My allergies have been so bad this year and nothing seems to be working well. I was checking out Singulair and found that it has antiinflammatory properties, which makes sense as it is an antiasthmatic. So I did a little more checking and found that they have done a few studies regarding leukotrienes and MS. I thought this was pretty interesting and well worth sharing. Maybe this is my magic 2 for 1 ticket I've been looking for.

Despite them knowing about some of this for years, these two links are newer information (01/11 and 2010). I have never heard of this and thought it was interesting and thought of sharing it. (BTW - I am going to see my PCP about my allergies and finding different ways to take control of them as the meds I have been taking/trying don't seem to be working that well. I will be asking about Singulair as I know many allergy sufferers who have benefited greatly by taking it, including DD20 who had asthma when she was younger)

http://www.jimmunol.org/content/187/5/2336.abstract

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20298145

Thanks, Trish

Let us know how it works, if you decide to try it..

I took Singulair for about 2 or 3 yrs. The only real downsides are:

1) it may suppress your immune response to viral or bacterial invasion. Those are signaled by the receptor to call the white cells into action. Hence you may get more frequent colds/ etc.

2) What really rather killed Singulair was the depression/suicide warnings.
http://product-liability.lawyers.com...epression.html

I stopped taking it when that latest information came out.

So keep in mind the long term effects.

Oh no! That might not be good. But was it something that you have to take everyday or did you take it just during allergy season? Of course, my allergy season is all year long but there are times when they are worse.

I didn't know that Singulair had the depressive/suicide warnings. I'll read the article. Thanks for posting that.

Sally - I'll let you know. All I know right now is I need to get the allergies under better control. When they act up like they have been, my MS acts up as well. The hug never leaves my side. (Pun intended.)

I took it almost every day.... there were many allergens in my workplace...sulfa and penicillin etc.

Thinking back, I don't know how much it really did do. But I was getting pretty down at times...but the job was doing that to me too.

It was heavily promoted to children. I used to get lots of Rxs for kids. More so than adults.

So what did you end up taking for your allergies? So far I've tried Zyrtec, Claritin, and Benadryl. Flonase for my nasal passages, which I stopped as it seems it was making things worse. I upped my Neti pot up to twice a day. I like the Claritin best as it doesn't make me groggy and doesn't interact with any of my other meds. The Neti pot is great but I don't know how many times a day I can use it. I do have Zantac and thought of that as well as that is a histamine blocker but I'm not sure if it would be anymore effective than the Claritin.

BTW - I tried the shots before and stopped as I was working and it was taking up a lot of time. I went 3 times a week, 4 different shots per time and then you have to sit there for 1/2 hour afterward. That 1 hour lunch went by fast! I know that eventually it would have dropped down to 2 times a week and then once a week, etc. but I didn't have the nicest boss at the time and when she wanted me there, she wanted me there even if it meant cancelling my appointment and/or taking a different lunch time.

Using a neti pot? Are you using sterile saline in it? If not, you can be introducing bacteria into your sinuses each time!

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=6046064

It is best to use sterile water or sterile saline. Once this organism is in your sinuses, it is difficult to get rid of.

One has to be careful with neti pot use.

for antihistamines I use Zyrtec now. I find Claritin useless.
I take one at night, and it lasts me into the next day. Not much drowsiness from it.

Another good way to control allergies is using grapeseed extract.
About 200mg a day tends to work for us too.

The new OTC Allergra is good but weak I find. But the absolute worst is Claritin. You know there are studies on it that found it equal to placebo?

I tried singular and it just made me nauseated. Of course that is true of half the meds I try. I know it is rather expensive and a lot of insurance plans will not approve it for allergies.

Thanks mrsD! You are always so helpful. I decided to try 1/2 Zyrtec tonight. Hopefully I will wake up breathing better. As for my Neti pot, I boil the water first. I use the little packets for the saline solution and mix it in the water. That should be ok, right? I do find that I get better relief with the Neti pot than with the Flonase.

Barb - You are a lot like me. I have a hard time with medicines and tend to react negatively to a lot of them. I will keep what you experienced in mind and may be not do the Singulair.

I do agree that the nasal steroids are not really effective, and I think way over done and over promoted.

There is an OTC product hubby used for a while...NasalCrom.
This blocks histamine from mast cells...and is not a steroid.

But it is expensive. Hubby has worse nasal allergies than I do. I had allergy shots in my 20's and that helped me quite a bit. It wasn't much fun...and I had reactions all the time. So I quit after 3 yrs. Hubby finds taking Chlorpheniramine at night and on bad days, Allegra, during the day helps. I also make him use the grapeseed, during spring when he seems the worst. Both of us had a heavy season this year with all the rain we had..molds!

Boil that water for a long time. The organism in tap water is hard to kill...it is related to TB...and as such has a very heavy cell wall, and can survive well under many conditions, and that is why it is so prevalent in tap water. It is also a skin contaminant in wounds, surgical procedures and acne. It shows up in cheap botched office plastic surgery patients, for example. This organism is resistant to most antibiotics.

I consider the nose very important as a portal for disease and chemical toxicity. This path to the brain is quite distinct and fast.
Not to be gross, but, the amoeba thing from swimming in ponds/stagnant water, gets into the brain quickly thru the nose and kills the person ..no treatment for it available. This got alot of publicity in Texas and Florida in the recent years.
This is one of many incidents recently:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/0...a-teens-death/
Seems to becoming more common in many states, but perhaps it is just medical communication being more efficient?

When you buy a nasal product in the stores, they are all made with sterile procedures, and people don't understand this as a rule.

Just be really careful.

Edit--- I just found this article describing a nasal product to deliver small amounts of insulin to the brain for Alzheimer's...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alz.../AN01956/rss=1
This illustrates the nose as a portal directly to the brain.
(low insulin in the brain is implicated in Alzheimer patients. The brain actually makes insulin because our body insulin does not cross the blood brain barrier. Low insulin in the brain is now called Type 3 diabetes.)