Tag: allergies

Determining the Cause of my Exercise-Induced Rhinitis (Runny Nose): Antihistamines Work, but not sure if it’s Allergies

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In a previous post, I mentioned that I get a runny nose when I go for a walk in the mornings or a run in the evening. It’s not terrible, but is annoying and prevents me from breathing comfortably through my nose. I hypothesized that this was caused by allergies and, with great feedback from readers (Reddit, QS forum), designed a set of experiments to check whether this was the case.

In this post, I will report the results from the first experiments, a blinded, placebo-controlled test of exercising after taking a fast-acting antihistamine.

TL;DR:

  • Fast-acting antihistamine reduced my rhinitis, but that could be due to preventing a mild allergy or just drying out my nasal passages.
  • All other allergy medication I can find also reduces mucus production and the other intervention I was planning (wearing an N95 mask) blocks allergens, but will also increase the temperature of the air I breathe and thus not distinguish between allergy and cold as the cause.

Does anyone know of a test a way to block/prevent allergies that doesn’t dry out nasal passages or increase the temperature of the air you breath?


– QD

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Request for Feedback: Experimental Design to Determine if I have Allergy Induced Rhinitis (Runny Nose)

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I’ve started paying more attention to my breathing in the past few weeks and have noticed that when I go for a walk in the mornings or a run in the evening, I develop a runny nose that goes away shortly after I go back inside. It’s not terrible, but is annoying and prevents me from breathing comfortably through my nose.

From a quick search, my symptoms match closely with exercise induced rhinitis (list of articles). Numerous studies have found that exercise induced rhinitis is usually caused by allergies. I have never had nasal allergies, but it’s possible I’ve developed them or that they’ve always been mild enough that I haven’t noticed.

I’d like to determine whether my symptoms are, in fact, being caused by allergies and, if so, if there’s any simple interventions I can do to mitigate them.

Here’s my plan:

  • Step 1: Test if the symptoms are caused by just being outside or only during exercise
    • Go outside to the same location where I exercise and wait for 30 min. (same length as walks/runs).
    • Record whether I develop a runny nose and its severity.
  • Step 2 Test if the symptoms are ameliorated by allergy medication
    • Take fast-acting allergy medication or a placebo 1 hour before exercising.
    • Record whether I develop a running nose and its severity.
    • This experiment will be blinded by placing the pills inside of opaque gel caps and have another person randomize the treatment days for me.
    • Run the experiment for 10 weekdays & 4 weekend days (exercise locations differ)
    • If no effect is seen, repeat this experiment with long-acting (24h) allergy medication, but randomize by week instead of by day.

Questions

  • Does this approach seem reasonable? Any other measurements/tests I should try?
  • Does anyone else have this problem? If so, any recommendations for interventions to try?

Thanks in advance for your help!


– QD

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