Allergies and flying...

On Sunday we spent all day outside, getting the pool ready at the inn. It is
shaded by giant river birch trees, which -- at this time of year -- are
shedding lots of little flakes of pollen (?).

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Your doctor or allergist comes immediately to mind.

-0-


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:j4Isc.57787$gr.5667473@attbi_s52...

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?
--

Jay Honeck wrote:

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't help.

I think that if my allergic reaction were that severe, I'd probably ground
myself for a week or two until the pollen died down. What if your
medication seemed to work until you were alone in the plane at 3,000 ft, and
then your eyes suddenly swelled shut again? Usenet would be more boring for
all of us without you, Jay.

It might also be worth talking to your doctor about carrying an epi-pen
(sp?) with you in the cockpit. If you ever started getting another severe
reaction to something, you could give yourself a quick jab to get it under
control to let you land safely.


All the best,


David

What if your medication seemed to work until you
were alone in the plane at 3,000 ft, and
then your eyes suddenly swelled shut again?

A couple of comments:

1. Okay, so I may have exaggerated a bit. My eyes were extremely swollen,
and I looked like the Devil incarnate -- but I could still see out of them.

2. In my experience, my allergies completely go away above pattern altitude.
Not much pollen up there, I guess.

Thanks for the suggestions.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article v6Jsc.114175$xw3.6706572@attbi_s04,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


1. Okay, so I may have exaggerated a bit. My eyes were extremely swollen,
and I looked like the Devil incarnate -- but I could still see out of them.


Give Loratadine a shot (brand name is Claritin, but it's available
cheaper as a generic). I was on Allegra for years, switch to Loratadine
when it went OTC. It seems to work a bit better for me.

2. In my experience, my allergies completely go away above pattern altitude.
Not much pollen up there, I guess.

My experience is the same as yours. When my allergies are really bad I
go flying.

Pixel Dent wrote:

In article v6Jsc.114175$xw3.6706572@attbi_s04,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


1. Okay, so I may have exaggerated a bit. My eyes were extremely swollen,
and I looked like the Devil incarnate -- but I could still see out of them.


Give Loratadine a shot (brand name is Claritin, but it's available
cheaper as a generic). I was on Allegra for years, switch to Loratadine
when it went OTC. It seems to work a bit better for me.

2. In my experience, my allergies completely go away above pattern altitude.
Not much pollen up there, I guess.

My experience is the same as yours. When my allergies are really bad I
go flying.

I'll second that advice. I was using Zyrtec (sp?), until my last 3rd
class medical, when I was told that it's not approved. So I started the
loratadine (the OTC I use is called Alavert) and it actually works
better than the Zyrtec.

DanH

Jay Honeck wrote:

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?

Allergy shots.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?

Allergy shots.

I went through those several years ago, in an attempt to get rid of my
allergy to cats, timothy grass, and ragweed.

In about the third week of shots, I had a really nasty reaction that
required a shot of adrenaline in the butt to cure. .

After that I decided that sneezing wasn't so bad...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:

After that I decided that sneezing wasn't so bad...

Yep, some people can't take them. I'm into about year 7 of the things, and tree
pollen is one of the allergens. Before starting the shots, I used to use
Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride and Advil. Avoid the "allergy" or "sinus" variants of
Sudophed - they made me pretty woozy. For some reason, generic versions of Advil
didn't work well for me, but the Walmart generic of Sudophed worked great.

George Patterson
I childproofed my house, but they *still* get in.

Jay,
a dust mask is approved and removable when you visit the AME ;-)
Michelle

Jay Honeck wrote:

On Sunday we spent all day outside, getting the pool ready at the inn. It is
shaded by giant river birch trees, which -- at this time of year -- are
shedding lots of little flakes of pollen (?).

I'm apparently violently allergic to this tree pollen. My eyes swelled
shut, and stayed that way for a couple of days. Allegra, my usual
FAA-approved medicine (which I use for late-summer hay fever), didn't help.

Can anyone recommend any other FAA-approved allergy medicines?



--

Michelle P ATP-ASEL, CP-AMEL, and AMT-A&P

"Elisabeth" a Maule M-7-235B (no two are alike)

Volunteer Pilot, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer Builder, Habitat for Humanity