# allergy flare up - just whining a bit



## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

I feel ya! I am allergic to dogs, too. My allergist told me that allergies tend to be worse if you take a break from them and then are around them again. Just try to limit doing the things that make your allergies worse....like rubbing your face in their fur. And if you must...rub your face in their fur....go take a shower right after.  But um...if going off allergy meds is a requirement for having kids, I'll never be having any. I can't go a day without Zyrtec.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I'm allergic to dogs too and I would never ever rub my face all over my dog. Anything that triggers allergies is to be avoided, or you risk getting worse amd having to deal with more problems.

Anytime I touch my dog, I try not to touch my face and I make sure I wash my hands before putting anything in my mouth. Whenever my allergies start, I take a break from him. I avoid touching him until it clears. Just common sense. Even if you start taking allergy pills, it's not a cure, just a patch. Personnally I don't like the thought of taking medication in the long term unless I really have to.

I think you could ask the poodle owner for a cuddle, it's not weird at all !


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I would definitely ask the poodle owner if you can cuddle their dog - I think they will be thrilled that you asked and want to cuddle their dog.....and be helpful in you testing potential allergies to poodles.

As for the allergies with Cheerio - find a new game to play. So you have carpeted stairs in your house? To teach my dog the two feet on, two feet off dismounting of apparatus in dog agility, I've taught her go upstairs and wait for my signal (she also has to sit, stand, fold (laydown) following my hand signals but you don't need to do that). I place a plastic lid (target) with some food as a reward for her coming down the stairs and landing with two hind feet on the step and the front two feet on the floor. You could adapt this for exercising Cheerio. You'd be exercising both the mind and the body with this game I made up. 

Also don't give up on fetch - it took me a year to teach it to my dog. She loves to run and get whatever is thrown but then zoom around playing with it and enticing me to chase her. Training and treats helped teach her to play fetch - it's not perfect, it's a work in progress but I have her running to fetch and return a toy to my hand now in exchange for a piece of food. There are lots of good videos showing how to teach fetch.

As for taking allergy medication versus nursing - you never know when babies want to end nursing on their own. I admire you for nursing your son for so long, giving him a good healthy start in life. My first daughter stopped nursing on her own at 7 months and demanded to drink from a glass. She never had a baby bottle - only the breast (no solid food till 6 months) and around 6 months a sippy cup of water from time to time. I have to tell you it was extremely painful to stop abruptly and have your child refuse to nurse anymore. I presume with your son it's a natural slow weaning at 18 months so you won't have that problem?


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## PlayfulPup (Aug 8, 2012)

CharismaticMillie said:


> I feel ya! I am allergic to dogs, too. My allergist told me that allergies tend to be worse if you take a break from them and then are around them again. Just try to limit doing the things that make your allergies worse....like rubbing your face in their fur. And if you must...rub your face in their fur....go take a shower right after.  But um...if going off allergy meds is a requirement for having kids, I'll never be having any. I can't go a day without Zyrtec.


I took the face off approach today. No snuggling. No itching. 

Zyrtec is safe while pregnant and breastfeeding, but decongestants can lessen your milk supply. I'm more sensitive to it, so I only take it when I absolutely have to and then only a few days. Maybe I should say I was more sensitive to it. I might be fine staying on it currently because breastfeeding is going a 1000x better with this kid than my last 3. With the last 3 everything that could make my supply drop, did. I'm just a little over careful now.


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## PlayfulPup (Aug 8, 2012)

Skylar said:


> I would definitely ask the poodle owner if you can cuddle their dog - I think they will be thrilled that you asked and want to cuddle their dog.....and be helpful in you testing potential allergies to poodles.
> 
> As for the allergies with Cheerio - find a new game to play. So you have carpeted stairs in your house? To teach my dog the two feet on, two feet off dismounting of apparatus in dog agility, I've taught her go upstairs and wait for my signal (she also has to sit, stand, fold (laydown) following my hand signals but you don't need to do that). I place a plastic lid (target) with some food as a reward for her coming down the stairs and landing with two hind feet on the step and the front two feet on the floor. You could adapt this for exercising Cheerio. You'd be exercising both the mind and the body with this game I made up.
> 
> ...


Hopefully she is just as welcoming as you would be! Truth be told, it really would not matter if I did react too, we will always have a dog!

The stairs game is a great idea. We do have carpeted steps to the basement. I think it would work well. I was watching some youtube videos on targeting and think he could pick it up quickly. 

Oddly, we got Kiwi to fetch. Beagles are notorious for not fetching, but being food loving, we put a slit in the tennis ball to insert a treat. She caught on quickly that bringing it back means food! Cheerio would return the ball a couple times but then just wondered off. It has been quite awhile, maybe I can get him to give it a try again. All else fails, I get 2 extra runs in a day. 

As far as breastfeeding, he is the first I have managed to get this far! I'm kind of protective of it because I fought so hard. My first 3 had undiagnosed lip and tongue ties and my supply slowly dried up. (3 months, 4months and 9months) This time I actually struggled with over supply because I pumped too much in the beginning. My first kiddo up and refused bottles at 8m. I fought him and kept trying to give him a bottle until his 9m check up when the Ped said it was ok to stop. Where did our babies go?! lol

I have felt the engorgement pain before and hope to never feel the extreme end of that!! I've gone 24 hours on accident and was just fine. He still nurses 2 times a day, but I'm sure if he decided he was done, it would not be too difficult on me.... physically. He might be my last baby, so I want him to stay small forever!


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## PlayfulPup (Aug 8, 2012)

Dechi said:


> I'm allergic to dogs too and I would never ever rub my face all over my dog. Anything that triggers allergies is to be avoided, or you risk getting worse amd having to deal with more problems.
> 
> Anytime I touch my dog, I try not to touch my face and I make sure I wash my hands before putting anything in my mouth. Whenever my allergies start, I take a break from him. I avoid touching him until it clears. Just common sense. Even if you start taking allergy pills, it's not a cure, just a patch. Personnally I don't like the thought of taking medication in the long term unless I really have to.
> 
> I think you could ask the poodle owner for a cuddle, it's not weird at all !


Kiwi is 10 and Cheerio is 9 and this is the first time I have reacted to them. That I've noticed anyway. It did take me a few days to put it together, so it could have happened before and I just naturally stopped aggravating the dog allergies before it got too bad. Do you have other allergies? Do you find your dog allergies are worse when you have other allergy issues going on? It's ragweed season and I had a flare up a couple weeks ago and took meds for 3 or 4 day. August and Sept are usually my worst months. I have had 1 sinus infection in the last 7 years (use to be multiple times a year), so my "worst" really is not much more than a running nose and sinus pressure. 

I have been sitting here slowly writing comments (and repeatedly putting kids back to bed) all while petting Cheerio. I'm itchy which means I probably have been touching my face. oops. We do this most nights and I'm positive I have not spend that last however many years forgetting I itch every night. I have a chiropractor appt on Thursday and wonder if that will help. My problem spot is the one related to allergies and this spot has me on pain meds to cope. I'm not much of a med taker either, so for me to take something, it means my essential oils, icing and messages are not cutting it. My chiro is 100 miles away, so I should have gone in already, but with kids in school, it takes a bit more planning to make a trip.

I forgot to bath him today, so I'm doing that now, plus I'm turning the air purifier up. 

Dechi, I hope your allergies stop bothering you soon!


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

Spunky said:


> Kiwi is 10 and Cheerio is 9 and this is the first time I have reacted to them. That I've noticed anyway. It did take me a few days to put it together, so it could have happened before and I just naturally stopped aggravating the dog allergies before it got too bad. Do you have other allergies? Do you find your dog allergies are worse when you have other allergy issues going on? It's ragweed season and I had a flare up a couple weeks ago and took meds for 3 or 4 day. August and Sept are usually my worst months. I have had 1 sinus infection in the last 7 years (use to be multiple times a year), so my "worst" really is not much more than a running nose and sinus pressure.
> 
> I have been sitting here slowly writing comments (and repeatedly putting kids back to bed) all while petting Cheerio. I'm itchy which means I probably have been touching my face. oops. We do this most nights and I'm positive I have not spend that last however many years forgetting I itch every night. I have a chiropractor appt on Thursday and wonder if that will help. My problem spot is the one related to allergies and this spot has me on pain meds to cope. I'm not much of a med taker either, so for me to take something, it means my essential oils, icing and messages are not cutting it. My chiro is 100 miles away, so I should have gone in already, but with kids in school, it takes a bit more planning to make a trip.
> 
> ...


Thank you ! I doubt my allergies will ever go away, I am too old... 

I'm allergic to dust, pollen and just about any living animal with hair or feathers. Seasonal allergies seem to be mostly a thing of the past, though. I used to take allergy meds, varying each year because they stopped working, and did it for about 20 years. Then I needed to take them for shorter and shorter periods, until I completely stopped.

So nowadays it's mostly dust and animals. Dust only makes me sneeze but animals give me asthma, itchy eyes, itchy skin and itchy lungs. The whole shebang !

I hope your allergies go away soon ! It would be really odd that you start being allergic to your dogs now !


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## PlayfulPup (Aug 8, 2012)

Dechi said:


> Thank you ! I doubt my allergies will ever go away, I am too old...
> 
> I'm allergic to dust, pollen and just about any living animal with hair or feathers. Seasonal allergies seem to be mostly a thing of the past, though. I used to take allergy meds, varying each year because they stopped working, and did it for about 20 years. Then I needed to take them for shorter and shorter periods, until I completely stopped.
> 
> ...


Even if they are not permanently gone, hopefully you get a reprieve! I have not checked our Victoria update yet, but I'm praying for a miracle. Itchy lungs just sounds awful. My itchy neck is minor. My skin gets red and raw easily, but I'm not rubbing it enough to cause that. I can't imagine what you deal with. 

I use to do a pill and a nasal spray. The spray really help. Every once in a while I would have to get a steroid shot. Ugg. I hate drugs. I probably should go do a saline rinse now though. 

Dust is (was?) a big one for me too. I had a pretty long list, mostly being outdoor things, but since allergies have lessened, I have not seen the point on going back to the allergist. Who knows what I am actually allergic to anymore. The only allergy that has gotten worse for me is onions. It use to give me headaches when I smelled it, but I thought everyone got headaches from onions. We never tested for it back then. Now it gives me migraines. I can eat cooked ones because I can't smell it, but when my mom had some onions growing in a planter inside the house, I got a _killer_ migraine. I'm not sure if it is an official allergy, but when I did my food sensitivity test, they thought it sounded more like an allergy since sensitivities happen in the digestive system, not through my nasal passages. Calling it an allergy makes people more careful about not serving them in an open dish around me, so I go with it. 

We got vinyl wood floors a few years ago and air purifiers in ever room of the house this spring, and my kids have hit the age where they actually allow me to clean, so we sweep, dust and vacuum with regularity. Besides ragweed season and my out of wack spine, I'm not sure what could be triggering the worse reaction. Cheerio is bathed, Kiwi will be tomorrow, and now that I have rambled on and on, I'm headed to bed.


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## CharismaticMillie (Jun 16, 2010)

Spunky said:


> I took the face off approach today. No snuggling. No itching.
> 
> Zyrtec is safe while pregnant and breastfeeding, but decongestants can lessen your milk supply. I'm more sensitive to it, so I only take it when I absolutely have to and then only a few days. Maybe I should say I was more sensitive to it. I might be fine staying on it currently because breastfeeding is going a 1000x better with this kid than my last 3. With the last 3 everything that could make my supply drop, did. I'm just a little over careful now.


Oh yeah...decongestants are bad period. Don't take those! Ha.

I totally know what you mean about ragweed season...it's worse than spring for me.


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