A sudden onset of Allergy type symptoms...

[Gomer3d]

Hi my name is Tony and i'm 23 years old.I've been putting together the pieces of this fatigue problem i've had as of recent. For the past three months or so i've been exibiting allergy type symptoms such as: red itchy eyes when i wake up, clear/white mucous from the nose and sometimes phlegm. This has been the 1st year I have had any allergy type symptoms. Preceding these allergies was a year of little sleep, excessive caffeine usage, and some alcohol use. Not to mention my diet was pretty terrible consisting of fast food. Earlier this year when I was about 20 pounds heavier I started having pains in my abdomen. Tests and ultrasounds were done and nothing was found(it was thought to be a gal bladder problem. I was prescribed painkillers. After a few sicknesses, less eating and losing a little weight the pain subsided. Well I fell back into my old habits of fast food, little sleep, and energy drinks. Fatigue was setting in a lot and I had an incedent at work where I was hungover and I had brain fog all day and I drank a rockstar and went to the hospital because i thought my heart was going to explode lol. Turns out I was having a panic attack. Next all sorts of sinus and allergy problems started happening. I had allergy shots which didnt seem to help. Basic blood tests were done and no other illness was ruled in. Now I still wake up with red tear ducts and dry itchy eyes, and some white mucous still. Plus the fatigue is there during the day and its wearing. im wondering if any allergists have any insight into what could be going on here. Any help would be appreciated.Thank you.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

You seem to be having sinusitis. ? Chronic sinus congestion, or chronic sinusitis, is one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States. It can cause difficulty breathing through the nose, pressure-pain in the nose, thick nasal discharge, reduced sense of smell, aching in the upper jaw or teeth, bad breath, post-nasal drip,mucus discharge from eyes and persistent coughing.

Diagnosis is done by Transillumination of the sinuses,X-Ray sinuses or CT sinuses.

Take plenty of fluids throughout the day and inhale steam as many times as possible. use an over-the-counter (OTC) decongestant combined with an anti-inflammatory analgesic (pain reliever) like Ibuprofen. However, you should not use decongestants for more than 5-7 days at a time. You can also OTC antihistaminics like benadryl or zyrtec for some days and see if they provide relief or not. Some chronic cases may need oral steroids or steroid nasal sprays and antibiotics. These can be taken only after prescription.

Hope it helped.

Take care and regards

[dimension]

I'm not an allergist but I have some experience to relate similar to yours.  It sounds as though you have been pushing your body's stamina to it's limits.  The body has chemical and hormonal responses to being pushed too far which, in turn, can cause heightened allergic responses.  If I were you, I would cut out the caffeine (atleast for a few weeks and then not more than a very small amount if unavoidable), eat very healthy - fresh cooked vegetables (except corn) as much as possible, no sweetened foods and very small amounts of grain foods.  Have someone else carefully clean the dust around your living space.  

I would also eliminate some of the most common allergy foods from your diet to see if it helps your stomach pains.  Allergy shots do not help most food allergies.  I understand that the most common stomach problems come from milk products which include cheese, lactose, whey, cream, yogurt, caramel color, casein products and some others.  You have to read the ingredients of almost everything.  Another common stomach irritant is gluten which is found in most grains.  Both allergies/sensitivities can cause overall health problems.  Milk allergies also frequently increase sinus problems.  The eye and sinus symptoms are usually helped by allergy shots if airborne allergies are the main cause.  If you gave the shots atleast a couple of months to work and saw no benefit, I would strongly suspect milk to be the culprit.  If after eliminating milk for a couple of weeks and you see no improvement, I would suggest you look into further food allergy/sensitivity elimination.