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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Spring is in the Air
I suffer from pollen allergies. Is there a good Chinese medicine that anyone can recommend?
Let me save you from having to type some of the usual jokes for the trolls who like to play games on here...although I am sure you will come up with many more.
1. Leave China
2. Wear a medical mask
3. Leave China
4. Lots of alcohol
5. Leave China
6. Hold your breath and die
7. Leave China
8. Drink lots of hot water
9. Leave China
Ok??? Now I am ready for the serious replies and the stupid jokes. Bring it on. Even the jokes from the kindergarten trolls. I will read your replies too.
9 years 29 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
Garlic is a natural antihistamine.
I always travel with a good supply of odorless garlic tablets as they are good preventatives for a variety of common problems including being a natural deterrent to mosquito bites (1 tablet a day means i am bite free during the worst times of the year).
I also suffer from pollen allergies and have not done so in years since increasing the amount of garlic in my diet.
And no, i don't smell of garlic
depending on where you live and your access to this sort of supplement, go for garlic itself.
Garlic is used in many local dishes and is easily available in shops: best eaten in the evening so by the next morning the worst odor effects are mostly gone.
I have also tried Ginkgo biloba, but it is not as effective.
When at home, i also consume a small amount of local honey every day - not practical in China i know.
Garlic is a natural antihistamine.
I always travel with a good supply of odorless garlic tablets as they are good preventatives for a variety of common problems including being a natural deterrent to mosquito bites (1 tablet a day means i am bite free during the worst times of the year).
I also suffer from pollen allergies and have not done so in years since increasing the amount of garlic in my diet.
And no, i don't smell of garlic
depending on where you live and your access to this sort of supplement, go for garlic itself.
Garlic is used in many local dishes and is easily available in shops: best eaten in the evening so by the next morning the worst odor effects are mostly gone.
I have also tried Ginkgo biloba, but it is not as effective.
When at home, i also consume a small amount of local honey every day - not practical in China i know.
Just out of curiosity, where do you live, and to what specific plants are you allergic?
All my allergies disappeared in China, I'm mostly allergic to rose palmgroves and plane trees. I had stocks of medicine back home that I don't use now. Hope you can find a solution fast, sorry this didn't help.
RiriRiri: I am not sure of my allergies. But, it seems to be hay fever and Pine pollen that get to me the worst. Maybe molds too. But, I am uncertain. I am in Jiangxi Province, so I suspect the amount of pine in this area is the culprit. I brought some allegy meds from America, but after two years, they are getting old and I am almost out of the meds. I was thinking someone might have found a good Chinese med in the pharmacy here.
Sorrel: That is great advice. I am aware of the garlic benefits you mentioned. But, I hate to smell like garlic. Can you buy the odorless garlic tablets in the pharmacies here? Or, at another store? I have heard about local honey helping too. But, I am unaware of a local honey producer here.
Try Watsons, they might might sell the garlic tablets. I'm sure taobao will have it too.
Failing that, you can buy pickled garlic in the deli section of supermarkets. I've eaten it in restaurants and really like it and it doesn't seem to smell like normal garlic does. Or maybe I was just too drunk to notice but everyone else did
I would just go to a pharmacist and ask for antihistamine. They will work
i haven't got hay fever since I came to China. Maybe something to do with pollution or because the vegetation is different. For its a real benefit of being here.
Thanks Stiggs. I looked up garlic tabs on Taobao. I will try to order some when i place my bext order of other things I get from there.
dokken: I have tried to go to the phamacist. My Chinese is not very good. I took the Google translation with me and they were lost as to what i was asking. I have taken my TA with me and she had no clue what I was asking for. I am sure they must have antihistimine there. I just can not figure out how to ask for it. But, I will be persistent and try again.
dokken:
you not got any chinese friends?
i was thinking they might not have antihistamines because it is not so common in the developing world. in the west we ve largely managed to eliminate worms and other parasites from our bodies, causing our immune system to be overactive and hypersensitive since it doesnt need to focus on these threats anymore. it ll probably be awhile before allergies are common in china
icnif77:
Some pharmacists speak English, similar as Chinese MDs. If no luck with English, bring paper with name of the 'illness&meds for it' translated in Chinese to pharmacist. I've never tried that. I rarely go to pharmacy in China.
How about using ...medicine... regardless of where it comes from, as far as
* it has been through clinical trials
* it has documented dosage
* the mode of action is understood
For allergies, antihistaminic are designed to remove the symptoms with minimal side-effect. Cetirizine is available without prescription in China. It tends to be very strongly dosed here, so try first with half a pill to see if it works well enough. Over-dosed cetirizine might make you moody and give you a dry mouth sensation. I suffer from hay fever, I use cetirizine...
nashboroguy:
Thank you DrMonkey. I will try to find some. I only like to use the meds when my allergies get too severe. It is nice to have them during those times.
For translating technical terms, use dict.youdao.com or iciba.com. Those two websites have accurate translations for pretty much any kind of medicine you can think of.