Allergies and Not Sleeping

I have had severe allergies to all animals, pollen, trees, grass, mold, dust, and it's been a struggle. I tried allergy shots for 4 years.

My 5 year old son recently started showing signs of allergies, and I didn't want him to suffer for as long as I did, so I looked into lots of different treatments.

There is a treatment called NAET and it was worked wonders for both my sons and me - even after all these years. After being horribly allergic to cats, I can now sit right next to one with no problems whatsoever.

I know of two NAET practitioners in town.

Dr. John Daugherty
1923 W Colorado Ave
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(This is who we go to - he treats several allergies at once)

Karen F. Bates
716 N. Tejon Street
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She also comes highly recommended.

L.,
Neither of my kids had allergies, but I do. I was taking Claritin D, or Allegra twice a day and also developed insomnia. In a chance conversation with another mom, she connected it to the allergy medication. I quit taking those meds in the evening and if I need relief at night, I take Benedryl. I also went through five years of allergy shots -- not a cure, but my symptoms are less and more manageable. I would have your pediatrician refer you to an allergist who would be the best able to help you with a safe, treatment program. Good luck.
D. G

I think right now with it being so cold, our furnaces kicked up and the air is dry anyway, try a vapor plug in her room, they help my kids a ton and put saline her nose several times a day and before bedtime to keep her nasal passages moist and will help get out allergens. I think all kids go through waking and getting good sleep. My son was waking at 2am and 5 am every night! It was driving me nuts. Finally I got him to get a good nights sleep using the vapor plug in, making sure he was warm in his bed and peed right before he went to bed. Kids go off sleep patterns a bunch before school age. It is normal. Good for you stopping the meds if it was causing insomnia. That is hard on a little one. Making sure she naps and she will get back on track. Growth spurts, teeth coming in can cause sleep disturbances too. My daughter big time would be up a few times a night with teething.

Hi L.! When a child doesn't sleep, Mom doesn't sleep. No fun for either! I have some reccomendations for her and you. Let me first add that I am a Wholistic Practitioner and have worked with Children and allergies for many years. By Wholistic I work with the whole person, not just the symptoms and natuaral medicines such as herbs and nutrition. Two food substances which cause the most sensativity are wheat and milk folowed closely by corn. These substances are in most things, so it might seem daunting to avoid them or alliminate them, but encourage you to seek the answer to your daughter's discomfort, not merely seek to block the symptoms.You might consider what she eats and choose one of those and have her choose something else for a week and see if the symptoms improve or go away all together. On a molecular level, cow's milk is for a larger being and does not assimilate well in anything but a cow. Goat milk is easier to digest for many who have this sensativity. There is also a whole range of other milks these days; soy, rice, almond. They are nutritionally comparable to cow's milk and even come in flavors.
A really good product for allergies is made by a company by the brandname of Bio Allers. They have specific tinctures for certain areas of sensativity such as Mold yeast and dust, tree pollen, animal hair dander. There's about 12. You would find this product in a health food store and an enlightened pharmacy. It's safe for a young child and bland in it's taste. It works sublinually; absorbed under the tongue so it doesn't need to be digested.It is actually better to figure out what she is allergic to now before it gets worse, because allergies will eventually compromise the immune system, which is most definately important for her as being sick and sensative all the time is a drag and could make her have her available to auto immune and other trecherous diseases. The allergies are not a bad thing. It's the body trying to ward off something which is not good for it. When that is discovered and removed, comfort and ease and healthy body systems will return and function well. Homeopathy is also good, but not to diagnose here out of my practice, it would be better for you to find one in your local to meet with in person.
Blessings,
S.

You didn't say what meds your daughter is taking. Our son had a ton of issues on Zyrtec and is doing much better on Allegra. They also added Nasonex and that has made a huge difference. Nasonex is expensive, though. Our baby is on Nasonex and does very well on just it.

It KILLS me to see so many children on allergy meds!!! THERE IS NO REASON TO DO THIS!!!

Generally speaking, allergies are easily remedied using alternative health care.

Please go to my free web site (www.healthyhabitswellnesscenter.com) and learn more about how you can take control of your child's health. You may also call me directly at ###-###-####.

Hi L.,

I don't personally have experience with this with my children, but I used to work for a pediatrician/ allergist/ immunologist. He saw many children with allergies. I think the most important thing that he taught me working there was that allergies should be treated at a young age, or they can lead to asthma. You might consider scheduling with an allergist/ immunologist who works specifically with these conditions. I'm sure they could also give you some natural remedies that you wouldn't have to worry about the side effects like the medications.

If you would like names of referrals, you can always email me too. Sorry, I don't have more experience in the med part!

-S.

Hello L.,

Allergies are definatly no fun. My daughter had allergies really bad when she was little and was put on clariton at age 5. I tried everything in my home to help her. From ripping up the carpet and going with concrete floors and anything else I could think of. Then one day I was at a health fair in 2005 and met a gal who shared with me how to create a healthier home and say good-bye to allergies. Well this caught my attention. Through our experience and the information that was shared with me, and believe me I started doing my own research. I went on the direction of getting my home toxic free. I couldn't believe that the products I had in my home were causing my daughters allergies. It makes me sick just to think about it. Well we did detox our home when she was 10 and 3 weeks later her allergies were gone and no more clariton. It has been almost 3 years since we did this and she has never been healthier. Our whole family is so much healthier. I would of never thought that the products I had in my home would of caused her to have allergies. However many on the market do because of the toxic ingredients they use.

If you would like to know more you can email me at:
____@____.com and I would be happy to share with you how you can make this change in your home too and be hopefully medicine free.

Here are some great links to check out too:
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/home/cleaners/in...
http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm
Have a great day!
C.

Hi L.--

My son has allergies as well. We use all natural supplements to combat them. We use a natural anti-histamine called quercetin. It is a bioflavonoid that comes from onions. I have even used it when he has started to swell and get hives and it works as well as benadryl without the side effects. You can buy it in liquid form so it is easy to give to a young child. We also use homeopathic allergy meds for him and they also have worked well for us. I'm not sure what type of allergy your child has (environmental, food, both, etc.) so I can't be more specific. If I knew a little bit more I might be able to help more --that is if you are interested in learning about alternative methods.

Hope you find something that works for you!
J.

What type of medicine was she on? My son is takes a sigular pill at bed time to help with his allageries and we have not had any side effects from it. Maybe ask your ped. about that, if that was not the medicine she was on.

I have a almost 17 month old son who hasn't been sleeping well for the past few nights either, he is also suffering from an extremely stuffy nose which isn't helping...I'm attributing the insomnia to the full moon. I can feel it effecting me. Give her a few days I bet she finds her balance again soon. I hope we do here!

L.,

My son has been on allergy medicine on and off since he was 3 months old. I have tried Benedryl with him and it knocks him out and Claritin makes him a wild man. He sometimes has a hard time sleeping when he is on the Claritin. I try and only give him the allergy meds when his allergies are really bad.

I have never heard of it all the sudden causing kids to have sleep issues. If you stop the allergy meds and she is able to sleep then I guess you can say it was caused by the meds. If she still is having sleep issues after stopping the meds then it is something else. I hope you figure it out.

Good Luck
L.