In the coming weeks, I will be posting several advertorials on varying products, resources or other things that I use or enjoy. Please see below for my official disclosure. If you have enjoyed the many giveaways I have been doing, then you can understand there are parties behind these products that do require a bit of advertising to support me.

 Advertorial Content Disclosure

All views in any and all advertorial content on guiltykitchen.com is 100% my true and honest opinion. I may or may not have received monetary or product compensation to write the content, but I would never post about anything I didn’t see value in to you, my readers, or myself and my family. This blog started with humble beginnings, but my aim in the next few years is to make this blog my full-time job. Without income from sources such as these, this goal would not be possible. If you do not enjoy the advertorial content, please scroll down for recipes. 

Summer has been here for a few weeks now. Isn’t it beautiful? Lush green grasses, flowering bushes everywhere, trees sprouting leaves, itchy eyes, runny nose, explosive sneezing…oh what, you too?

From about April through September I suffer from some pretty extensive allergies to flora. I have zero food allergies (though sensitivities do exist) but when it comes to plants, I try to love from afar. One of the things I was super stoked to experience when I went full strict paleo two years ago, was the promise of reduced allergies in spring and summer. Well you know what? For me, that was complete bull. Every morning I woke up with itchy eyes. I sneezed so hard all day long, I thought I was coming down with a new cold every week. I sniffled, I snuffled and finally I gave in. I went back to the pharmacy, and despite my eagerness to never buy any pharmaceuticals (unless it was an emergency), I was back on the pills.

I take them every day, and I am not afraid to admit it. Without some form of seasonal allergy pill, I suffer. Here’s a good example of how much I actually rely on these drugs:

We’ve booked a camping trip on a local tiny island that has a huge sandy spit on one end and a grass filled camping site on the other. When I say grassy, I mean they mow down some spots and that’s where you put your tent. I am counting down the days until this trip, it should be amazing, but I am TERRIFIED of the allergies I will suffer sleeping in the GRASS! When I had a scratch test as a child, just about every form of grass and tree they tested for, I was allergic. So you can see the reason for my fear here…

Before you start lecturing me on other ways to help with allergies, don’t even bother. I have tried them ALL. Neti-pot is not for me. Seriously. Yes, I have tried it, yes it did help for about 45 minutes, but no, I don’t want to rely on a tiny pot of water that I pour through my sinus cavity. No thank you.

So let’s see what the wonderful people behind Reactine have to say about the whole ordeal:

So, the infographic here lays it out pretty well. I definitely limit my time outdoors on certain days to avoid feeling like a miserable hag. I am thankful not to have the indoor allergies, as I have two dogs. I do suffer from cat allergies though, but I am not sure I could bring myself to be on a medication 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For me, the tolerable level of drug taking is occasionally.  I take it when I am having a particularly bad day (uncontrollable sneezing and itchy eyes mostly), when I plan to hit the garden and when I know I’m going somewhere there might be a lot of hay, grass or pollen floating about. The worst  time of the year, you can actually see clouds of pollen floating through the air, in which case, I do actually take a pill every single day. I don’t have a dehumidifier, although I might try that out this year.

Side effects and drug taking are serious business, so I try to limit my intake of pharmaceuticals. It’s important to find a brand and medication you trust, that does not cause you to feel and adverse reactions. I’ve always had a good experience with Reactine.

Hopefully, this has been an educational post and we’ll see you back here for more recipe next week!