Cautions! On Using Local Honey For Allergy Therapy
By Tom Ogren, Thu Dec 8th

Cautions! on Using Local Honey for Therapy

Some time ago I wrote several widely read articles on usinglocally produced honey for immunotherapy, as an inexpensive (andoften effective) way to stop or lessen the symptoms of pollenallergy. However, at this time I feel the need to add a strongcaution to my earlier advice on local honey therapy.

I have, since the writing of that article, encountered a numberof people who have had allergic reactions, occasionally severe,while they were trying to treat themselves with local honey.

That said, I still believe in local honey therapy, still feelit is, for many people, a very good idea, well worthtrying...and it is often quite effective, but please do read thefollowing cautions. Below is one of numerous emails I'vereceived from readers about this, and then my advice to them:

"Dear Tom, my wife has allergies so she took two teaspoons oflocal honey as close as we could get. In about an hour her eyesstarted pouring, then sweating, and a little rash appeared. Itlasted just a few minutes, but it seemed a signal was there thatsomething was wrong at the honey end, any ideas? Thanks for anyhelp. There has to be a natural way. Larry"

And my reply: "Dear Larry, Yes, her body did indeed give her asignal and you are wise to respect that warning. It seemsperfectly obvious to me that your wife almost certainly had anallergic reaction to the local honey...or rather to some pollensor other allergens in the local honey.

It is precisely because the local honey has allergens in it,usually the exact same allergens that allergic people in thatlocality have already been exposed to...it is because of thisfact that the local honey can work as an agent to lessensensitivities to allergies.... but, also, because of these verysame allergens in the honey, using local honey is not withoutsome danger for some of those with existing allergies. You don'tmention if your wife has asthma or not, but for individuals withallergic asthma, I would be even more cautious about using localhoney as therapy.

I recommend this:

have your wife try the same local honey again, but make sureyou are at home with

her when she does it, and she should onlytake a tiny amount.... a quarter of a teaspoon would be plenty.

If this works out and does not trigger any kind of allergicepisode, if there is no itching, rash, no shortness of breath,no sudden sweating, no obvious allergic symptoms, then she couldrepeat the same dose the next day.... but in her case, since shehas already reacted to the honey, she should always have someoneshe fully trusts, close by, someone who can stay for at leastfor several hours after she's ingested the honey.

If after several weeks of this daily therapy, if she has beentolerating it just fine, then she could try to very slightlyincrease the dose, to perhaps a third of a teaspoon of honey perday.... and could keep at that level for several months orlonger. Hopefully, eventually she could work her way, very, veryslowly over a considerable extended period of time, up to a doseof one teaspoon of local honey per day. In her case I wouldn'tever exceed this amount.

If the above works for your wife, almost certainly she will havegreatly decreased her own susceptibility to pollen allergies.If, however, at any point the local honey again triggersallergic symptoms for her, she should immediately stop taking italtogether.

* I myself have not yet seen anaphylaxis associated with use oflocal honey, but it does seem possible: Anyone who takes localhoney and then experiences symptoms of anaphylactic shock, whichcould include any of the following: a sudden, severe attack of,wheezing, difficulty breathing, abdominal pain, vomiting,cramping, rapid pulse, sweating, extensive rash or swelling ofthe skin, lips, nose or eyes, swelling of the throat, nausea,diarrhea, severe drop in blood pressure, fainting... anyoneexperiencing these symptoms should seek immediate medicalattention.

Best of luck and keep me posted. Tom Ogren

Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-free Gardening

About the author:Thomas Ogren is the author of Allergy-free Gardening, and of,Safe Sex in the Garden, both from Ten Speed Press, Berkeley,California. Tom's work on plants and allergies has beenpublished in hundreds of magazines and newspapers worldwide, andhas been featured on National Public Radio, on the CBC, on HGTV,on NBC, CBS, and Fox TV. His website iswww.allergyfree-gardening.com