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Allergies (Hayfever)...
[April
2022] Many of us suffer with
hayfever. Mine developed in my
childhood/early teens. I have
learned a lot about it since
then. Here is my advice:
Recognise the early symptoms;
itchy/dry eyes is what I
experience first. I respond by
drinking a glass of water.
Recognise those early symptoms,
and respond in this way.
This might sound overly
simplistic but doing so this not
only hydrates but it calms the
nervous system - drinking water
in such a situation is very
powerful in this regard.
Staying calm is of
importance because an allergic
reaction is a response by the
body to something (or things)
that are stressing it out. In
the worst cases I have
experienced my symptoms escalate
and develop over days and weeks
and have lead to breathing
difficulties (I developed asthma
in my childhood too). In the
case of hayfever it is the
presence of pollen* that triggers
all of this but we might ask
ourselves, "Why does pollen
affect me and not others?"
I have come to learn that
hayfever is symptomatic of what
might be defined as having "a
sensitive disposition." What I
mean by this is that there are
possibly other things that
affect the hayfever sufferer, or
are having an effect prior to
the arrival of the pollen
season. This could be toxins in
food or environment and/or other
stresses of a psychological
nature. These, however mild,
will be having a cumulative
effect; pollen is like the last
straw (no pun intended!)
Reduce the toxins and
stresses in your life. This
comes back full circle to the
point about staying calm. Avoid
coffee and other stimulants and
keep your environment clean.
Drink plenty of water and avoid
processed food. Are there
things in your home life that
are causing you stress? - that
my hayfever developed during my
school years could be a key
factor (stress is stress,
regardless of its form).
Avoid pollen? I began
this piece with the immediate
response to the symptoms (to
drink water), but the ultimate
advice is to avoid (or rather
minimise) those other,
underlying stresses, and this
begins way before the pollen
season. Avoiding pollen is not a
solution (nor is it likely
practical, except once symptoms
have developed or are escalating
- although this should not be
done in a fearful manner, but
again, calmly). One should, I
believe, acclimatise oneself to
the seasons; spend plenty of
time outdoors all year round
(ideally each and every day),
indeed low Vitamin D levels
following a winter indoors could
be a contributing factor [See
below]. Don't stay in doors
throughout the winter and then
suddenly spring Spring on
yourself in its entirety; enjoy
the developing season as it
develops.
- - - - - - - - - -
[July 2023] Is it only the
pollen?
*It seems odd to me that a
natural thing such as pollen
should have such a strange and
sometimes severe effect on the
body. Why might this be?
The pollen that affects us
hayfever sufferers gets carried
with the air and as we breath in
air we breath in some of that
pollen. I remember the first
year, during my childhood, that
I suffered from hayfever, but
why hadn't I suffered in the
years before this?
Right next to where I lived, as
I recall, was a field of
rapeseed. I remember playing in
that field, and I may have
either played in that field
without issue the year before,
or it may have been the first
year I played in it; it may have
been the first year that crop
was grown there, or it may have
been something else entirely or
a combination of things. Also a
short distance from my home was
a land-fill site where large
holes were dug in the ground and
rubbish dumped in. There was
also the heavy-goods vehicles
transporting the rubbish in. The
dust associated with this
process could have been a
contributing factor. A further
consideration is what things
were sprayed on those crops
beside my house? In addition to
these things, my parents smoked.
My point with that previous
paragraph is that my body and
its immune system were having to
deal with all of these things in
the air; it was not the pollen
alone but perhaps particles of
foreign substances attached to
the pollen that I was breathing
in, or breathing in alone. From
my understanding of the immune
system it forms a memory of what
things it needs to respond to
and how, and it could be that it
learned to interpret certain
pollens as an issue because it
was encountering that, when
really it was the other things
around with the pollen at the
time were the threat.
Remember: Stay calm and
reduce the toxins and stresses
in your life.
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