Whatever is blooming now is making me miserable.  I hate the pollen in Japan.    I'm pretty sure it's the Cedar.

Do the Japanese have any OTC allergy meds that are better than Claritin?  It's not doing a thing to relieve the sinus and ear pain.  Allegra isn't covered by my insurance and the only thing they want to prescribe on base- It didn't work too well anyway.

I never had allergies till I moved here- they suck!

Honey I am right there with you!! My eyes have been swollen red and itchy, and sneezing like crazy! I took the benadryl I heaved b4 we left the states an it knocked me out, but it helped!

I use zantac i think its called, the one with the green top. i cut my grass today so i know in the Am I'm going to suffer. It gets worse in the summer time trust me.

Zyrtec? I believe Zantac is a heartburn med.

lol thanks. If i wake you with my sneezing and snorting I'm sorry now.

I'm sure I could never hear you, or anything else for that matter, over my husband snoring in my ear! Not to mention I'm doing my fair share of sneezing too!

I have had hay fever for 20+ years. From my experience, Claritin is the best medicine for hay fever, so you already have the best one.

Other options to mitigate the symptom:

1. Use face mask like many Japanese do. I know foreigners don't like using mask. Looks strange but it is valid.

2. Use anti pollen glasses.

3. Wash your eyes. I use ROHTO Al Guard. (500ml bottle are sold around 1,000 Yen that lasts for a whole season.)

4. Wash your hands and face every time you go into indoor area from outdoor as often as you can. You can't see pollen but your hand / face are polluted by pollen as you walk outside. Your hand is the biggest source of infection when you are indoor. The less your mucosa (eye, nose, mouth) exposed to pollen, the better your symptom will be.

5. Buy air cleaner. If you go to any Japanese electric shop or even some super market, you may find air cleaner with ad "this is for against hay fever" as hay fever is really common disease here in Japan.

6. Don't go out. Stay in a room as long as you can. Close all windows. etc....

Lazer surgery to nose is another option... (I personally don't want to get this operation because I'm not brave enough.)

I was told when I first moved to Japan back in 2005, if you dont have allergies when you arrive here, you will have them by the time you leave here. If you have them when you move here they be the worst you have ever had and stay that way till you leave here

My allergies vary each year, and also when you move to a new area you might get allergy the first spring there & not in subsequent springs. Or, not in the first year but then you get sensitized and will get it in subsequent years. I never know which spring I will get allergies. Anyway, I had it bad last month, and about 2 weeks ago it started clearing up. I'm ok now.

I have found even when I find a medicine that works I need to change it from time to time. Claritin used to work for me, now it doesn't. My only criteria is I use non-drowsy formula, meaning no antihistimine. Those ones make me sooooo sleepy I can't function. I get wiped out a minimum of 12 hours. The non-drowsy ones are generally less effective, but often good enough to relieve my sheer misery. Anyway, whatever works for someone else may not work for you.

Someone advised me recently to try nose sprays. They actually coat the receptors in your nose that cause the allergy, so by coating them you are physically shielded from being affected. Anyone try an anti-allergy nose spray recently?

I haven't tried a nose spray, but in the past I have used nasal irrigation (like a Neti Pot) to get some relief. I probably need to do it again.

The allergies hit me with a vengeance when the sakura bloomed and haven't subsided, so I'm also guessing it's the cedar trees.

For you allergy sufferers, I recommend the Neti-Pot.  It looks strange, but really works.  I think I saw them at the 100Y store once.  I'm not sure where you get the saline packets though.  You can make the saline mixture yourself w/ baking soda and salt. 

It really clears your nasal passages out.  It also works great when you feel a cold come on and your nose starts to get a little stuffy. 

I find it works better than any over the counter or prescription stuff you can get from your doctor because it doesn't make you drowsy.  If you're really stuffed up, it may take several days to completely clear our your nasal passages (and you'll feel like your drowning when you first use it! ), but eventually, the water will push all that crap out and you'll be able to breathe again!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4771411_ease-allergies-using-neti-pot.html

Flonaze is a nasal spray that releves swelling and things. It's pretty safe, it was given to me when I was preggers and couldn't take any good drugs for the flu I had aquired. It give you a temporary bad taste in your mouth (again I took it when I was preg. so may have been amplified for me) and it feels weird spraying stuff up your nose, but it does work!

Go to NeilMed, they will ship the packets here.  I use a something that looks like a big nasal spray .
http://shop.neilmed.com/s.nl/it.A/i...category=6

I know a few people who swear by the neti pot who are really sever allergy sufferers. I would give it a try.

I've seen the neti-pot and saline packets at the fleet rec...

I dont think i can bring my self to use the damn thing i mean look at it!!!

The Neti Pot is like water boarding yourself the first time you tri it But after that it is fine. You do have use it seval times a day but there are no side effects. Local wild lfoer honey is also a great prevention. use a tsp every day all year long and the next allergy season willnot be as bad. cheers good luck with the pollne

I agree with the Neti Pot recommendation! I was miserable for about a week at the start of this season but feel a lot better now that I use it daily. It really gets all the gunk out of there.

Pollen reminds me of bees (buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and that reminds me of this cool but freaky National Geographic video I saw years ago about Japanese hornets. Anyone see it? A dozen of those monsters stumble upon a European bee colony and it's a massacre. All that was missing was Leonidas screaming THIS IS SPARTA! Very cool.

Here's what I wanna know: how come I've lived here 7 years and I've never seen one of those armored massive gigantic scary hornets? I'm leaving in a month and it just hit me: I never saw one of those things. Maybe they're southern Japan-ish. I'm not sure. I just wish I had seen one. I'd have done a deep bow to that massive and heavily armored bee-killer. Respect, respect.

This relates to the original post because: hornets kill bees and bees spread pollen. So if you hate pollen, you like Japanese hornets.

I saw that video and it was so sad I couldn't watch the whole thing.

The J hornet made a nice cozy home right outside my door. Here is a picture:

Ok who can tell me how to add a picture?

If you go to my profile you will see pics of the nest and another J hornet in the process of making another nest. Those things are HUGE!