Is it Seasonal Allergies or COVID-19?

Do you have seasonal allergies?

If you’re a Spring allergy sufferer you know it and you also know the symptoms from which you typically suffer.

Even if you are an allergy sufferer that doesn’t mean you should ignore your symptoms.

Why?

Allergies overwhelm the immune system and can leave it weakened, opening you up to a secondary infection like COVID-19.

Symptoms of seasonal allergies are shared by COVID-19

Unfortunately, there is some cross-over of symptoms between seasonal allergies and COVID-19.

Let’s review them each so that you can make intelligent decisions based on your symptoms.

Common allergy symptoms

• Cough
• Shortness of breath or some difficulty breathing
• Sneezing
• Headache
• Hives
• Itchy or watery eyes
• Itchy throat
• Runny nose
• Fatigue
• Nausea – typically due to swallowing excess mucus

I put in BOLD the symptoms common with allergies that aren’t typically seen with COVID-19.

Common COVID-19 symptoms

• Cough
• Shortness of breath or wheezing
• Headache
• Fever
• Chills, sweats
• Body aches
• Nausea,
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Fatigue, severe

I put in BOLD the symptoms common with COVID-19 that aren’t typically seen with allergies.

Allergy symptoms come from histamine release

The type of cells in your body that release histamine is MAST cells. The more they’re releasing the more miserable you can be.

Common antihistamines are MAST cell stabilizers and they do reduce symptoms of allergies, but you should know they do so at a price.

A caution about antihistamines if you do suffer from allergies

For many Americans, the go-to for allergy symptoms is antihistamine medication. If you’ve taken antihistamines before, you know they can make you sleepy or “out of it” during the day. It can be a tough decision: do you sneeze and blow your nose all day or do you suffer from drowsiness?

There’s a more insidious side effect, however, and that’s how they affect your sleep.

Antihistamine medication disrupts sleep quality

This will sound counter-intuitive if you’ve taken antihistamines and been bothered by their drowsy side effect. You may have even taken them to fall asleep when you’ve been congested and miserable with allergy symptoms.

The drowsiness is true, but that initial drowsiness does not translate into good sleep quality. In fact, just the opposite is true.

Antihistamines negatively affect your sleep quality, actually putting a strain on all the benefits derived from good restorative sleep.

Remember: a major benefit of great sleep is its immune stabilization and boosting. Therefore antihistamines are compromising your immune system. Definitely a bad idea right now.

Natural antihistamines don’t have a negative side effect

As I mentioned above, antihistamine medications are MAST cell stabilizers.

The good news is that natural MAST cell stabilizers exist without a negative impact on your sleep.

Natural antihistamines include key MAST cell stabilizers without the drugs or side effects.

They contain:

• Quercitin
• Stinging nettle
• Bromelain
• NAC
• Vitamin C

A natural antihistamine we’ve used for years

The above formulation is in a product called Sinus Care and it’s one we’ve used to address the symptoms of seasonal allergies successfully for years.

Please note the presence of our friend Vitamin C above. C is a natural antihistamine along with its anti-viral properties and general immune-boosting capabilities.

If you’re not taking extra vitamin C right now, you should definitely consider it.

Don’t let your allergies turn into a secondary infection, virus or bacterial

As we’ve mentioned, allergies tend to overwhelm your immune system.

If you’ve ever moved from allergy symptoms into a cold, sinus infection or flu, you’ve experienced what I’m talking about.

Key diet and lifestyle recommendations

If you do suffer from seasonal allergies, consider natural alternatives over the antihistamine medication, as we’ve just discussed.

Sleep – I’ve discussed this in a few blogs and videos recently. In summary, sleep keeps your immune system strong – get 8 hours per night.

Hydrate – viruses tend to dehydrate you, but so do allergies. Most Americans have dehydrated typically anyway, which is a problem. You need to be hydrated to flush toxins and inhospitable organisms from your body. Drink 8 glasses of purified water every day.

Avoid sugar – sugar weakens your immune system and feeds viruses, bacteria, and cancer cells. Do you want to feed them or keep yourself healthy? It’s an easy answer.

Eat real, unprocessed food – Now is the time to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables. Frozen is okay too if you can’t locate fresh. I often discuss what I consider a healthy diet to be.

Exercise – this is important for your immune health as well. Try to get a minimum of 40 minutes per day as much as 5 to 6 days per week.

Do you need help?

If you aren’t feeling your best or know that you tend to get hit hard by seasonal allergies, please reach out.

We know how to improve your natural antihistamine production while keeping your immune system strong.

Whether it’s the strength of your immune system, feeling over-stressed, digestive problems, or fatigue; we’d like to assist you.

We’re here for you and your family

What is your biggest health problem?

We have the tools to discover why you’re having trouble. It’s not difficult as long as you’re ready to make some dietary and lifestyle changes. If that sounds daunting, don’t worry. We will hold your hand through the changes and make each step of change an easy one.

Contact us for a Free Consultation – Call (408) 733-0400.

If you are not local to us you can still receive help. It is the reason we created our Destination Clinic that treats patients from across the country and internationally.

We help the world’s busiest people regain, retain, and reclaim their health, energy, and resilience.

If you liked this blog please share it with friends and family.