Chlorine allergy and the end of my swimming days.....
Former Member
Well I'm grateful every day to be healthy enough to swim and not chronically ill or something, but am at my wits end to have come to the conclusion I may very well have to give up swimming. That past year I have been dealing with horrible sneezing bouts post swim that leave me sounding like I have a cold for days. I tried a nose plug for 3 weeks after reading somewhere that might be it even though I don't feel like water gets in there. No effect. Took a week off swimming and my symptoms abated. Got back in Monday and have been a mess.
Makes me quite bummed to think I may have to ditch my swimming...it's hard to stop something you love doing 5x a week that you have been doing for over 30 years. Would love to know if anyone has successfully combated this issue and how. The Googles has been a joke for solutions....all lead to 'stop exposing the person to chlorine'. We have zero salt water pools and I'm 45 minutes from the nearest lake.
Feel free to suggest anything....thanks!
Parents
Former Member
About 6 to 8 years ago I suffered from horrible post swim sneezing and total sinus congestion. I would swim before work, then spend the rest of the day at work feeling miserable. After talking to my doctor about it, he put me on a nose spray...Flonase I believe. I also took Allegra 180s. If I took these before I swam, I had no symptoms after my swim. It saved me, I could continue to swim. I also found that if I swim first thing in the morning (within an hour of waking up) I am way more sensitive than if I swim later in the day. Can't explain the reason for that... Now I don't swim first thing in the morning and I generally don't need to take any allergy meds. Good luck.
About 6 to 8 years ago I suffered from horrible post swim sneezing and total sinus congestion. I would swim before work, then spend the rest of the day at work feeling miserable. After talking to my doctor about it, he put me on a nose spray...Flonase I believe. I also took Allegra 180s. If I took these before I swam, I had no symptoms after my swim. It saved me, I could continue to swim. I also found that if I swim first thing in the morning (within an hour of waking up) I am way more sensitive than if I swim later in the day. Can't explain the reason for that... Now I don't swim first thing in the morning and I generally don't need to take any allergy meds. Good luck.
