Indian home remedies for pollen allergies

I started living in Germany from the age of 21. Until then I was in India and never had the problem of pollen allergy. Even during my first 3 years of stay in Germany, I did not have pollen allergy. It started after 3rd year and at the beginning it was quite mild. Itching of eyes now and then and some sneezing now and then, thats all.

From the 5th year onwards, it was quite serious and intensive. Until then I never heard of pollen allergy. So, I did not know what was happening to me. I had serious itching to my eyes and intensive sneezing and quite serious stuffed nose. Even I used to sneeze at the middle of night and middle of sleep. I went to a doctor and she gave me antihistamine and nose spray for clearing the nose. But they did not help me much.

I changed my doctor and went to a ENO specialist. He first did allergy test for me and found that I am quite allergic to tree pollens, particularly Birch pollen. He gave antihistamine tablets, nose drops and eye drops. After I started using them, in a week everything was fine and thought to myself that why didn't I come to this guy in first place.

Next year, pollen season started and hay fever started again. That year I thought to myself that I go to the same doctor whom I went on the previous year. I went to him and he prescribed the same antihistamine tablets, nose drops and eye drops. I started using them but to my surprise, the hay fever did not go away. Just eye itching and sneezing reduced when I applied the prescribed things. Stuffed nose and cough never reduced. I could breath only by mouth and coughing was quite serious too. I went to the same doctor again after couple of weeks and this time he prescribed a bit more stronger medicines to clear my stuffed nose. Guess what, it did not help much. Also I realized that in the previous year it was pure coincidence that my pollen allergy got cured by his medicine.Because I went to him really at the end of pollen season.

Meantime, I started reading more about pollen allergy and ways to handle pollen allergy. I started realizing that for many people, antihistamine can only help to relieve pollen allergy symptoms to some extent. Also realized that a healthy life style and things like yoga can cure pollen allergy / hay fever completely.

I started drinking lot of water and started eating vitamin c rich food quite often. Also I started washing my hair before going to bed. Also I started avoiding oily / fatty food. This things did not provide immediate cure. Even after the pollen season, I continued with the above mentioned things such as drinking enough water, eating healthy food also I started doing yoga.

When the pollen season started again the symptoms came back again, but it lasted only for 2 weeks compared to 2 months in the previous years. That was really a good improvement. But still those 2 weeks were quite bad. Stuffed nose and coughing were the worst things.

In the next year I started using Nasivin for the stuffed nose and it really helped a lot to relieve my stuffed nose. I could get Nasivin over the counter and I was told that I should not use Nasivin for more than 2 weeks. This time severe pollen allergy lasted for bit more than a week. For coughing I started using an Indian home remedy which is mixing 4-5 black whole peppers with some rice and taking the mixture in the mouth, biting it and holding the mixture in the mouth.

Again this year I had pollen allergy for 1-2 weeks. But again with same techniques which are described in the previous paragraph, I could avoid its severity. Hopefully, if I continue doing yoga and healthier lifestyle, at some point I may be able to completely overcome pollen allergy.

Tips to cure pollen allergy:

I have written the above mentioned things and I am writing the following things just based on my experience. Please consult your physician before doing anything based on the writing here.

1. During pollen season, as soon as you come home try to change your clothes and wash your hair or have bath.
2. Vacuum clean your house regularly´, at least once a day.
3. Do not spend too much time outside during pollen season.
4. Do not leave your window open for long duration.
5. Drink lot of water.
6. Try to eat vitamin c rich food, even during pollen free days.
7. Try to avoid fatty / oily food.
8. Do yoga regularly. I would recommend, surya namaskar (sun salutation) and couple of more poses.
9. If possible, try to do also pranayama (breathing exercise).
10. Remember, it may take many years to completely cure pollen allergy. We need to do these things consistently to overcome pollen allergy.
11. Though I am doing all the above things, I also take antihistamine tablets, eye drops and nasivin nose spray for few days to have better days during pollen season. Also try to consult your physician before taking Nasivin.
12. To reduce coughing I take mixture of 4-5 black pepper pieces along with hand full of rice and take it in my mouth bite the mixture and hold it for several minutes and drop the juice slowly to my throat. I keep it in my mouth and spit it after a while.

Also I am planning to take pollen shots this year. I will keep you updated about whether it helped in some way or not.

This is how I have been fighting pollen allergy for several years. Hopefully, I will overcome pollen allergy one day:-)