Travel Health and Fitness - Histamine anomaly???

I am just curious if anyone else experiences an allergy attack in the last 1/2 hour of a flight?

I do not have hay fever or any regular allergies but all of a sudden, my nose starts to tickle and run clear fluid. Then comes the sneezing. This happens on short hops and long hauls.........basically, it occurs towards the end no matter how long the flight is. It usually lasts for a few hours after I have arrived at my destination. Then.....nothing......no cold or continued allergy symptoms appear until the next flight.

Is there an explanation for this anomaly? Do they add something to the pressure or filtered air as the plane begins to descend??

It's just plain weird!!!

Have you tried taking allergy medication during the flight to see if that helps?

Have you tried taking allergy medication during the flight to see if that helps?

Since I don't normally have allergies and this does not happen on every flight, it's not something I regularly carry with me but maybe I should consider it.

I hate taking anti-histamines as they often make me drowsy. And...on long, transcontinental flights I will often take a sleep aid to counteract the jet lag so I don't want to combine the two (sleep aids help me sleep without that groggy feeling).

I was just wondering if there was a scientific (medical or something they actually do to the air in the plane) that causes this reaction??

I get something similar to what you described, but to me I always just thought it was my sinuses reacting to (freaking out, really) the lack of humidity in the cabin. Maybe try mucinex or mucinex D first if you don't want to go full on allergy medicine? And stay hydrated? Maybe use one of those masks?

I wonder if it is possibly related to a change in cabin pressure/descent?

I had sinus surgery about a year ago. Shortly before my surgury my sinuses would get incredibly painful during changes in altitude - whether it be due to descent of a plane or a elevator flight down many floors. This would be to the point that they felt like they would explode.

Since having the surgery I have no problems.