RE: Dr Kittley ...changed to allergies

[Guest guest]

I understand about being torn between which doctor to see because of the distance involved in traveling to Lubbock. It is about a 6 hour drive for me. As others have stated, I was just so "sick and tired" and so sick and tired of being sick and tired that I had to do whatever it took to go a Dr with a proven track record, even if it meant putting it all on a credit card. The other thing that made me a bit tricky to treat is that my labs are VERY normal even though I was very symptomatic. I don't regret the choice for a second. I'll post in a separate post about my last follow-up visit that I had on Friday.

I found that Benadryl made me too drowsy too function. If you look at the ingredient of most over the counter sleep aides, the active ingredient is the generic of Benadryl. I have found from talking with pharmacists and such that people react very differently to antihistamines. I took a long acting antihistamine that the doctor that I worked for insisted that it would not make me drowsy. Well it did and it took about 24 hours to get it out of my system. So when I try a new one, I always try the four hour version. The one I am currently taking is "Clemastine Fumarate" in the 12 hour form. It is the generic of Tavist. I think there is also a Tavist-D that has a decongestant component. I don't like being dried out from the decongestants. I found the cheapest way to get it, is by having my pharmacy order a bottle of 100. Wal-Mart also has a package of about 15 which is fairly reasonable.

For a while I was taking Chlortrimeton without making me drowsy. I tried it again recently and it seemed too strong.

Another product that I have tried when it was in prescription form that helped a ton was "guaifenesin". It is now OTC sold as Mucinex. If you drink lots of fluids, it thins out the secretions so you can rid yourself of the pressure/pain.

For years I was on a steroid nose spray by prescription. It provided great relief. The one I took is no longer available.

A few things that have REALLY helped my allergies:

1. Washing my bedding in HOT water...good idea once a week.

2. Sleeping with the windows closed. The air conditioning bill is higher but sleeping with the windows open really did make me sick.

3. Taking a 12 hour antihistamine twice a day. I read that you can get better control of the allergic reaction if you keep it in check instead of trying to deal with a major full blown reaction.

4. Using the a/c in the car instead of having the windows down. Also keeping the air on recycle instead of the setting that brings the air in from outside. This really helped me a lot. I was having a major flare up every morning when I got to work. One of my doctors pointed out that I had been flying down the freeway with everything I'm allergic to coming at me in the air at 60+ mph.

5. If I am having sinus headaches, doing a sinus rinse with warm water and a sinus rinse product or a saline solution with a baby bulb syringe provides so much relief! I fought this one big time...it just sounded awful!! It is really not that big of a deal and it provides so much relief!

I took allergy shots when I was a teen. I really don't know how helpful they were...too long ago and I have had so many other health issues...in retrospect probably related to having undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I have avoided seeing an allergist because I am not willing to commit to allergy injections at this season of my life. I have chosen to work with either an ENT or my family doctor and the pharmacist instead and have managed quite well.

During the past few years, my allergies have lessened due to relocating from Southern California to Texas. I hope now that I have finally been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and started treatment that a lot of the allergies will resolve or at least lessen.

I hope this helps!

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone outstanding health!

Kim in Aubrey

From: Texas_Thyroid_Groups [mailto:Texas_Thyroid_Groups ] On Behalf Of Delana KSent: Monday, January 01, 2007 10:41 AMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: RE: Dr. Kittley

Thanks for the reply everyone. I am still torn as to which doctor to go see. I am closer to Dr. Kittley. I have done a search on her online and see has a very interesting website. I would like to know someone that has actual experience with her. So, Kim, you said that the claritin doesn't work very well. What do you take then, or is that what you take? Just curious. I usually have to take a psuedoephidrine to open me up and an allery pill benadryl, to help. I agree about the medicine. I think I need something to help with my meds such as cytomel. If that doesn't work then I may try the armour. Delana

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim. Thanks for the info. I pretty much do everything on the list with the exception of I have not tried the sinus rinse. That may have to be next on my list. I have a feeling my labs will come back normal also, even though I feel bad. Mainly no energy. I can put up with the sinus issues, as I have had them all my life. It is just like you said, I am sick and tired of being tired. I am just nervous about changing meds because of the adjustment period. I currently take meds for my social anxiety and they already tend to make me tired. Like I said I may just give Dr. Kittley a try and see what she thinks. If not, then I will move on until I find a doc that treats properly. DelanaKim Hanson wrote: I understand about being torn between which doctor to see because of the distance involved in traveling to Lubbock. It is about a 6 hour drive for me. As others have stated, I was just so "sick and tired" and so sick and tired of being sick and tired that I had to do whatever it took to go a Dr with a proven track record, even if it meant putting it all on a credit card. The other thing that made me a bit tricky to treat is that my labs are VERY normal even though I was very symptomatic. I don't regret the choice for a second. I'll post in a separate post about my last follow-up visit that I had on Friday. I found that Benadryl made me too drowsy too function. If you look at the ingredient of most over the counter sleep aides, the active ingredient is the generic of Benadryl. I have found from talking with pharmacists and such that people react very differently to antihistamines. I took a long acting antihistamine that the doctor that I worked for insisted that it would not make me drowsy. Well it did and it took about 24 hours to get it out of my system. So when I try a new one, I always try the four hour version. The one I am currently taking is "Clemastine Fumarate" in the 12 hour form. It is the generic of Tavist. I think there is also a Tavist-D that has a decongestant component. I don't like being dried out from the decongestants. I found the cheapest way to get it, is by having my pharmacy order a bottle of 100. Wal-Mart also

has a package of about 15 which is fairly reasonable. For a while I was taking Chlortrimeton without making me drowsy. I tried it again recently and it seemed too strong. Another product that I have tried when it was in prescription form that helped a ton was "guaifenesin". It is now OTC sold as Mucinex. If you drink lots of fluids, it thins out the secretions so you can rid yourself of the pressure/pain. For years I was on a steroid nose spray by prescription. It provided great relief. The one I took is no longer available. A few things that have REALLY helped my allergies: 1. Washing my bedding in HOT water...good idea once a week. 2. Sleeping with the windows closed. The air conditioning bill is higher but sleeping with the windows open really did make me sick. 3. Taking a 12 hour antihistamine twice a day. I read that you can get better control of the allergic reaction if you keep it in check instead of trying to deal with a major full blown reaction. 4. Using the a/c in the car instead of having the windows down. Also keeping the air on recycle instead of the setting that brings the air in from outside. This really helped me a lot. I was having a major flare up every morning when I got to work. One of my doctors pointed out that I had been flying down the freeway with everything I'm allergic to coming at me in the air at 60+ mph. 5. If I am having sinus headaches, doing a sinus rinse with warm water and a sinus rinse product or a saline solution with a baby bulb syringe provides so much relief! I fought this one big time...it just sounded

awful!! It is really not that big of a deal and it provides so much relief! I took allergy shots when I was a teen. I really don't know how helpful they were...too long ago and I have had so many other health issues...in retrospect probably related to having undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I have avoided seeing an allergist because I am not willing to commit to allergy injections at this season of my life. I have chosen to work with either an ENT or my family doctor and the pharmacist instead and have managed quite well. During the past few years, my allergies have lessened due to relocating from Southern California to Texas. I hope now that I have finally been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and started treatment that a lot of the allergies will resolve or at least lessen. I hope this helps! Happy New Year! Wishing everyone outstanding health! Kim in Aubrey __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

If you are benefiting from the social anxiety medication, I don't think Dr R. would suggest that you go off of them without a very good reason. At least that seems to be the experience of those that have posted on this board.

Obviously every person/case is different.

Kim

From: Texas_Thyroid_Groups [mailto:Texas_Thyroid_Groups ] On Behalf Of Delana KSent: Monday, January 01, 2007 12:30 PMTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Subject: RE: Dr Kittley ...changed to allergies

Hi Kim. Thanks for the info. I pretty much do everything on the list with the exception of I have not tried the sinus rinse. That may have to be next on my list. I have a feeling my labs will come back normal also, even though I feel bad. Mainly no energy. I can put up with the sinus issues, as I have had them all my life. It is just like you said, I am sick and tired of being tired. I am just nervous about changing meds because of the adjustment period. I currently take meds for my social anxiety and they already tend to make me tired. Like I said I may just give Dr. Kittley a try and see what she thinks. If not, then I will move on until I find a doc that treats properly. DelanaKim Hanson wrote:

I understand about being torn between which doctor to see because of the distance involved in traveling to Lubbock. It is about a 6 hour drive for me. As others have stated, I was just so "sick and tired" and so sick and tired of being sick and tired that I had to do whatever it took to go a Dr with a proven track record, even if it meant putting it all on a credit card. The other thing that made me a bit tricky to treat is that my labs are VERY normal even though I was very symptomatic. I don't regret the choice for a second. I'll post in a separate post about my last follow-up visit that I had on Friday.

I found that Benadryl made me too drowsy too function. If you look at the ingredient of most over the counter sleep aides, the active ingredient is the generic of Benadryl. I have found from talking with pharmacists and such that people react very differently to antihistamines. I took a long acting antihistamine that the doctor that I worked for insisted that it would not make me drowsy. Well it did and it took about 24 hours to get it out of my system. So when I try a new one, I always try the four hour version. The one I am currently taking is "Clemastine Fumarate" in the 12 hour form. It is the generic of Tavist. I think there is also a Tavist-D that has a decongestant component. I don't like being dried out from the decongestants. I found the cheapest way to get it, is by having my pharmacy order a bottle of 100. Wal-Mart also has a package of about 15 which is fairly reasonable.

For a while I was taking Chlortrimeton without making me drowsy. I tried it again recently and it seemed too strong.

Another product that I have tried when it was in prescription form that helped a ton was "guaifenesin". It is now OTC sold as Mucinex. If you drink lots of fluids, it thins out the secretions so you can rid yourself of the pressure/pain.

For years I was on a steroid nose spray by prescription. It provided great relief. The one I took is no longer available.

A few things that have REALLY helped my allergies:

1. Washing my bedding in HOT water...good idea once a week.

2. Sleeping with the windows closed. The air conditioning bill is higher but sleeping with the windows open really did make me sick.

3. Taking a 12 hour antihistamine twice a day. I read that you can get better control of the allergic reaction if you keep it in check instead of trying to deal with a major full blown reaction.

4. Using the a/c in the car instead of having the windows down. Also keeping the air on recycle instead of the setting that brings the air in from outside. This really helped me a lot. I was having a major flare up every morning when I got to work. One of my doctors pointed out that I had been flying down the freeway with everything I'm allergic to coming at me in the air at 60+ mph.

5. If I am having sinus headaches, doing a sinus rinse with warm water and a sinus rinse product or a saline solution with a baby bulb syringe provides so much relief! I fought this one big time...it just sounded awful!! It is really not that big of a deal and it provides so much relief!

I took allergy shots when I was a teen. I really don't know how helpful they were...too long ago and I have had so many other health issues...in retrospect probably related to having undiagnosed hypothyroidism. I have avoided seeing an allergist because I am not willing to commit to allergy injections at this season of my life. I have chosen to work with either an ENT or my family doctor and the pharmacist instead and have managed quite well.

During the past few years, my allergies have lessened due to relocating from Southern California to Texas. I hope now that I have finally been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and started treatment that a lot of the allergies will resolve or at least lessen.

I hope this helps!

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone outstanding health!

Kim in Aubrey

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Right, Kim,

In fact, he said not to try to go off it yet. I'm guessing we don't need the extra stress on the body while it's already so stressed. Gotta be in better shape for that shock to the system. I know they're not technically addictive, but they made me sick when I started them and I know they'll make me sick when I go off them.

Carol

>> If you are benefiting from the social anxiety medication, I don't think Dr> R. would suggest that you go off of them without a very good reason. At> least that seems to be the experience of those that have posted on this> board.> > Obviously every person/case is different.> > Kim> > > _____