Mmm, pollen. It's that time, y'all. Allergies are Satan's spawn in many forms - itchy/runny nose, itchy/watery eyes, lethargy, inability to breathe, headaches, and sore throat. Basically, the feeling of death by pollen. Many people resort to sharing their horrible symptoms on social media this time of year in hopes that others will comment about how they can't breathe either because hey, misery loves company.
I don't have allergies right now, but don't worry, I'll have my time from January through March during Cedar Season. It's the "fifth season" in the Hill Country of Texas. It is brutal, and I promise the allergy medicine industry is banking because so many of us have the "maybe if I take two a day when it calls for one, then THAT will help" mentality. So. Much. Medicine.
Do you know what's in that medicine? Heavy drugs like pseudoephedrine that require you to sign your initials on a dotted line swearing that you won't make meth with it because it is that potent. Pseudoephedrine is the decongestant in products like Claritin D, and it shrinks the blood vessels in the nasal passage; thus lessening the nasal congestion and allowing you to breathe. It's so glorious when you feel that relief! It's probably important to understand your blood vessels get inflamed and swell for a very good reason - it's your body's natural defense when the pollen gets all up in the hizzy, and those vessels "swell" to block the pollen from invading your body. When you do breathe in all the pollen, your body sees it as a foreign disease, and it creates histamines (which has is an inflammatory response) in order to fight off the invaders. Now you get to go buy more drugs called ANTIhistamines to negate your body's freak-out session, hoping to somehow feel better in all this madness!!
More drugs = More side effects. For the cedar allergies, I definitely need a drug with a decongestant, but in the past, I could never take those continuously because they made me insane!! Literally. I felt like I was high (insert shocked face...I WAS high). I hated the way I was experiencing being jittery, sometimes had hot flashes, dizziness, and a faster heart rate than normal. For me, this was not ideal. I am enough of a crazy pants on my own, thank you, I do not need drugs on a daily basis to help with that. However, if someone has something for these allergy symptoms that's NOT going to make me question whether or not I should be admitted, that would be great. Mmkay thanks.
Luckily, I found something!!
I stumbled upon the essential oil trio of lemon, lavender, and peppermint a couple of years ago, and it is my saving grace during cedar season!! I diffuse it and ingest it. (I ONLY ingest oils if I am using Young Living because I know it is 100% therapeutic grade. I would not take oils internally with other brands unless you know for sure the company encourages you to do so. I only know of a couple of other companies that fall under that category, so do your research if you are going to use other oils other than Young Living. Not all oils are created equal.)