80% improvement.

I'd be highly suspicious of anyone who claims 100% success when it comes to (non-food) allergies. (Not just as a result of Paleo -- but anything, including medication.)

It's too much of a coincidence that 30 years of seasonal allergies ended abruptly when changing my diet. It's all about inflammation I think in this case. I credit paleo with saving me $5 a week on claritan and allowing me to ride my motorcycle again without paying for it afterwards. I was a mess for 30years and then last fall and this spring nothing.

I have a 15 year old son who developed asthma & eczema at about 1 year old. He was on antibiotics almost continuously for almost 7 years. He was allergic to dogs, cats, mold, etc. He was so bad he was usually hospitalized every 3-4 months for weeks at a time. Since I converted him to the Paleo Lifestyle about 3 years ago, he is about 90% better in everything. He is not 'cured but he rarely has any asthma attacks, his eczema is practically non-existent and rarely presents any allergy symptoms. He is off all meds but I always keep an inhaler around just incase. He is a healthy, happy straight A student, no acne issue (which he is happy about). He prefers kombucha over soda, does not eat candy/chocolate, very little sugar, no processed foods and eats raw liver with me once a week :)

In a nutshell - YES!

My husband suffered from severe snoring, psoriasis, congestion, allergic conjunctivitis (red, itchy eyes), GI distress (varying between constipation, diarrhea, gas, belching, bloating, severe abdominal pain)

I suffered from congestion, allergic conjunctivitis, GI distress (bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas), psoriasis, and eczema.

Our allergies were so bad that even twice a week acupuncture only reduced about 40% and was more costly then going Primal! We were desperate almost going to go for allergy shots and steroids but that's when I did my research and found Paleo-friendly books. The rest is history.

About 60% of the symptoms reduced on a gluten-free diet, then 100% elimination happened on Primal. We did take out dairy for 30 days and then reintroduced with grass-fed pastured butter, cream, and ghee with no ill effects. Later we added 1 cup of raw milk daily and 1-2 cups of yogurt a week that seemed okay.

Psoriasis, eczema, snoring, and GI distress will flare up with enough gluten, soy, and industrial vegetable oils.

Some of the allergies disappeared in a matter of weeks, some took nearly a year to heal. Probiotics can help modulate the allergy response so we did a lot of that.

I have allergic rhinitis. I have been taking Omnaris and Nasonex (nasal sprays) to cope with it for years. If I don't my nose is completely stuffed up. By eating paleo, and especially by going dairy free (I was grain free for over 6 months before giving up the diary) I noticed within 10 days that I did not need the sprays. When I ate diary, my nose stuffed up and the same allergy symptoms returned, puffy eyes, irritability, head aches, swollen hands in reaction to - pollen, dust, and mold. The trees are starting to bud, some have leaves and I am not my usually miserable self for this time of year. I can't believe it. I just posted about this on my blog: http://www.paleoasis.com/2012/04/what-i-learned-from-whole30.html

I really think trying to eat strick paleo for 30 days is worth a try if it COULD reduce your reaction to Dog. Perhaps it could just reduce your "allergic load". By that I mean reducing exposure to one allergen can lessens your reaction to other allergens (ie, not having diary lessens my reaction to pollen).

best of luck - Lisa

My seasonal allergies have significantly improved to the point that it is barely noticeable.

Definitely! And I didn't expect it, either.

For the last 3-4 months (up until about 2 weeks ago) I'd been following a pretty strict diet and training regimen. It wasn't "Paleo" per se (I was training for a figure competition), but I already knew that I did better psychologically and physically in general without the grains, particularly breads. It just happened that I really was eating a paleo diet, though. And several weeks ago it had just occurred to me as I was cleaning the cat litter box that I was doing so without sneezing up both my lungs. Then I realized that, in fact, my cats were no longer an allergy problem at all. And they used to be BAD - I mean the wheezing, can't-sleep, can't-see-the-light-of-day-through-my-puffy-eyeballs brand of allergies. They would persist for the whole day sometimes, interfering with workouts and daily activities.

Now they're totally GONE! I hadn't read about or known about this being an effect of this, either. And I hadn't found this board until.. today! :) But then again, I could really feel how my body's inflammatory responses in general seemed to have mellowed out. Things just don't get itchy and irritated like they would previously. So it really makes sense.

I just wish my boyfriend would try this. He's lifting weights and going heavy on the carbs, and has a tough time thinking of eliminating bread from his diet... but he's always had just terrible allergies - mold, pollen, cats - affecting him night and day, ruining his whole day often-times. Sigh...

I've definitely noticed I get less stuffed up in the spring since going paleo- never had very serious seasonal allergies but I am way less sneezy/sniffly than I used to be.

Another yes here. I didn't expect it, either.

Chronic and allergic rhinitis, gone. Seasonal allergies, easily manageable (sneeze now and again, that's about it). Eczema, gone. other dry skin, mostly gone.

cat allergy, this is the important one for you since you have a pet issue, and I don't think it's changed too much, but is slightly better.

My horrible pollen allergies are at least %75 percent better. The only seven day stretch of pollen funk happened when my back (T8-T11 went out) in february and effected my digestion. Seven days of clariton. Once my back /digestion recovered my allergies disappeared again. Really proved the point that all allergies start in the gut.

Yes, to dogs, cats & hayfever.

Interestingly, through my 30's I had noticed the allergies were getting progressively worse.

I had even mentioned it to my doc during an annual physical one year.

Long story short, when I went on an elimination diet for a completely unrelated reason, I saw a dramatic improvement.

It could have been gluten, or dairy, or something else. I'm not certain.

Mike

It depends how you define allergies. I have cured eczema attacks and many immunity problems only with vitamin D3, salt, sugar and calcium. For example, I used to get bad problems with several foods, like milk, chocolate, orange juice, ... and tolerate them quite well now. Milk is still tricky. I have to use a lot of salt, sugar, ... to not get acid reflux or sneeze from it. As my libido, sleep, mood, energy, ... improve with milk, and I also sweat from it (I consider this good), I really want to keep drinking it.

I've been in touch with someone that had constant reactions after every meal. I told her to eat salt, and to take vitamin D3, and to eat a lot of sugar with every meal. She hasn't had any reactions since she started that.

As me (and she too) easily have low blood sugar (constant low blood sugar on blood tests), I think we were just making it worse by eating lots of protein without sugar.

I haven't had seasonal allergies either during the whole year, while I normally had them every year, and my father still has them.