How To Avoid Allergies
Posted May 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s finally spring, a time of year everyone in Canada looks forward to.
Well, almost everyone.
People like Michael Lockhart could live without the season.
It’s not that he doesn’t appreciate the return of the birds and the bees and the sun and the warmth.
It’s just that, like thousands of other Canucks, he suffers from allergies. And they’re a lot worse than winter.
“Spring,” he muses. “You have a nice day and it kills you right after that.”
Hay fever, ragweed, grasses, pollen – you name it and someone’s sneezing to it.
Doctors can’t cure your allergies yet, but they do think you can help yourself.
The problem appears to be that sufferers wait too long to take the medication that can relieve their symptoms.
Family physician Dr. Jennifer Malcolm agrees that it’s counter-intuitive to take your pills before you need them, but in the case of allergies, it’s just what this doctor orders.
“People tend to wait until their symptoms are driving them absolutely round the bend until they’re miserable or they can’t sleep and they can’t function. And then they take their medication.”
The key this year to beating that tickle or that tear is to get to your antihistamine before the irritant gets to you.
“Start taking your medication … every single day,” she orders. “Starting from the beginning of the season until the end of the season. Take it every day until the season’s over.”
Lockhart tried doing that two weeks ago. The result? He can finally spring forward for the first time in a very long time.
“It’s just weird to get into the routine of doing it,” he observes. “But it becomes a habit.”
For those who don’t trust the advice, consider this: November is just seven months away.
To read Health Specialist Laura DiBattista’s blog on this story, click here.
