Mast cells, reporting for duty!

The last few weeks, I have been really struggling with my allergies. I have issues from time to time with them, but I have been able to control many of my symptoms with diet and supplements for allergies (stinging nettle, bromelain, quercetin and vitamin C). Recently, though, they have been getting worse and worse. I have been getting bad coughing spells, and my airways have been spasming, making it difficult to breathe.

Yesterday I woke up with nasal congestion. Today, I could not breathe well due to thick mucus, had itchy red eyes and sounded like I had a bad cold. Suddenly, I remembered about my mast cell issues. Ah, yes, it is late August, the time of year my mast cells like to flare-up. I should have noticed this sooner because my eczema returned this week...a great indication that my mast cells are hard at work producing too much histamine.

Thankfully, I have been down this road before. I went online and started searching for the best deal for nasal spray and eye drops containing the active ingredient sodium cromolyn. Sodium cromolyn is a wonderful drug available over the counter which stabilizes mast cells. The compound prevents mast cells from releasing histamine. (This is in contrast to most antihistamines which block the effects of histamine circulating in the body but do nothing to control the mast cells.. Antihistamines can help people who have too much histamine, but ultimately, it is much more effective to prevent the mast cells from producing too much histamine.)

Finding the nasal spray can be tricky, but praise be to God it was available at the nearby pharmacy (and I was able to use a 30% off promotion and use a coupon I printed from the manufacturer's website). While at the pharmacy, I was able to pick up the eye drops too! As soon as I was outside the store, I opened both packages and started spraying my nose and putting drops in my eyes. Oh...the relief I started to feel in a few minutes was incredible! Every 3-4 hours, I would reapply the medicines. The relief I have felt has been wonderful! I ever feel like I have a bit of energy tonight! Yippee!