Fertility, allergy meds and antihistamines.

The long and the short of this blog post is to quickly and simply acknowledge the side effects of allergy medicines and antihistamines on fertility. The action of antihistamines is to dry up inflammatory mucous. The problem is that taken long term, antihistamines dry up many mucous membranes in the body including the ovum or eggs meant to be fertilized in conception. I find that many women who have had long term allergy medicine usage have trouble conceiving. The problem is two fold. Any client taking antihistamines or allergy meds long term, has had a long term inflammation problem in the body.

In Chinese medicine we call this dampness or phlegm. Then, patients taking medicines that counteract the dampness or inflammation with drying action, actually have two conflicting pathogens in their bodies. They have underlying dampness or inflammation, phlegm and mucous and they have dryness from the allergy meds. Dryness is called yin deficiency. It is a lack of resource. The eggs get dried up just like the sinus mucous. So the challenge and treatment is to naturally reduce inflammation in the body starting with diet and herbs and then moving to rebuild the healthy ovum or egg cell. Acupuncture helps to turn on the meridian circuits that have been turned off by the damage.

We actually call this a knotty condition because like a Gordian knot, as you dry up the dampness and inflammation you can exacerbate the yin deficiency and as your nourish the yin you can exacerbate the dampness. It's like trying to balance fire and water with out extinguishing or exacerbating the other. It's like trying to unravel a knot that has been interwoven for a long time. It's like having a swamp and a desert in your body at the same time. How do you make balance with that? Luckily my practice is uniquely aware of this issue and can work with couples..(because this can happen to men's sperm too), to help improve fertility!

This is one of the most common factors missed by most practitioners. So if you have a history of allergy medicines and are having trouble conceiving give us a call and we will help you cleanse, balance and re-nourish your system.

The drying effect of antihistamines can also affect your eyes, blood vessels, all parts of your body's mucosal system, your gut, vagina etc. etc. So many issues are created when you dry up the yin or the body fluids. We can help with those too! Call today!