Why Taking Rest Helps Fight Allergies
Fatigue is a common symptom associated with food allergies, insect bite allergies, environmental allergies and seasonal allergies. Some people will experience allergy related stress owing to the secretion of cortisol and adrenaline by their body to tackle an allergy attack. Their body will have very low levels of cortisol, which can also contribute to fatigue.
The fatigue associated with the allergies is the mechanism employed by the human body that prompts the person to take rest. Taking good rest would help in fighting against the allergies by combating the allergens. This explains why the medications prescribed for allergies like antihistamine pills, decongestants and sprays also cause drowsiness.
How To Fight Fatigue Related To Allergies
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Far too many people deal with constant fatigue today. Unfortunately, individuals dont always know what causes their symptoms. Fatigue often manifests itself during the day after a restless night of sleep. Its a vicious cycle that never seems to end. These days, a number of health conditions can cause fatigue, but few people seem to consider allergies as the culprit. Fighting allergy fatigue requires a comprehensive approach. Finding out the exact allergy that is causing the symptoms is the best long term solution.
Stress And Work Allergies
Many patients complain of increased allergies when thereâs high stress at work, says Gailen Marshall, MD, PhD, director of the division of clinical immunology and allergy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
People often think the allergy trigger is a work-related exposure. But Marshall tells WebMD that stress from work deadlines, conflicts with co-workers, and long hours can all increase allergy symptoms.
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Why Do Allergies Make You Tired
It is true that allergies can occur at any point of time and can cause severe discomfort and misery. Many people suffer from itching sensation, or redness of skin or rashes etc. on account of their suffering from some form of allergy. Allergy can be due to substances present in the air, or some food that do not gel with your body system or some medication which that does not suit you bodily functioning.
When most of the people hear the term allergy, they would picture an array of symptoms similar to a cold, which makes them dread allergies all year round. However, they must also be aware of a major symptom caused by allergies, which is fatigue. Anyone who suffers from environmental or seasonal allergies would suffer from severe exhaustion and fatigue, until it gets treated.
Any form of illness does affect our body system tremendously and we feel tired and exhausted. Recovery takes some time. Sometimes, in case the illness is serious, it can cause death. Allergies cannot be neglected. They need to be treated as they can cause serious complications.
Your Pet Stays In Your Bed
Pet dander is another main allergy trigger that can be harmful to your health. Even if your pet doesnt necessarily sleep in your bed, its essential to try and keep them out of your bedroom entirely. Pet dander can easily stick to clothing and bedding, triggering allergy symptoms at night.
As tough as it might be to do, the best way to minimize your exposure to dander is to ensure your bedroom is off-limits to your pet.
Much like dust mites, investing in hypoallergenic bedding can also ease some of your allergy symptoms at night and help you lock in some much-needed shut-eye to prevent daytime fatigue.
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What You Can Do
It might leave you feeling discouraged to hear about the links between fatigue, mood, and even cognitive abilities and allergies, but there are many things that can be done that could, in turn, benefit you both from an allergy standpoint and a non-nasal symptom standpoint.
We have come a long way in methods of treating allergic rhinitis. That said, everyone is different and it often requires some trial and error to find out what works best for you.
The first step is to take a look at your environment. With the medications we have available, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are other methods available to address your symptoms such as avoidance of the cause.
You may also want to keep an eye on outdoor pollen counts and plan outdoor activities around these. Of course, eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep, and practicing stress management can make a difference all the way around.
Take Your Allergy Medication In The Evening
Antihistamines are a common and effective way to manage seasonal allergies, and modern allergy medicines are less likely to cause drowsiness than older antihistamines. However, some people may still feel tired after taking an allergy pill, especially if they havent taken one in a while.
To help reduce drowsiness and feel more alert during the day, take your daily antihistamine in the evening rather than first thing in the morning.
Consistency is also key to reducing the drowsiness caused by antihistaminesthe longer you take a daily allergy medication, the more easily your body will be able to tolerate those side effects.
Not all antihistamines are intended for daily use, so talk with your doctor before starting or changing any allergy medications to make sure its a good fit for you.
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What Kind Of Sleep Disturbances Can Come From Allergies
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- Increased risk for sleep apnea
- Poor sleep efficiency
- Short sleep
During the day, their problems dont end. Theyre more likely to have trouble waking up, experience daytime fatigue, and have morning headaches and sinus pain.
There also appears to be a correlation between the severity of a persons allergies and the severity of their sleep problems. In other words, the worse their allergy symptoms are, the worse their sleep is.
For some people with allergies, difficulty sleeping may develop into more serious sleep disturbances, such as bedwetting, insomnia, restless sleep, snoring, obstructive sleep apnea , and other forms of sleep-disordered breathing. The connection between allergies causing or worsening sleep apnea is of particular concern because we know that OSA can lead to difficulty losing weight, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and death.
Pediatric studies suggest that allergies increases the risk for obstructive sleep apnea among children . Children with sleep-disordered breathing are more than twice as likely to have allergic rhinitis than those who dont have sleep apnea. Poor sleep can be especially damaging to children, leading to missed school days, behavioral problems, difficulty with memory, concentration and worsened IQ.
What Causes ‘your’ Fatigue
Many physical and mental illnesses, as well as lifestyle factors, can cause your fatigue, and that can make it hard to diagnose. In some cases, it might be something simple and easy to fix, like having caffeine at bedtime. But other causes, like heart disease or COPD, are serious, and you may need to start long-term treatment right away.
Your doctor can help you sift through your health issues, as well as diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits, in order to zero in on the cause and help you on the road to recovery.
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Why Do Seasonal Allergies Make You Feel Sleepy
23 June 2019
As the weather warms and pollen begins its dance across the sky, some peopleâs bodies hurl them into a storm of watery eyes, runny noses and sneezing fits.
But sometimes the spring and summer months also bring bouts of tiredness. Can people with allergies also blame this on seasonal allergens? The answer is yes there are several ways that seasonal allergies can make us feel low on energy.
An allergy or allergic reaction is, by definition, a fight that the body puts up when itâs faced with a foreign invader, such as pollen, said Dr. Kara Wada, an allergist and immunologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
âThe body expends a lot of energy in making all of the cells, proteins and all of the other substancesâ that build up during an allergic response, also known as inflammation, she said.
This energy expenditure wears out the body and âsome of the same chemical signals in addition to fighting off what it sees as an enemy, makes you feel unwellâ and rundown, she said. This effect in seasonal allergies is like a watered-down version of the extreme tiredness that can overtake people who eat something theyâre allergic to.
This disruption happens because when the adenoids get larger, they can cause obstruction in nasal passageways, which can reduce the amount of oxygen we need to breathe comfortably, said Dr. Priyanka Seshadri, a pediatric resident also at Nicklaus Childrenâs Hospital.
Take A Shower Before Bed
Taking a shower before bed can help wash pollen or other allergens out of your hair or off your skin, ensuring that you are not bringing allergens into bed with you. Taking a shower or bath before bed may even improve your ability to get a good nightâs sleep by lowering your body temperature, which can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. This should help you feel more rested when you wake up the next morning.
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Are There Ways To Reduce Your Allergy Exposure
Here are several ways to minimize your exposure to seasonal allergies:
- Pay attention to daily pollen and mold spore levels, so you can avoid outdoor activities as much as possible when counts are high. To check out the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunologys allergen tracker, .
- Begin taking medications before the start of the allergy seasonwhen pollen, grass, ragweed, or mold counts soar.
- Shut the windows and doors in your home, office, and car to seal out pollen.
- Wear a hat when outdoors or wash your hair before bed to keep pollen off your pillow and away from your face.
- Change your clothes after spending time outdoors to minimize your exposure to pollen. Studies show that half of the pollen that accumulates on clothing remains even if you try to shake or brush it off before you go indoors.
- Avoid mowing the grass or raking moldy leaves if those are your triggers, or wear a mask when doing so.
Treating Fatigue Caused By Allergies
1. Limit your exposure to allergens
The best way to fully reduce your allergy symptoms is to decrease your exposure to your known allergy triggers. Once you know which allergens are the cause of your symptoms, you can reduce your exposure to them. For example, if youâre allergic to pollen, you can try to stay indoors on days when pollen counts are high., or if you are very allergic to cats you can try to limit your exposure to them.
You can also check online to find your local pollen report. If you have air-conditioning, you should try to keep your windows closed. The same goes for when you are traveling in a car, keep the air conditioning on. If you do spend a lot of time outside, it is a good idea to change your clothing as soon as you come inside.
There are many examples online on how to reduce your allergen exposure once you have identified your specific trigger.
2. Medication
There are many kinds of allergy medications. Some are targeted at specific allergies while others are more generalized and treat many kinds of allergies. The most common medications are antihistamines, which are generally now found OTC or you can experiment with natural antihistamines.
Your best bet if you want to avoid feeling tired and also reduce other annoying allergy symptoms is to take an antihistamine. â
As mentioned earlier, be aware that many antihistamines themselves can cause fatigue and drowsiness.
3. Allergy Immunotherapy
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Can Allergies Make You Tired
Congestion, headache, runny nose, these are just some allergy symptoms that can affect your everyday life if theyre not treated with the proper care. Perhaps one of the most invasive symptoms that becomes a nuisance to everyday life is the overall feeling of fatigue that allergies bring about. Also known as brain fog, this fatigue can make it hard to focus on normal daily tasks, such as work or school, and can also have you feeling irritable or lazy.
How To Treat Allergy
Step one is getting to the source of whats causing your allergies in the first place. An allergist can help you do just that. He or she can perform allergy testing by skin testing or by blood work to help identify any allergy triggers, says Patricia Takach, M.D., an allergist and immunologist with Penn Medicine.
Once you know whats triggering an allergic reaction, do your best to avoid those substances, says David Corry, M.D., professor of medicine in immunology, allergy, and rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine. That means taking steps like staying indoors on high pollen count days and making a few lifestyle changes such as showering when you come indoors, cleaning your sheets regularly, and keeping petswho can carry things like pollen and grassout of your bed. Wearing a face mask when youre outdoors can also help filter out pollen and other allergens that may be irritating.
Its also a good idea to consider taking an allergy medication. This is especially important if you are feeling any breathing symptoms at allcoughing, wheezing, or shortness of breathas this is dangerous if left untreated, says Dr. Takach. An allergist can help determine the right medication for you.
The bottom line: If youre struggling with allergy-related fatigue and you cant seem to get relief on your own, talk to your doctor about your options. They should be able to find the best treatment plan to boost your energy again.
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What Should You Know About Allergies
Most often, people have sensitivity towards specific substances in their environment or to specific seasonal change. These allergy inducing factors make their immune system to respond immediately, when they are exposed to such factors. This defense action of the immune system makes the body to release immunoglobulin that sends several chemicals, such as histamine to their nasal passage.
These histamines are the culprits behind the symptoms associated with allergies. These body chemicals cause the congestion of nasal passages for preventing allergic contamination from reaching the brain. The release of this chemical also leads to several symptoms like irritation in the throat, runny nose, mucus production, headaches, pressure in sinus points and watery eyes.
How Can You Treat Fatigue Caused By Allergies
The good news is there are many ways to get allergy relief so you can get rid of that looming, tired feeling. The first step in finding this relief is getting tested for allergies, so you know whats causing your symptoms. Then you can work together with your doctor to find an allergy treatment thats right for you.
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Why & How Allergies Can Make You Tired
The ragweed is in bloom or you visited a friend with a cat, and now your allergies are leaving you so exhausted youâre dragging around all day. Is it the allergies themselves that turn you into a lethargic ghost of your former self? Could it be your medication? Why and how can allergies make you tired?
When you have an allergic reaction, your body releases proteins called proinflammatory cytokines, which are designed to neutralize invading particles, including allergens like pollen, pet dander, and mold. Researchers believe that cytokines act on the central nervous system and prompt leukocytes and other cells to secrete IL-1 beta , a hormone-like substance that can make you feel lethargic and depress your mood. Perhaps fatigue from the inflammatory process is your bodyâs way of telling you to rest so it can fight whatever is plaguing your system.
Some research links daytime drowsiness and lethargy to poor nighttime sleep, a complaint from many who suffer from allergies. A stuffy nose, post-nasal drip, and coughing can surely ruin a nightâs sleep. Add that to several weeks of bad sleep that you might get during a typical allergy season and youâre in a state of chronic fatigue. This can lead to other health problems that worsen fatigue.
Medication
Can allergies make you tired? Yes. Can you do anything about it? Yes. Limit exposure to allergens, evaluate your medications, and talk to your doctor about treatment options.
Which Type Is Best
There’s not much evidence to suggest any particular antihistamine is better than any other at relieving allergy symptoms.
Some people find certain types work well for them and others do not. You may need to try several types to find one that works for you.
Non-drowsy antihistamines are generally the best option, as they’re less likely to make you feel sleepy. But types that make you feel sleepy may be better if your symptoms stop you sleeping.
Ask a pharmacist for advice if you’re unsure which medicine to try as not all antihistamines are suitable for everyone.
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Why Do Seasonal Allergies Make Us Tired
Seasonal allergies can do more than just cause a runny nose or coughwhen left untreated, they can lead to drowsiness and poor concentration, too.
Allergy fatigue is the result of your body working hard to fight off a foreign invader. Its similar to the way your body fights a virus like the common cold or the flu, which can also leave you feeling drained.
When you have an allergic response to something like dust, pollen, or pet dander, your body also releases proteins , which can cause inflammation in your nose. Chronic inflammation has been linked to fatigue and depression.
Allergies can also indirectly cause you to feel tired during the day by disrupting your sleep at night. Common allergy symptoms like coughing, sneezing, and congestion can make it hard to get a good nights rest, making it hard to stay focused the next day.
Treating seasonal allergy tiredness isnt always simple, either. Common medications like Benadryl often cause drowsiness as a side effect. Fortunately, there are ways to manage fatigue and stay alert during allergy season.
