Major allergy problems, no insurance

[Priest Beast]

What the fuck! I woke up last week thinking I had the flu. The fever went away and so did the joint pain, but the congestion was still there. What can be done about this? Can you get shots that will make this go away? How much does that shit cost?

I first arrived in late 2008. I had 3 weeks of minor allergies in March 2009.

I came back again March 2010, left after a month. It was horrible.

I arrived here again November 2010, and a week ago it kicked in, just as bad as last year.

Someone help! I wanna stay here!

[WyldemanATX]

Take quercetin.

[mastermind238]

Generic Allegra (fexofenadine). Best thing I've found. You need a script, but it's cheap.

[theaustinescorts]

It amazes me how people today are convinced that medical insurance is somehow a necessity of life.

When I was a kid in the 1970s my father worked for Fortune 500 companies, and we never had anything but hospitalization coverage as a benefit.

Health insurance which covers office visits, prescriptions, out-patient services, etc., is something that's only been around since the early 1980s, and it's been a disaster for this country.

It permits people and their doctors to choose all kinds of unnecessary though cool procedures such as "routine screenings" for this or that, and a host of unnecessary procedures which have bankrupted the states and federal government because of unaffordable medicare and medicaid expenses.

Private health insurance is extremely expensive, and is the major reason why US manufacturers and other employers cannot compete with the Japanese, Koreans, or even western Europeans.

I don't have any health insurance. I save a tremendous amount by not having it. Even when I had a cancer scare in 2006 I paid for my modest treatment costs out of my own pocket, and I saved a fortune. Because I was paying myself I was much more careful about what procedures I agreed to, and this steered me towards better treatment choices for my particular condition.

I know I'm taking a chance by living this way, and I'm relying on staying lucky, but so far it's worked. And this is a choice most people used to commonly make, and it benefited the whole country. It also disciplines me into trying to avoid chronic conditions by watching my weight, etc., which health-insured people tend to be insensitive to.

I think it can be a good thing when people have to worry about how they're going to pay for their medical bills if they should get really sick - it tends to make them take care of themselves better.

[GneissGuy]

The traditional allergy shots take months to do anything. Then you need to take them for years. If they work, they are the best treatment and may be a permanent cure. If you do get the shots, be sure your allergist will allow you to give yourself shots away from the office after the first few times rather than being ripped off and wasting time to come to the office once a week or every couple of weeks. After a few years, you may be able to get by without the shots.

You'll need to go in and get a test to see what you're allergic to. They'll stick you with a bunch of needles with various items and see what you react to by developing a bump on the skin. Not fun, but it sounds worse than it is.

It's somewhat expensive at the start, but as you build up a tolerance, you take fewer and fewer shots. The first visit with all the tests is the most expensive. Mine was probably $1500 and a little under $1000 for the following years, but that was a while back. Call and ask.

There are some newer kind of shots that take fewer shots.

Zyrtec is "real" allergy medicine available without a prescription. Astelin or some of the other prescription nasal sprays can help a lot. They are longer term relief, not a "quick squirt, quick relief" spray.

The over the counter nasal sprays tend to provide relief but irritate the lining of your nose. If you use them for long, you'll get some quick relief, but then you'll be worse than before when the spray wears off. They are sort of addictive.

"Sinus Rinse" is a miracle cure for some people. You fill a special squeeze bottle with warm water, add a packet of salt water, and squirt water up one nostril and let it run out the other. It washes out the pollen and stuff, and softens up the goo to help it come out. You can figure out how to make your own mix with the right kind of salt plus baking soda. Find sinus rinse at your local Walgreens or Walmart. You can do basically the same thing with what they call a "neti pot." It's cheap, so if it doesn't help you, you're not out a lot of cash.

DO NOT use anything that is "homeopathic." Homeopathic is pure quackery. You dilute the active ingredients until they're so dilute that the only effect is by some sort of "magic water" nonsence. Some very famous quack medicines are sold at your local national chain drug stores right next to the real medicine and you won't realize it's quack medicine unless you read the label and find "homeopathic" on the label. Unfortunately, US law allows homeopathic remedies to be sold as real medicine and unscrupulous drug stores sell them right next to real medicine.

Do not confuse homeopathic with "holistic" or natural. They are entirely different concepts. Lots of "real" medicines originally came from "natural" sources. Of course, a lot of ineffective or actually dangerous treatments come from natural sources, too.

[NewWave]

Originally Posted by theaustinescorts

I don't have any health insurance. I save a tremendous amount by not having it. Even when I had a cancer scare in 2006 I paid for my modest treatment costs out of my own pocket, and I saved a fortune. Because I was paying myself I was much more careful about what procedures I agreed to, and this steered me towards better treatment choices for my particular condition.

just wondering, but would you be able to afford chemo or all the other expensive cancer tests with a modest budget?

this is a topic I find really interesting, but know so little about. I'm trying to figure out the best course of action for myself. I wouldn't mind going without insurance as I'm not a total slob, also because I've been dicked over by my crappy primary physician many a times so I'm always looking for the best direction.

So curious how one affords it on their own. Also you mention Germany, Japan, etc...but don't they have socialized healthcare? I'm pretty sure Germany does at least.

[phaedrus]

It might not be allergies. There's a very contagious bug running around my workplace with exactly those symptoms. Clears up in about 4 or 5 days for most of them. Symptoms are very like allergies... at first a sore throat and feel shitty, then coughing sneezing and congestion.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by GneissGuy

Zyrtec is "real" allergy medicine available without a prescription.

Yes, Zyrtec is real. So is Claritin. Both are a couple of generations old, meaning mostly that they still cause extreme drowsiness in many users. But they are over the counter. Xyzal is chemically identical to Zyrtec (it's one of the enantiomers), is still prescription only, and works exactly the same way as Zyrtec, meaning that it will make you just as drowsy and won't work any better on your allergy symptoms. You just use half as much.

Before anyone contemplates starting an expensive shot regimen, they should ask their primary care physician for a prescription for generic Allegra (fexofenadine). I tried all the OTC stuff, as well as Xyzal, and still suffered for years until I finally tried fexofenadine. For me it produced ABSOLUTELY NO DROWSINESS, AND COMPLETE RELIEF FROM CEDAR FEVER. I would guess that 99.999% of the population can take it safely, so there's almost nothing to lose. A 30 day supply will cost about $18 (from Sam's club, maybe a little more at Walgreen's). If the only better alternative is a $1500 shot regimen, why not try the cheap pill first?

[GneissGuy]

Originally Posted by mastermind238

Yes, Zyrtec is real. So is Claritin. Both are a couple of generations old, meaning mostly that they still cause extreme drowsiness in many users. But they are over the counter. Xyzal is chemically identical to Zyrtec (it's one of the enantiomers), is still prescription only, and works exactly the same way as Zyrtec, meaning that it will make you just as drowsy and won't work any better on your allergy symptoms. You just use half as much.

Old doesn't necessarily mean ineffective. New is not necessarily better. I think the newer drugs are often suggested only because they're newer and more profitable for the drug companies and doctors because of generics and OTC availability.

I think everyone should try various things out and see how it works for you. Especially try out all the cheap and relatively safe options. The side effects and effectiveness of each treatment varies from person to person.

In particular, if the doctor gives you the "latest and greatest" drug and it doesn't work well, don't be shy about pushing him to let you try all the older and cheaper drugs. They've been brainwashed to keep trying newer and more expensive drugs.

Originally Posted by mastermind238

If the only better alternative is a $1500 shot regimen, why not try the cheap pill first?

I assume no one would contemplate shots unless they tried the drugs first and were unsatisfied. People don't like shots. I hope no allergist will prescribe shots without trying oral drugs first.

Shots do have the advantage that you shouldn't have the side effects of the drugs. Remember that the OTC or prescription drugs are messing with your body, in particular with your immune system.

If you go and get the allergy tests done, you may find that you're allergic to some particular thing and you can eliminate that item from your environment and not have to take shorts or oral medications.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by GneissGuy

Old doesn't necessarily mean ineffective. New is not necessarily better. I think the newer drugs are often suggested only because they're newer and more profitable for the drug companies and doctors because of generics and OTC availability.

In some cases that's true. For example, there's no reason for Xyzal to be on the market other than to extend the patent on the parent drug, Zyrtec, that is now OTC. But in the world of antihistamines the sedative effects of the older drugs are well-known and affect almost everyone the same way. Allegra (fexofenadine) does not fall in this category. It is demonstrably better than the older drugs, and since the generic is about as cheap (or cheaper) than OTC brand-name Zyrtec, the argument that the drug companies are pushing it because it's more profitable than "older drugs" just doesn't hold water in this case.

Originally Posted by GneissGuy

If you go and get the allergy tests done, you may find that you're allergic to some particular thing and you can eliminate that item from your environment and not have to take shorts or oral medications.

Good advice, but chances are - based on the symptoms - that it's just good old cedar fever. The allergy testing you advocate isn't cheap and the guy has no insurance, remember? And what if the thing he's allergic to CAN'T be eliminated from his environment? He'll have to take an antihistamine anyway. If a bottle of cheap generic Allegra clears him up, it still seems like the best option to try first.

[shelby]

Zyrtec works best for me! Hope you feel better soon.

[GneissGuy]

Originally Posted by mastermind238

If a bottle of cheap generic Allegra clears him up, it still seems like the best option to try first.

I've already said several times to try everything, staring with the safe, cheap and easy options. If Allegra gives the best results, he should use it.

Don't forget that part of the original question was

Originally Posted by Priest Beast

Can you get shots that will make this go away? How much does that shit cost?

Originally Posted by mastermind238

Good advice, but chances are - based on the symptoms - that it's just good old cedar fever.

Amazing that you can diagnose the allergen involved from a 7 line post on the internet.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by GneissGuy

Amazing that you can diagnose the allergen involved from a 7 line post on the internet.

Most physicians would diagnose it just exactly the way I did - by considering the symptoms, the timing of their onset, and the knowledge of the most common seasonal allergens around. If the symptoms are described in a 7 line post, so be it. No decent physician I know would send somebody for shots, or even an expensive allergy panel, before trying the most effective, least harmful, and cheapest thing first. When you hear hoof beats, think horses - not zebras.

No need to be a rat's ass about somebody maybe a little more qualified than you offering advice. I get that you're skeptical of modern pharmaceutical technology. For you I would prescribe a neti pot and some very hungry leeches.

[WyldemanATX]

What I suggested is a all natural vitamin and will get rid of cedar fever within a couple days. You can do some research on quercetin it is a natural cure for allergies I prefer that as apposed to man made drugs. 18 bucks for a big bottle.

[mastermind238]

Originally Posted by Wyldeman30

... I prefer that as apposed to man made drugs.

Opposed to man-made drugs, eh? So the next time you get a headache are you going to chew come willow tree bark instead of pop an aspirin? I wouldn't doubt there's a place in Austin that sells willow bark. Maybe even eye of newt.

OK, I've had my fun. Now seriously, the antihistamine effects of quercetin are hardly remarkable. (And it's not a "vitamin." You can call it many things - supplement, additive, etc, - but not vitamin) If it works for you, great. But you can't get enough from natural intake of quercetin-containing foods to make a therapeutic dose. To get enough for a therapeutic dose you have to isolate and concentrate it from natural sources, which takes a great deal of chemical processing, and would seem to defeat your goal of getting "back-to-nature."

We don't chew willow bark anymore. We extract the active ingredient - salicylic acid - acylate it to make it less bitter and more bioavailable, and sell it as aspirin. Actually, we don't even extract natural salicylic acid anymore. We synthesize it. Otherwise we'd run out of willow trees pretty fast.