In frustration in the midst of an allergy attack at work I decided I’d be less miserable with some candy. I joked with a co-worker that I was testing the allergy reduction properties of the York Peppermint Patty. About 30 or 45 minutes later I suddenly realized my eyes had stopped itching, my sinuses were clear and I hadn’t sneezed for quite a while.
Very odd and interesting.
Since then I’ve repeated the experiment a couple times and had similar results. Now perhaps if I just wait 30 or 45 minutes after any allergy attack the symptoms will abate, but I’m thinking perhaps I’m onto something here…
(Note: it’s not the peppermint oil. I had Altoids before I resorted to bigger candies and they didn’t have the same effect.)
If you’ve got allergies and proper medication is unavailable, you might give it a try. Let me know what happens.
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I told someone about this (Dunstan, was this you?) and he said his family always used completely flat Coke (not any other cola, only Coke works, apparently, and even Diet Coke won’t do) as a cure for major digestive upset.
MetaGrrrl 
Oo, oo! Coke used to bottle the syrup minus the carbonation (I assume they put some water in there to make it palatable) for digestive upset. My mother (who is a nurse) used to have a bottle for a while..
Remember that soda stuff started out as a health improving tonic..
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You are right about Coke, it’s so legit that many drug stores still sell the Coke syrup as a stomach calmer. My wife never travels without it, Dramamine makes her sleepy but Coke syrup helps and she can stay in the act.
The other classic OTC thing is Ginger in almost any form, flat Ginger Ale, Ginger Snap cookies and from your corner health store, ginger pills. It doesn’t work as well for us as Coke but it has lots of proponents as well. My brother-in-law who’s an open water sailer always has some ginger pills in his first aid bag on his boat for the land lubbers that get twisted up when out on the water.
Enjoy the holiday.
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