Healthy Tips For Better Life

Dogs, Allergies and You

So, everyday it's the same thing. Sneezing, sniffling, runny nose, eye irritations, and even headaches. Maybe a little nausea. What's causing all of these symptoms? You go to the doctor and you're told that you have allergies. Allergies can be very hard to track down. You can go through all kinds of testing and be prescribed different drugs to treat your allergies. These drugs will suppress any symptoms you have been having, however, that may not be the answer to the problem.

Here's where many people come to the conclusion that they are allergic to their dog. Maybe you've had your dog companion for years, but all of a sudden you develope an allergy and perhaps you've been told by a doctor that you are allergic to your pet. Well, maybe, but before you surrender your dog to a shelter, give this some serious thought. Perhaps, you're allergic to all the unseen chemicals that are outgassing into your home from furniture, carpet, drapes, glue in wallpaper, plywood, vinyl flooring, fake wood flooring, glues used in flooring and carpet installations.

Maybe your allergies are caused from all of the food additives, chemicals, pesticides, insecticides, and other preservatives in the food you eat and the liquids that you drink, like diet drinks. Do you know how harmful artificial sweetners are? If you use a powdered sweetner in your tea or coffee, you might try switching over to Stevia. It can be found in either powder or liquid. It is a wonderful, natural, herbal sweetner, made from the leaf of the Stevia plant. Look for it in the health food sections of the larger grocery stores or natural food stores.

If you have silver fillings in your teeth or other metals in your mouth like braces or partials made with metals, these could be causing headaches, sinus and other problems. Also, hair and makeup products are filled with dangerous, poisonous chemicals. Natural health food stores carry cosmetics and hair products that are much safer to use than the products that we see in the drug stores. They also carry a fine line of toothpaste and deodorants that are chemical free.

Prescription drugs can also cause drug reactions that seem to be allergy symptoms. If you have your clothes dry cleaned, these chemicals can penetrate into your skin. Have you ever noticed how your dry cleaning has an "aroma"? That's the chemicals.

Your job could be making you sick--seriously, the office could be filled with unseen chemicals circulating in the air conditioning system. Most offices don't have windows to open to air out the stale air.

And another consideration--what's going on in your bed? (Not being personal) There could be and probably are thousands of dust mites reproducing and having a great time in your mattress. These little critters cannot be seen, but they can certainly cause allergies. What can you do? Buy a mattress that is hypoallergenic, something that mites can't set up housekeeping in. Make sure to keep all bedding washed frequently.

So, maybe the problem is that after many years of being exposed to all of these chemicals and irritants in a daily assault on your body, your liver just cannot process and cleanse like it should. And your cells are filled with toxins and your body is telling you that it can't take anymore. Perhaps, it has nothing to do with the family pet. Many people are quick to jump to the conclusion that Fido has to go. Then after they give up their dog, they still have allergies. A local shelter ran an ad just the other day on a family dog that was given up due to allergies. They had the dog for 10 years.

We have to remember that we are exposed daily to hundreds of toxins that cause adverse effects in our bodies. Some of these we cannot control, but we need to learn to control the ones that we can. Like using natural products, eating organic foods that are not saturated with poisonous chemicals. Stop eating preservatives and pay attention to what you drink. Stop saturating your lawn with chemicals so you can have a green lawn. These chemicals are tracked into your home on the soles of your shoes. Also, do you have small children that play in the grass? This is very dangerous for them also, especially if you have little ones that like to eat dirt. Dirt is dirtier today than it was 20 years ago!

These are just some points to consider if you have allergies. There are many, many things that can cause them besides the dear family dog. Do some research on these points and see if you find some relief in the form of not having to take drugs that are just a cover up for the real problem. Find the problem. Look around your home. Then maybe you'll happily realize that you don't need to give away your dog or your cat. The whole family will feel better!

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