Thursday, November 29, 2012

Allergy Relief

I have never had trouble with allergies, but my husband sure has. For his whole life (at least the adult part of it) he has suffered with allergies. Just like clockwork, every December he would have an allergy attack, which led to a sinus infection, which led to strep throat or bronchitis. After a dose of antibiotic, he would feel better, but continued with a lot of sneezing and drainage through the winter. As the years went by, the symptoms got worse, until he would need several dozes of antibiotics during the winter.
Three years ago, he was sick all winter with allergies and bronchitis, went through multiple antibiotics, and developed asthma. So, on top of the coughing, gagging, spitting, and sneezing, he was now wheezing! The following year was even worse. Last year was not as bad, but this October, the cycle started again, with allergies and a sinus infection, which required two rounds of antibiotics to clear up. After a week of feeling better, he began to develop another infection.
This time, he searched the Internet for allergies which cause of chronic bronchitis. He was surprised to find that many of the allergens which cause his symptoms are not airborne, but are foods. The most common food allergies that cause respiratory reactions are sugar, dairy products, wheat, and yeast.
 So, beginning on November 1, he stopped consuming those products. Within three days he was clear of allergy symptoms. It has been amazing; no coughing, gagging, spitting, sneezing, or wheezing.
Today is Nov 29, and he has had a month of health, during the season that he normally suffers the most. He has not eaten any of the foods, except an occasional cheat. We have discovered that the main culprit is sugar. At one meal, he ate a salad X and was surprised by an immediate episode. I realized that he had used a Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing which had a lot of sugar. But, today, he had a catfish sandwich, the first yeast bread he has had all month, and he had  no problems. So, it seems that sugar is more of a problem than yeast.
We are so excited to find out this "secret" and wanted to share. Maybe someone else with allergies could get some help.
A little side effect is that his eczema has improved, and he has lost 12 pounds.

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