Allergies

[boxcarguy07]

I'm extremely allergic to cats.

And my parents have four of them.
I went home for thanksgiving break hoping that my allergies would have diminished since going raw paleo, but that was not the case.
I was constantly sneezing, stuffy and runny-nosed, foggy-headed, miserable. My sneezes were so violent that by the second day, whenever I would sneeze the muscles in my neck, back, and arms would be in extreme pain.

So are allergies not due to a poor diet? At least some of them, like my cat allergies?
I really wish I could go home and enjoy time with my family without being absolutely miserable the whole time I'm home.

Drinking a concoction of water, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and cayenne pepper worked for a couple months. It was miraculous actually, I had no allergy symptoms whatsoever. However this became ineffective over time.

Any ideas about what could get rid of my allergies, or even just my symptoms (naturally of course)?

[boxcarguy07]

I think that the natural solution would be "Don't live around cats!"
but despite my pleas, my parents won't give them up. I can't really expect them to, although I do think it is a bit cruel to get cats when you know someone in your family is allergic to them (actually my sister and father are allergic as well, but they keep a constant supply of OTC allergy meds which I won't touch, and my mom is so prescriptioned-up who knows what she's allergic to).

[wodgina]

I'm allergic to cats aswell but thankfully have my own place so do what I want. I prefer dogs and seem more paleo to me at least they can help you hunt. I would get one if I lived on a farm or something.

I find most pet owners don't even look after their animals, a mate of mine was going to move back home overseas to New Zealand, it would cost $600 to fly and put his cat through quarantine so he decided to get the cat 'put down instead' 

[TylerDurden]

I'm allergic to cats aswell but thankfully have my own place so do what I want. I prefer dogs and seem more paleo to me at least they can help you hunt. I would get one if I lived on a farm or something.

I find most pet owners don't even look after their animals, a mate of mine was going to move back home overseas to New Zealand, it would cost $600 to fly and put his cat through quarantine so he decided to get the cat 'put down instead' 

Yes, I know. Humans can be really cruel. My garden in Italy used to be a dumping-ground for families which wanted to get rid of their pets due to a forthcoming vacation, so we'd get all sorts of mongrels and kittens being thrown over the fence. Terrible stuff.

[Michael]

Wow, that's really harsh Andrew!  I'm no big animal fan but such cruelty and lack of regard for animals is beyond words!  Actually, that's a lie.  I am a big animal fan.  I'm just not a big fan of pets and animals in the home.  I don't think it's natural or good for them or us to be honest (although of course I recognise this is not always the case).

Anyway, the reason I was replying..... Keith, I'm not sure if it's something you can get in the States but there are various products you may want to try.  One, in particular, is a herbal formula available in the UK (see this link ...) which can be rubbed into the animal perhaps once per week.  It supposedly coats/removes the rogue allergen (it's not the actual hair that causes the problem) as well as conditioning the skin/fur to produce less of the allergens.  It causes no harm to the animal as it's totally non-toxic. In fact, it actually does it good!!  If you could get your parents to use it regularly and consistently I'm sure it'd solve your problem.  The hard part may be getting them to commit to the idea!!

Of course, there will be a period of change-over as their house will be covered in allergens and will need thorough cleaning. My daughter is allergic to our cat and the formula works a treat.  Other obvious aids are things like a high-quality allergen vacuum cleaners such as the 'Miele Cat & Dog' - especially in the initial clean-up.

Hope that helps!

[Michael]

Whoops!  Forgot the link!     Try this.... http://www.healthy-house.co.uk/products/petalcleanse.php

[Guittarman03]

This would be a total shot in the dark, and honestly doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but couldn't hurt either:  Try eating some bee pollen and a little raw honey every day.  Yeah I know that it seems it should only help with pollen based allergies, but the stuff is pretty amazing, and you never know that maybe it could work. 

Haha, one time I decided I would eat 4-8 ounces of the stuff every day and maybe do that for a week or so.  Yeah, don't do that...  I didn't get past the first 4 ounces.  But a small spoonful a day won't hurt. 

[goodsamaritan]

I think animals should stay outside of the house.

Have you tried liver flushes?

[mel]

Cumin can reduce allergies. Good bacteria and lemons as well. This Subliminal Blaster program could help too since for some reason allergies are helped by hypnosis and subliminal messages. Adrenal could help too but it should be sporadically ingested so your body doesn't reduce making it's own adrenal hormones as a response.

[dizzybee6]

I'm new to paleo  eating (and still transitioning)  I have used  a high quality probiotic (it's the nutrilite intestiflora... i would take it 3 times a day for 4 weeks andthen my allergies were gone. Now i just have to maintain it i guess)  I really needed a jumpstart I was coming off a lot of medications for asthma and allergies and etc etc.. I eat honey every day. I think it's great to take a big spoonful in mineral water (just stir it in). It's ike an italian soda (even my kids will eat drink it)  I also got a great vacume cleaner. Your parents can use an organic cat shampoo and it will help. it's not usually the hair people are allergic to it is actually the sweat and some dander that cause a problem.  It is usually an environmental combination (i understand traveling places with pets) I use to get asthma attacks and seize up along with sneezing fits that left me aching (like your whiplast sneezes). Talk to your mom too about her laundry soap. the cat and other influences all make it worse.  So honey is what I use, and then I try and take care of the environmental issues like making sure the cats are washed regularly and the places you put your face and where you sit and lounge at your parents it clean   

[SuperInfinity]

I'm leaning towards allergies not having much to do with diet. 

I still break-out bad at times. Maybe my skin is a little better. I still have super, super high IgE levels (I got the highest clinical record of IgE twice). I am still not able to breathe properly at times.

HOWEVER.... my breathing was so bad I nearly died when I was on SAD and while it can get bad sometimes this way, it never gets anything like that bad. It has NEVER bugged me too much like this, although it didn't when I had poor diet for a while as well. *shrugs* In fact it's part of the reason I didn't bother coming off my poor diet for so long, I figured why should I when the raw diet didn't help that clearly. 

I have no idea what's causing it or helping it really. But let me tell you something important: Health has definitely NOT got everything to do with diet. It may have an awful lot to do with it, but not everything. It would be a HUGE mistake to not do enough exercise, not get sufficient sleep etc.

I'm even getting it now a bit. I don't really know what to do. Nothing I do seems to change anything. I also have significant eosinophilia and used to have a hiatus hernia and weird damage in my lung (but not TB or anything like that). The latter two could be gone now because of my diet.