuals as many of you have had over exposure to chemicals like pesticides, herbicides, formaldehydes and heavy metals to name a few. This exposure has increased the toxic load of your body to a point where your liver is unable to keep up.

Liver supplements supply your body with herbs and nutrients needed to support the detoxification pathways of the liver and to protect it against toxic insult from chemicals.

Using a liver formula can be very beneficial in MCS but should be cautioned – when liver detoxifying is not done properly it can have a negative impact on your health as opposed to a positive one. So if you are interested in this please seek a natural health practitioner that can assist you through the right process.

Keep Fighting

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome can be an extremely frustrating condition that can greatly reduce your quality of life. I hope that this two part series has given you a better understanding of how to support your body to heal – even though this may be a long process it is possible! So what ever you do, don’t stop trying.

Remember, your body has an amazing ability to heal but you must supply it with the right tools to do so.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Syndrome Part One – Symptoms and Triggers

Chloe Orford — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:52:01 +0000

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is also known as Environmental Sensitivity and is a condition that is exactly that – a hypersensitivity to low levels of chemicals found in your environment.

This condition is relatively new and is a direct result of the toxic world we live in. We are surrounded by all sorts of chemicals from the polluted air we breathe, the pesticide rich vegetable and fruits we eat, to the cleaning products we use in our homes.

Everyday we are all in contact with hundreds of different chemicals usually without even realising it. This is because our bodies have in place certain detoxifying capabilities that are able to detoxify these toxic substances adequately before producing negative effects.

Unfortunately for those of you with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, contact with the slightest amount of chemicals can negatively impact your day to day life.

For many reasons, your body has reached its detoxifying threshold and is struggling to deal with further exposure to toxic chemicals. As a result you will experience a broad range of symptoms that is communicating to you that it is struggling.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Symptoms

Those with MCS will experience a wide range of symptoms that can often occur every day.

Headaches
Disorientation
Dizziness and Faintness
Nausea
Rapid Heart Beat
Rashes
Breathing Difficulties
Gastrointestinal problems
Muscle and Joint Pain

Long term symptoms that are the most debilitating for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferers are;

Long Term Fatigue
Difficulty concentrating
Muscle aches
Memory difficulties
Mood Disturbances – Depression/Anxiety/Irritability

How is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Triggered?

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity can often begin after certain situations that exposed you to abnormally large amounts of chemicals such as the installation of new carpeting, painting the house or excessive use of drugs/medications.

The excessive exposure of these toxic chemicals has caused your body to reach its saturation point where it can no longer detoxify the huge burden of toxic chemicals placed upon it.

Following this, when you come in contact with anything that requires your body to detoxify a synthetic chemical a wide range of symptoms will result.

You may begin to find that you are overly sensitive to perfumes, fragrances and odours – even the smell of a new car may make you feel nauseous and headachy.

Common MCS triggers

Knowing common triggers of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity symptoms are important to be aware of.

Though you cannot control all of these triggers, by being able to reduce the overall exposure to chemicals you will be able to reduce the amount of unpleasant symptoms that you experience.

Pesticides
Car fumes
Fragrances
Preservatives
Artificial Flavourings
Sodium Nitrate found in processed meats to preserve colour – bacon, ham, sausages, burger patties
Cleaning agents
Drugs
Alcohol
Caffeine
Air Fresheners
News Print

Reducing your exposure to chemicals is the first step you can take as a Multiple Chemical Sensitivity sufferer to become more in control of your symptoms.

In Part Two I will talk about how to support the body to detoxify better so that you can better cope with exposure to chemicals.

References

1. Claudia S Miller. Chemical sensitivity: symptom, syndrome or mechanism for disease? Toxicology 1996. Volume 111, Issues 1-3, pages 69-86

2. Gibson, P R et al. Sickness-related dysfunction in persons with self-reported multiple chemical sensitivity at four levels of severity. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2008, Volume 18 Issue 1, Pages 72 – 81

Common Environmental Allergy Symptoms

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:56:01 +0000

Environmental allergies whether it is to pollen, mould or cockroaches can all produce very similar symptoms often making it difficult to pin point exactly what it is you are sneezing at.

Before you start hunting around for cockroaches, you should check out what symptoms can occur from each environmental allergy so that you can figure out exactly what it is you’re allergic to.

Dust Mites
Pollen
Cockroaches
Mould

Dust Mites

Dust mites have proven to be the most common indoor allergy and one of the hardest to control as they are so microscopic in size. They occur from breathing in a specific protein from the dust mites droppings initiating a cascade of allergic symptoms that your immune system has created. Dust mite allergens do not circulate in the air like pollen or cockroach allergies but instead are collected on furniture, rugs and your bed.

Dust mites can trigger asthmatic attacks and a range of symptoms that occur rapidly once in contact with the dust mite. Look at the symptoms listed to see if dust mites are the cause to your problems.

Symptoms:

Eczema: Redness, swelling, oozing of the skin
Constant sneezing
Itchy eyes and nose
Wheezing, short of breath

If you are allergic to dust mites, your symptoms will occur all year round. You will notice them worse when in contact with dusty areas of the house and whilst your sleeping. As you move around in bed, you can shake up the settled dust mite particles which you then inhale! It sure doesn’t make sleeping very easy to do when your sneezing and itchy. Waking up with a stuffy nose, and constant sneezing could be a definite sign of dust mite allergy. Controlling the amount of dust mites in your home is a great start to eliminating those annoying symptoms.

Steps to take to eliminate those dust mites for good;

Wash your bed linen regularly in hot water weekly
Other blankets should be washed monthly
Decorative pillows and toys can also have a lot of dust mite activity as they are not usually washed, so this should be done regularly with your bedding

Pollen

Pollen can be responsible for your seasonal hayfever that you have every year. Sometimes it can be confusing with pollen allergies as the symptoms can start off similar to a common cold. If the symptoms last for longer than 2 weeks then it could be likely that you have a pollen allergy. A pollen allergy occurs when trees, grasses and weeds are pollinating usually between early spring to late summer and is why your hayfever will flare up at this time.

Pollen symptoms that you could experience include:

Itchy or watery eyes
Itchy throat, nose and ears
Repeated sneezing attacks
Loss of concentration
Wheezing and worsening of asthma
Skin rashes such as eczema, if in direct contact with the pollen of grass, weeds or trees
General feeling of being unwell

Experiencing these allergies every season can make spring and summer a rather depressing time, especially if you can’t enjoy time outside in the sunshine like everyone else. But now that you know the signs and symptoms of classic pollen allergies, you can start to put in place treatment strategies that will alleviate these symptoms for you dramatically.

If you would like to find out what sort of treatment strategies are available for hayfever sufferers, please visit our allergy relief page. We hope that it will help you to look forward to the hotter months of spring and summer.

Cockroaches

When you think of allergies, you commonly associate it with dust and pollen allergies let alone a cockroach allergy. Even though it sounds strange to be allergic to these creepy critters, it actually is more common than you think. Most likely, just the thought of cockroaches may be enough to make you cringe, but to make sure cockroaches aren’t the cause to your problems, take a little look to see what happens if you are allergic to cockroaches.

People that are more prone to cockroach allergies are those who have asthma, chronic nasal and sinus congestion or infections as they are already quite sensitive to environmental allergies. Allergies to cockroaches can occur year around, so if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms that never seem to go away you may have a cockroach problem.

Symptoms:

Itchy skin
Persistent asthma
Stuffy nose
Inflamed eyes and ears
Skin rashes

These symptoms occur from inhaling allergen particles from cockroaches that circulate in the air of your home. Cockroaches are commonly a problem in the basement, closets and kitchens. If you think you could be experiencing a cockroach allergy, then one of the first steps to take is to rid your home of these insects immediately. Pest control experts will be able to effectively eradicate them from your home, reducing the build up of allergen particles dramatically giving you fast relief. Keeping food and garbage covered at all times is also a good step to take.

To find out other ways to relieve your allergic symptoms take a look at our allergy relief page.

Mould

Mould allergies can be quite common particularly in people that are also allergic to pollen and animal dander. Even though mould can be found both indoor and outdoors, it is usually indoor mold that affects people the most as mould spores (seeds released by moulds that trigger allergic reactions) can circulate freely in an enclosed space. When you come in contact with mould spores that you are allergic to, your immune system will see them as harmful substances that must be destroyed in order to protect your body from damage. A cascade of allergic symptoms will follow after contact with the mould. Mould allergies can range from mild to severe and will determine how bad your symptoms are once you have inhaled the mould.

If you have a fairly mild allergy to mould, you will generally see symptoms related to your upper respiratory system. So that means you could experience any of the following symptoms:

Itchy watery eyes
Stuff nose
Sneezing
Feeling sick in the stomach
Headache
Fatigue

If you have quite a severe allergy to mould, these symptoms could occur:

Difficulty breathing
Worsening of Asthma
Coughing up blood
Nausea
Chronic lung damage can develop if in contact with mould frequently

If you can see noticeable mould growing on your walls, in your bathrooms, or kitchens and you notice when you are at home you feel generally sick with any of the above symptoms. Then it is possible you could have a mould allergy. Determining a mould allergy is very important before you suffer any possible health consequences. The first step to solving your mould allergy is to eliminate the mould from your house as much as possible. If there is quite a serious mould problem, calling a mould specialist to your home to eliminate the problem may be necessary.

Now that you know more about environmental allergy symptoms we’ll take a look at some ways you can treat your allergies for the short term or long term.

Why Am I Allergic To The Environment?

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:35:47 +0000

Environmental allergies have a lot to do with what is going on in your internal environment including your immune system and your digestive system. If you are constantly exposed to chemicals, and pollutants which are compounded by a poor diet, genetic predisposition and stress it can make your internal environment absolute chaos!

Oversensitive Immune System

All of these factors place massive stressors on your body limiting its ability to function and detoxify correctly. When your immune system and digestive system are already overburdened with its internal environment through constipation and a poor diet, and then you go outside and inhale large amounts of pollen, it shocks your immune system and thinks that it is a harmful invader. This new added invasion of external toxins causes your immune system to go into over drive in response to the pollen to destroy them. Now every time you come in contact with pollen your body remembers it and initiates that same response creating the same accompanying symptoms.

Weak Adrenal Function

When your body notices a harmful invader such as pollen, your immune system releases a weapon called histamine to try and destroy it. Histamine is a substance that causes a lot of inflammation and unpleasant symptoms associated with allergies and are why many medications are called anti-histamine drugs like Zyrtec.

In response to this histamine release, cortisol is released from your adrenal glands which is a potent anti-inflammatory. It is very good at controlling the unpleasant effects of histamine by reducing its inflammation. This is all well and good if your adrenal glands are in tip top condition and can do this every time. But the real fact is many of you have adrenal glands that are exhausted or close to burnout and are struggling to keep up with your daily demand of cortisol. Adrenal burnout can be caused by a variety of factors such as having one too many coffees, constant stress from work or home life, combined with a poor diet that isn’t supplying the nutrients needed to nourish your adrenals.

When your adrenal glands aren’t working properly, every time you now come into contact with pollen or other environment allergens, that weapon called histamine that produces the horrible sneezing and itchy rash isn’t being controlled. This results in a greater allergic reaction, making every spring an absolute nightmare.

Now that you know a little bit about why you could have environmental allergies, lets take a look at what sort of environmental allergens could be making your life so miserable. A little bit of detective work goes a long way at relieving those terrible symptoms.

The Sad Truth About Environmental Allergies

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:48:50 +0000

Allergies to substances in nature and in your environment (e.g. house) can make everyday life a very unpleasant and uncomfortable experience. Playing sport with itchy eyes, or pockets full of tissue paper can be an absolute nightmare! Even day to day activities like cleaning the house or walking the dog can be hindered because you are afraid of the symptoms you’ll face.

Either way environmental allergies are not fun, and can really make you feel down in the dumps especially if it’s stopping you from doing something you enjoy (ah..maybe not the cleaning though).

What’s interesting to note about environmental allergies is that many of us have it in some form or another, yet many assume that sneezing from dust is just a natural reaction – nay nay!

Sneezing in the presence of dust can sometimes be a natural reaction but in other instances it is certainly not. The following is a breakdown of the more common environmental allergies many face on a daily basis, in an effort to ‘clear the air’ about what is a natural reaction and what is in fact an allergy.

Dust and Dust Mites

Dust mites are microscopic relatives of the spider that live on your mattresses, bedding, furniture, carpets and curtains.
Pollen

Pollens in Australia are most commonly found in grass, weeds and trees.

The pollen producing grasses include; rye grass, bermuda couch grass, annual and Kentucky blue grass, paspalum, and prairie grass.

The most allergenic producing trees in Australia are the wattle tree, silver birch, maple, olive, poplar, ash and oak trees.

Last but not least, the pollen found in plantain weeds can be greatly responsible for seasonal allergies in individuals.

Cockroaches

The proteins found in cockroach droppings as well as the saliva and body make this insect one irritating pest.

Mould

Mould can be found indoors and outdoors, producing allergenic substances called spores and fungal structures that can be inhaled creating allergic responses.

Indoor mould can be found in air conditioners and dehumidifiers that are regularly cleaned, also in laundry rooms, bathrooms and damp basements. Anywhere that is moist, warm and dark will allow easy growth of mould.

Outdoor mould is seasonal, often appearing first in spring which can trigger many seasonal allergies in sensitive people. It is found in moist areas such as soil, compost piles, rotting wood and fallen leaves.

Cigarette Smoke

Cigarette smoke contains numerous chemicals and irritants that can exacerbate those with asthma, and also aggravate allergies. It can contribute to respiratory infections, sinusitis and bronchitis if exposed to it for long periods.

Now that your a little more aware about environmental allergies we’ll take a look at the root cause of why you may be suffering from allergies in the first place.