MetaChat - Hay fever and cigarettes.

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13 April 2009

Hay fever and cigarettes. →[More:] Okay, call me crazy, but I swear that a well-timed smoke helps alleviates my itchy/watering eyes/nose.

I have a relatively serious birch pollen allergy (it's gotten to the point where I'm having an oral reaction to all stone fruit and, sadly, apples), along with some other tree species sexiness by-products.

I smoke on average a cigarette a day (no lies there, really), and find that if I'm miserable and itchy, a cigarette dries up my nose and makes the itches subside.

Does anyone else find that smoking a cigarette helps (if only temporarily) your tree pollen allergies?

post by: Specklet at: 17:52 | 7 comments

When I was in college, I was convinced that, ah, "herbal cigarettes" alleviated the symptoms of allergies/head colds.

posted by muddgirl 13 April | 18:56

Yes, it definitely helps with the symptoms.

However, while I had bad hay fever for a few years, it went away on its own for the last couple of years.

I rarely smoke these days, probably unrelated.

But it's possible that over the long term, smoking makes hay fever symptoms worse, but you get short-term relief when you actually smoke a cigarette.

posted by TheophileEscargot 14 April | 00:52

I don't smoke but my hayfever got worse when I moved out of the city. My guess is that the smog acted like a suppressor of some sort - just like your cigarette - and the fresh air nearly killed me. Oh dear god - the pain!! :)

posted by ninazer0 14 April | 04:13

Hm. Never thought of it, but when I couldn't sleep last night because of sinus pressure and an out of control post nasal drip, a cigarette did the trick.

posted by kellydamnit 14 April | 07:33

Nicotine is a stimulant. Caffeine is a stimulant. Psuedoephedrine is a stimulant. All of these things temporarily abate some of the symptoms of seasonal allergies. An espresso would work just as well as a cigarette, as would Sudafed.

posted by mudpuppie 14 April | 10:53

Well, I can't have caffeine and anything like Sudafed affects me in very bad ways... Guess I'll stick with the occasional smoke. Meh.

posted by Specklet 14 April | 16:29

Specklet, a tree pollen homeopathic should include birch....and there might even be a single remedy for it. I'm not your mom, but I'd feel better if you tried this instead of the cigarette.

posted by brujita 15 April | 23:10

← That song always makes me cry, anyway. || from Wall of Sound to prison walls... →

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