Anyone else having allergies drag you down lately?
I could barely swim this morning and my lunch time run was a real fight to maintain an easy pace.
To fight through it, what do you suggest? Some sugar before the workout? Allergy meds? Caffeine?
Yep - but not as bad as a few weeks ago - Allergy meds and caffeine to offset the sluggishness from the meds - lots of water.
What kind of allergies we talkin’ here?
Whatever is in the air in the northeast. Thick phlegm, nose running, ears clogged, eyes half shut, sneezing.
I almost drowned swimming today as I gasped for air whenever I went to breath. When I would breath out under water I would have a slight asthma weeze and then when I went to take the breath I would choke on a phlegm ball in the throat.
The run consisted of a higher cadence of snot rockets than foot strikes. I couldn’t tell if my shirt was soaked from sweat or snot. I’m guessing snot because it did have a nice glazed-donut look to it in the light.
Right, gotcha. Slightly different scenario for me…it’s a year round thing.
As a typical sporty kid growing up in rural NZ I never suffered from hayfever until it hit me pretty good in my mid-teens…same symptoms as you describe any time I ventured outdoors (phlegm, nose, eyes, sneezing). Over the counter meds did the trick then.
Fast forward 10 years as an adult spending a significant amount of time training outside in the last 6, oddly I was fine going without for years 1-3, then in the last 3 or so years my skin started getting terrible rashes any time I exercised (even swimming). No issues with sneezing, breathing or itchy eyes thankfully…just heat rashes under clothing & bad reactions to whatever’s floating around and landing on exposed skin. Now I’m on two prescription meds daily (one a.m, one p.m (pre-exercise)) which help suppress it, although still a bit of an inconvenience…
They have been brutal here in CT the past few weeks. Try taking 3 to 4 packets of Emergen-C, especially right before you train. Stay hydrated, and take some mucinex as well to keep that phlegm flowing and so that your allergies don’t turn into something worse. Also what helps, but also sucks, is training indoors every other day.
Mucinex, right, forgot about that. I think I’ll try that first at bedtime, always makes me tired.
I am exhausted right now from sneezing all day. I feel your pain!!!
use a neti pot/saline rinse. cleans the allergens out of the sinuses/nose. couple times a day until it all settles down then daily until allergy season is over, and then when ever you get a tingle/sneeze
Honestly, quercetin has changed my life. I’ve suffered horribly every fall and spring, and have done EVERYTHING to fight it (Claritin, Zyrtek, Allegra, Neti pot, showering as soon as I come in the house to remove pollen). All the things I list above have helped, but I was still feeling like I’d been run over by a bus. Then I tried quercetin (can buy at Whole Foods) about a month ago.
It’s been amazing. Quercetin twice a day plus my Allegra at night, and allergies are a complete non-issue.
I really recommend giving it a try. I don’t believe there are any studies supporting its use, but it’s not that expensive, and it’s not risky. It’s really worth a shot if you’re desperate.
Thanks Eric, good advice. Need to keep working to keep up with your boy Gus for 2012!