Pollen Allergies Fatigue Solution With Zinc Citrate Or Zinc Picolinate

Pollen allergies to pollen of grass, ragweed, and other plants would cause me serious fatigue from the first week of May to the end of September for 12 years. I’d wake up in the morning exhausted, dehydrated, with swollen eyes as if I hadn’t slept for days. Sometimes my eyes would “glue” themselves shut.

Finally, I saw an allergist. He wanted me to avoid pollen by wearing a dust mask 24 hours a day, close all the windows, and avoid mowing the law. I never did, so he had me try a new allergy medication at the time (1987). Seldane twice a day worked great, as if I had no pollen allergies. The pollen allergy symptoms I had at the time were so bad that if I forgot to take Seldane, when my body ran out of Seldane, whatever dream I was dreaming would freeze frame until I woke up from the stress. I would take a tablet of Seldane, go back to bed, and fall asleep less than an hour later. By 1990, Seldane was so expensive, I couldn’t afford it for another allergy season. (Seldane is sold only in the UK now.)

About a month before another allergy season set in, I started taking a 50 mg supplement of zinc citrate every day to strengthen my immune system, but 50 mg was too much and shortly after I stopped for several days and restarted at 50 mg every other day. Unexpectedly, when the allergy season started, the deep fatigue and other allergy symptoms didn’t set in. To be sure, I took the allergy medication several different times during the allergy season and didn’t feel any better. It appeared to be a cure because when I would forget to take the zinc for a week or so, a zinc deficiency would develop (from allergies) and during the zinc deficiency symptoms I still had no symptoms of pollen allergies.

Ragweed

According to ABC News, the last ragweed pollen season was the worst in recorded history and it’s due to global warming. Weeds, the worst for allergies being ragweed, thrive in warmer temperatures and of course longer summers.

Oak, elm, poplar, and maple trees release pollen in early spring. Bermuda, orchard, and timothy grasses release pollen in late spring and early summer. Ragweed (pictured) is by far the most problematic of pollen. A single ragweed plant, if large enough, releases as much as a billion ragweed pollen grains a season. Ragweed plants release pollen from mid-August through October. Because ragweed pollen grains are so light, ragweed grains can be carried as far as 400 miles.

Zinc Deficiency Symptoms

There are many signs of a deepening zinc deficiency. If you don’t have the symptom listed don’t think you necessarily don’t have a zinc deficiency.

Significant fatigue without reason

Exhaling and then noticing the effort it takes to inhale (not talking about airway constriction).

Flat on your back fatigue where all you want to do is lay down.

Grinding teeth, especially during sleep. Move your lower jaw all the way left and then all the way right, fairly loud jaw joint crack like a knuckle is likely caused by a zinc deficiency. Relieve pressure on the joint by regularly checking for the jaw joint crack.

Inability to sleep until rested – waking up much earlier than you want to (can also be caused by other deficiencies)

For guys, having to take a leak all the time but often not all that much comes out (pseudo BPH).

Long term zinc deficiency can distort emotions and can cause problems with level of heart break out of proportion with situation, same for infatuation and jealousy. 50 mg of zinc citrate pops you out of this by the next day like these symptoms never occurred, but you still can’t take more than 50 mg every other day or 25mg every day without weakening the immune system. Like potassium deficiency and certain B-vitamin deficiencies, alcohol on top of zinc deficiency can easily cause problems. Zinc deficiency probably causes potassium deficiency. Correct the zinc deficiency and high potassium diet could be too much potassium.

Zinc and Beta Carotene

Twenty-five mg a day or 50mg every other day of zinc citrate is plenty, but start out with 25mg every other day (or less). Telltale symptoms of both zinc deficiency and too much zinc include frequent coughing or short periods of frequent coughing that stems from an itch or irritation in or near the voice box. Not more than 25mg a day or more than 50mg every other day should be taken because zinc is a core nutrient of the immune system. Too much zinc weakens the immune system, making the body much more susceptible to colds, the flu, bronchitis, and all illness related to the immune system. 50 mg every other day or 25mg every day may be fine at first but sometime later may turn out to be too much zinc for some, especially for those who are otherwise pretty healthy, the same for beta carotene, and selenium.

A long-term zinc deficiency can cause small white marks on fingernails, one form of Leukonychia. When taking zinc the curved white area at the bottom of the finger nail will become smaller (lower) and can even disappear completely.

Vitamin A is also a core nutrient of the immune system. Using zinc, the body (a.k.a. the cells of the body) turns beta carotene into vitamin A as needed. Taking beta carotene instead of vitamin A prevents you from taking too much vitamin A, which can cause a lot of problems, some of them permanent.

Beta carotene is usually sold in 10,000 and 25,000 IU supplements. Because zinc is needed to convert beta carotene to vitamin A, taking beta carotene on top of a zinc deficiency will make a zinc deficiency worse. 10,000 IU every day or 25,000 IU every other day of beta carotene will help the immune system fight and prevent chest colds, influenza virus (the flu), and the parasites (bacteria, virus) that cause pneumonia and bronchitis. In 2006, flu and pneumonia caused 55,800 deaths. (For some, 25,000 IU of beta carotene can increase blood pressure for several hours.)

Major Causes of Death, see 7, 8 (

One symptom of a vitamin A deficiency is a circular patch of blood shot on the white of the eye below the iris. If the patch is there, you’re probably too low on vitamin A. You can even see the blood shot patch on the eyes of some people on TV and in movies. No blood shot patch does not necessarily mean no vitamin A deficiency. Once a supplement of beta carotene is taken, the patch will disappear in about 4-6 hours and will reappear a couple of days later if another beta carotene supplement isn’t taken. Pumpkin pie contains a lot of beta carotene compared to other foods and a couple of slices may be enough to remove the circular blood shot patch. This useful symptom may be lost when taking a vitamin D supplement.

Most sources will tell you beta carotene is non toxic and you can take all the beta carotene you want and not worry. Those same sources didn’t double check their statement by taking a handful of 25,000 IU of beta carotene to see what happens. A nutrient that is said to be non toxic means that supposedly, no matter how much you take of the nutrient, it won’t kill you. A nutrient may actually be non toxic, but that doesn’t mean a lot of “non toxic” nutrient won’t cause you permanent harm. Too much beta carotene causes fatigue and weakens the immune system. For those taking beta carotene to prevent respiratory infections (bronchitis, the Flu, etc.), too much beta carotene can easily lead to repertory infections. Smoking is a serious influx of destructive free radicals and alter beta carotene, probably by turning it into a free radical from an antioxidant. Studies show that smoking and taking beta carotene causes more deaths than smoking alone.

When taking zinc or beta carotene and starting to feel better and then starting too feel worse, this is not an indication that more zinc or beta carotene is needed and probably means you’re taking too much. If fatigue occurs after at first feeling better take a couple of days off from these nutrients. Obviously this is more likely to occur with 25,000 IU supplements of beta carotene than 10,000 IU of beta carotene. (But 25,000IU every other day is a money saver.)

Zinc Solution For Pollen Allergy Fatigue and Other Symptoms Lasted 17 years.

Unfortunately The zinc solution didn’t last forever, and the pollen allergies came back in the form of seasonal asthma. Here’s some nutritional and medication help for seasonal asthma.

Pollen Allergy Induced Asthma and MSM, Beta Carotene, Magnesium, and Medication