I dIon't have asthma but I have allergic rhinitis - the worst my allergist has ever seen. desensitization via inoculation does not work for me. Flonase is the only thing that worked for me and it stopped working when I turned 50 so I had to start trying alternative methods (I had tried such in the past but before the internet information was not so freely available!). Vitamin C does not work. I doubt a gf diet works (although allergies are additive so if you are allergic to wheat you should certainly avoid those allergens that you can, so it's worth a try). I found 3 things that work so far, not great, but - really - they work great compared to everything else except Flonase (which spoiled me because I felt like I had no allergies on Flonase). The alternative substances DO NOT WORK if you do not take them correctly. These are the ones I have found:
nettle
spirulina
Omega-3
I used nettle from New Chapter and I had to buy it in a "rolaids-like" tube and carry it in my pocket. It worked but did not last long enough - 4 hours? - 6 hours? So I had to have it on hand to constantly refresh the dose. I ended taking about 3x the recommended dose. Nettle raises insulin and makes you hungry so you gain weight. But, honestly, allergies themselves beat up your thyroid and low thyroid makes you hungry so you gain weight (so who knows the cause??? probably the raised insulin is not much of an issue for temporary allergies. At any rate guggul lowers insulin so you could experiment with taking them together)
Omega-3 works if you take 9g/day (although it seems I could do with a little less - maybe 7g once I topped up on Omega-3 for a few days). The whole point is to use up the enzymes for digesting fat so that there are no enzymes left to digest omega-6 from which inflammatory cytokines are made. So if you do not take enough it will not work AT ALL. The problem with this method is that it may be difficult to keep down that much fat. k, I used a cheap Omega-3 which is harder on the gut because according to Dr. Barry Sears, who came up with this method, cheap fats have algae oils in them as impurities and algae oils are hard on the gut. At any rate my gut couldn't handle it after a few years.
This year I am using Spirulina. I am taking 10.5g/day which I know works. I read that you can SUPPOSEDLY do this with 2g/day if you take it for THREE MONTHS in advance. Some indications show spirulina helps with cholesterol, blood pressure, and possibly even arthritis (the latter tested only in rats) as well. This year allergy season was very short so I am not sure about Spirulina in regards to what any down side might be. It suppresses IL4 and IL6 but not IL2 so may not be perfect. But it does a substantial job with me and I am ready to like it. But allergy season is over (first frost) so I remain tentative about it. So far it's my preference though.
