calliecritturs
Posted : 10/10/2010 10:45:38 PM
"Local" honey -- meaning **unfiltered** honey from an apiary near you. Raw honey contains minute amounts of pollen that stuck to the bees -- if you take 1/2 teas or so of honey a couple of times a day that minute amount of that "allergen" (that's why local is important -- it should be some of the very things you're allergic to in the air) -- that sugar-based honey zooms straight to the bloodstream with that pollen and literally nudges the immune system to send out it's own anti-histamine to 'deal' with the threat.
That said -- any over-the-counter antihistamine is FAR more effective taken on a daily basis. Because the point is to have the anti-histamine IN your body to deal with the allergens as they come in -- in honesty, even tho I do a lot of holistic and homeopathic things I *also* take Benedryl simply because my allergies are that bad. They trigger my asthma so one of the ways I keep the asthma at bay is to keep the allergies minimal. I only have to take it at night when I can't take anything else.
There are a couple of herbal allergy things but I've never used them. Homeopathy works better for me.
(psst, Gina -- homeopathics almost can't "expire" -- unless they were left open to the humidity, but anything sold as a medicinal traditionally has to have a "sell by" date here but they'd still be good LONG after)
Boiron makes Sabadil -- which is a blend (comes in blister packs) - health store item. works really darned well.
-Heel makes "Allergy" -- and that is probably THE most effective of all of them. Whole Foods generally carries -Heel products.
The pollen-in-honey thing is an example (and almost the only example I can think of) of a "naturally occurring" homeopathic. Homeopathy is a whole separate branch of alternative medicine -- it's not 'natural' and it's not 'herbal'. A homeopathic is simply a 'thing' that is diluted down almost to the point where it's not recognizable as that substance any more -- and it's put in either a sugar or alcohol base.
Sugar/alcohol make it get into the bloodstream faster. Usually they are taken under the tongue so they absorb directly into the bloodstream. But it merely nudges your body to "respond" to that thing. It's a bit similar to how a vaccine causes a reaction in the body except it's less dangerous (far less potent material and it only uses sugar or alcohol for delivery to the body)
The one drawback to homeopathy is it doesn't last a long time in the body -- there's no 'time release' -- you typically have to take a homeopathic every 4 hours or so.
Done by an expert and administered properly homeopathy can actually *cure* certain things that regular medicine can't. for example -- 6 years ago I was so asthmatic that I was taking 3-4 breathing treatments A DAY -- plus a ton of inhalers and being on steroids most of the time just to exist. The side effects were nearly killing me.
I got desperate and started looking at homeopathy to help deal with the side effects to the steroids and I fell into something that actually has elminated the asthma almost totally. I have the occasional mild attack -- RARELY (maybe twice a year??) usually early in the morning (yeah after breathing with my mouth open all night!). But the effectiveness of it is amazing.
A couple of years ago I found a really good homeopath who also does acupuncture (occasionally Amanda and I both will talk about homotoxicology which we've had done for the dogs and that's what it is) and he has virtually wiped out my asthjma -- it's amazing. It doesn't just control the symptoms -- I just plain don't HAVE such severe asthma any more.
The best part about homeopathy is it is FAST. If I breathe in something that triggers a sneezing attach, when I put an "Allergy" tab under my tongue it will literally stop me mid-sneeze attack and STOP it.