Help for Hay Fever Sufferers

A legal source for the real Actifed in the USA!

We love living in the country but one drawback is that my husband suffers from hay fever this time of year when the ragweed is in its glory. The most effective over the counter medicine he has used is Actifed Cold and Allergy. The original formula was made with a pseudoephedrine/triprolidine combination. Unfortunately, I heard that it was taken off the market awhile ago because drug dealers were using the original formula to make crystal meth. They replaced it with another over the counter Actifed formula that doesn’t work at all for my husband.  I used to be able to buy the generic Actifed at Dollar General Store for a dollar or two.

I was happy to find a place to buy it in Canada so I ordered some from Canada Drugs first in 2010.  The second order I got was shipped from Turkey.  When I tried to order again last year,  it was no longer available at their site. I searched the web again  trying to find somewhere else to buy it and was so happy to find out that it is still available in the USA at Walgreens!  It is their generic brand called Wal-Act.  It is kept behind the counter but a prescription is not needed. I had to show them my photo ID and sign an agreement at the pharmacy in order to purchase it, but was so glad to be able to find some locally.

There are warnings for those with high blood pressure and for those with other medical problems so read up on it and be aware of the risks before taking it.

Edited to update on March 16, 2013:

The comments that follow were responses to my original post from  October 2010 after I ordered the first time from Canada Drugs.

Clean silver without the toxins

I heard that baking soda could be used to clean silver, but wasn’t sure exactly how to use it. I found this article at e-how, and it’s really simple and it works — it left my sterling silver beads bright and shiny.

Simply line a glass pan with aluminum foil, and place your jewelry or objects on the foil. Sprinkle with baking soda. Pour boiling water over it, and make sure everything is covered. Somehow, the aluminum captures the tarnish, and leaves your silver clean.

In re: chrysanthemums

Heidi, Denise, my trusted herbaphiles… do you know what the healing properties of chrysanthemum tea are purported to be? I’ve read that it is a stimulant and a relaxant and good for “rheumatism.” I’ve ordered some because I’m tired of chamomile and wanted something I could drink in the evenings after my day of oolong rebrewings. I ordered it from an outfit called cuppa tea.com, but I have to reserve bestowing accolades on this site until my order arrives.

It was kind of a quaint experience, in a jet-setty way. I placed my order and received a confirmation saying that my chrysanthemum buds would arrive in 7-25 days. I wrote back, casually asking where they were located, or at least where my order was actually shipping from, as I wasn’t sure from what point of the planet I am 25 days away. Nice Lisa wrote back saying my order was coming directly from Asia, by normal air parcel. I wrote back saying that was amazing, because when I was in China in 1987, there was no such thing as normal air anything. Air travel was paranormal at best. Of course, my tea could be coming from Singapore or Hong Kong or really anywhere, or even from modern-day China.

I have been able to get chrysanthemum-black tea bags locally, but not pure chrysanthemum buds. It will be fun to brew them. The chrysanthemum-black tea I have is wonderfully sweet, and the sweetness is entirely from the chrysanthemums. I just wanted to know as much as possible from anyone’s personal experience about chrysanthemum tea.

Anyway, cheers.

More than a cup of tea

This is just a quick post to share with you my method of preparing herbal teas in a bulk form versus one cup at a time. I find this useful when my son is having allergy problems and I know he will need to be drinking his tea for a few days, or when I have multiple sick ones in the house. I begin by getting out the necessary dry herbs that I will be using, which will vary depending on the cause for use of the herbs. Next, I place the desired herbs into a mixing bowl or other large vessel making sure to use enough herbs to make a whole pitcher.

Then I boil my water using a full teapot. While the water is boiling, I get out the pitcher that will hold the herbs after they have steeped. I place a large strainer over the mouth of the pitcher to catch the herbs so that only the tea ends up in the pitcher. When the water is ready, pour contents of teapot into mixing bowl with the herb mixture in it. Let steep for the necessary amount of time and then pour contents of mixing bowl into the prepared pitcher.

Next, you would add some sweetening agent if desired. We usually add a little honey or stevia since sugar tends to slow down the immune system. Then whenever a cup is needed, simply pour into a cup and enjoy!

A resource

Since we’ve talked a bit around here about pro-life issues, I thought I’d pass along a link to the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. They have papers and other resources on their site, as well as a directory of members throughout the U.S. (sorry that our Australian and any other foreign readers may not benefit from this). I was happy to find several doctors on this list in my area.

Vinegar

I made the mistake of purchasing the kind of kitchen sponges which say that they have been treated with something to prevent them from getting bacteria ridden — I just grabbed what they had on the shelf at Aldi.  These sponges manage to go bad more quickly and smell more unpleasantly than any other.  Today when I pulled the second out of the bag it immediately  made my kitchen smell like rotting man made sponge, not exactly smell of baking goods, stewing soups, or the lemony clean scent one wishes to achieve in the kitchen.  I washed and washed it with dishsoap but to no avail: it just smelled like rinsed rotting man-made sponge.  I was unsure about washing dishes with it — I remember Rose’s post about drying sponges in the sun, but there was no sun and no time to dry the darn thing.  So I remembered my own comment on Anne’s post about toilet cleaners and recalled  to mind that I had read something about vinegar killing 99 percent of bacteria on contact.  I doused the sponge with red wine vinegar, and then played with it in a little tupperware of water. It was a great blue whale in a small amusement park setting.  My heart was wrung with pity.

When I was all done playing Sea World I rinsed the sponge out again with fresh water and voila!  Clean smelling sponge.  Non scented.  I set it free in the ocean of the kitchen sink.

The point of this post is to direct you to this article on household vinegar as a cleaner.

Incidentally you can also give a little vinegar and water for sore throats and things, and now I understand why.

Save your sanity! Stop the stomach flu!

Here’s an informative site you might like to check out sometime if you’ve ever had the experience of nursing your children (or yourself) through the stomach virus. I tended to look on the bright side growing up: when I was sick, hey, at least I got to stay home from school and watch Nickelodeon all day. Stomach virus was an altogether different category of sick and did not permit such Pollyanna-ish rationalization. … AH, I’m having flashbacks. Must distract myself.