Seasonal Allergies

It's spring time and I live in the midwest and as has happened each of the past few years I have terrible seasonal allergies - congestion, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, etc.

First off, I'm wondering if anyone could give me an explanation as to why an adult would develop these if they never had them before (what is going wrong in my body to make this happen?)

Secondly, does anyone have any good natural methods to 1) ease the symptoms to begin with; and 2) correct the underlying problem so this does not occur for me anymore?

johnt - Usually seasonal allergies, whether you've had them before or are now getting them when you've never had them before is generally from not making enough cortisol.

This can be solved by either taking small dose hydrocortisone or naturally by taking licorice root to increase cortisol production.

If this doesn't work, there are other factors to consider, but this is the most common explanation.

Interesting. Wouldn't increased cortisol be bad for hair though?

I had great success with cayenne pepper, which also cured two aquaintances of mine. But - see various threads on cayenne pepper's effect on hair; Feedbacks are mixed, at best. Just wanted to mention it anyway as its effectiveness on my allergies was total.

johnt - Cortisol is an essential hormone, only too much of it can be bad (catabolic). If you're not producing enough, it suggests that you're low on fight or flight hormone response, which could be a sign of adrenal dysfunction. If your cortisol is too low you can actually lose hair.

Nordic - Interesting about the cayenne for allergies