I'm having some allergy testing done in 5 days, so am off my antihistamine until then. It's now been 48 hours since my last zyrtec. I normally take one each evening. I've been taking stinging nettle 3x a day which has helped a lot, but I'm afraid it won't continue to hold off the itching, especially as more of the zyrtec gets out of my system.

As far as I know, the active ingredients in stinging nettle are histamine and acetylcholine. I believe it’s the histamine that is keeping the allergy symptoms as bay. I can’t take anything that is a natural antihistamine before my testing, as that would block the reactions that I want to show up. Many herbs, like oregano, are natural antihistamines.

If I start itching like mad in the next few days, can anyone recommend a remedy?

I’m so impressed with the stinging nettle - and its low cost! – that I may eventually try to control my allergies more with natural products. But right now I just want to get through the next several days.

"Several herbs have been proposed as corticosteroid-sparing agents and may provide a viable alternative to topical steroids and their side-effects. Oatmeal baths appear to be most useful because of its colloidal protein and high mucilaginous content. Other herbs have been suggested because of their high mucilage content as well, including flax, fenugreek, English plantain, hearts ease, marshmallow, mulberry, mullein, and slippery elm.[3] More extensive research needs to be conducted regarding their possible use and effectiveness for the treatment of pruritus"

They also mention such agents as witch hazel, chamomile, menthol and camphor.

Coconut oil (not to mention virgin coconut oil) has to be one of the most overhyped cure-alls on the market today (I'm kind of surprised no one has brought up another snake-oil equivalent - cider vinegar). There's zero evidence I know of that coconut oil or any cooking oil would be good for itchy skin, unless the distraction of having some oily goo on your skin made you temporarily forget about the itching.

As always, be careful before widely applying anything that might provoke an itchy contact dermatitis on its own, and follow through with whatever useful recommendations you get on the basis of the allergy testing.

As far as a nice healing salve for your skin, try a salve made from calendula infused oil mixed with melted beeswax. Beautiful stuff for all sorts of dry and damaged skin.

FataMorgana

If you are allergic to ragweed, you may also be allergic to chamomile. Rooibos, lemon balm, and solidago are natural antihistamines that come to mind.

I assume a lot of my itching is food or preservative allergies, and perhaps medication allergies. I tried to stop my Zyrtec for 5 days for allergy testing, but couldn't stand the itching. I'm not sure why, but I hand handle major pain better than major itch. After 4 days, I was about to the point of a nervous breakdown!

Anyway, I've decided to omit all grain and dairy foods from my diet for the next two months, along with as many artificial ingredients as possible. This includes corn, as it is actually a grain. I hope my overall health improves on this eating plan. I also expect it to calm down the immune system enough that I can at least tolerate being off antihistamines for food allergy testing, if I still feel I need to. (My insurance won't pay for allergy blood testing, and I really can't afford it otherwise. It does pay for skin testing.)

If nothing else, I'll lose weight this way! It's a lot easier to load up on calories when eating grains and dairy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercetin