Spring & Summer Allergy Attack Season

It’s that time of year again, the spring and summer allergy sufferer’s season. A time when people start their day with an allergy pill to ward off the sniffling and sneezing that comes with the increased pollen from trees, weeds, and grasses. And you’re probably aware that little pill contains something called an antihistamine. But are you aware that antihistamines are diuretics?  Diuretics are compounds/drugs that cause the body to eliminate excess fluid from the body.  And when you add that on top of coffee, dark or green tea, and many sodas that also contain caffeine, which is also a diuretic, you can see where your body might have a hard time retaining enough fluid to maintain a healthy balance through the day.

      And there are some side effects that you need to be aware of while taking an antihistamine. If you also have dry skin, like I do, taking an allergy medication will most likely increase the itching and flaking of your dry skin. Your skin needs fluid to maintain its normal daily function as one of your organs. Another symptom that antihistamine/diuretic use can make much worse, is dry eye syndrome. If your body doesn’t have enough fluid your tear ducts may not be able to produce enough tears to keep your eyes moist during hot summer days. And swimming in chlorinated water can make that much worse as well. I used to hate the feeling of having something in my eyes like an eyelash that caused me to rub them all day long. That’s how it feels when your eyes aren’t producing enough tears.

     Don’t suffer through allergy season if you don’t have to. Drink plenty of fluids that don’t contain caffeine if you want to maintain a healthy balance of bodily fluids throughout these spring and summer days. And this hopefully should make allergy season just a little more tolerable.

Bill Walker Publisher

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