can allergies cause depression and anxiety

Prior to finding a reputable doctor to treat my allergies, I seemed to be plagued with periodic bouts of depression.  I learned that my allergies not only made me feel bad about 75% of the time, my allergies had also resulted in chronic sinusitis and the growth of polyps that blocked my sinuses.  This, in turn, caused my sinus cavities to be inflamed and infected.  My first step was to consult a surgeon for sinus surgery.  After healing, I began a regimen of allergy shots.  Nine months later, I feel better and the bouts of depression are gone.  I believe there is a link between depression and allergies.

This is a very good question.  I too have bouts of the "blues" and mood swings.  When I stay inside and avoid crowds I feel better and my "mood" is better.  Remember we are dealing witha  chronic disease and all that that intails. 

Personally I miss my friends and being more social (which can bring on the "blues") but I know that too much of the outside world (literally) can cause serious problems.

I would be very interested in learning if there is some sort of actual medical link between allergies and depression.

Great question.

I have been fighting allergies and subsequently depression/anxiety for many years.  I have found that when my allergies are really severe and I'm taking a lot of antihistamines that the depression gets exponentially worse.  I asked a nurse- practitioner friend of mine and she said YES, most antihistamines when you have to be on them a lot CAN cause depression and when you step down the dosage/frequency of use of them again it can cause anxiety - almost like coming off a lot of caffeine.  So I have to choose between feeling better physically/worse mentally, emotionally or vice versa ?  Why can't someone find a way to help with the allergies and not blow us all out of the water mentally ?!?  Sounds like you've found a doctor who may be able to help you; hope so ! 

Hi George,

There is not a direct link between the mechanism of allergic disorders, and depression or anxiety. People that have chronic and/or severe allergic problems may sometimes get depressed or anxious because of the poor quality of life associated with protracted or serious illness. Any severe illness may aggravate depression and anxiety in a susceptible individual. Because allergic problems are so common, other disorders may sometimes appear to be caused by them when they occur together.

For many years I've had referrals from other doctors for work-up of migraine headaches and attention deficit disorder (ADD), thinking these illnesses were allergy based because of reports associating them with allergic food and environmental triggers. Research has shown this not to be so in both instances (migraine disorders and ADD have no direct relationship to allergy).

Anxiety and depression may be aggravated by stress and many other factors. Some of these factors are thought to be genetic. Allergy relief may be followed by improvement in these two illnesses when the stress is chiefly caused by symptoms associated with the allergic based problem.

Research on asthma and chronic allergic rhinitis has revealed that anxiety and stress may complicate treatment of these disorders. Medications and counseling specific to anxiety and/or depression may be required to fully manage a patient that has allergy problems in this setting.

I know, it sounds a lot like "chicken vs. the egg" argument. In more simple terms, allergic problems may occasionally be complicated by anxiety or depression. Aggressive treatment of the allergy problems may help to resolve the psychological ones (if the allergic symptoms were the major aggravators). Otherwise more medical assistance will be needed to directly address depression or anxiety.

J. Thompson, MD

I am not a doctor but I too have struggled with anxiety/depression and allergies. In my case I do believe the allergies are the main agitator that cause both. The other thing that needs to be mentioned is that vestibular (inner-ear) problems can disrupt balance and cause vertigo and dizziness thus leading to anxiety/depression. And allergies and sinus problems are major vestibular aggravates. I want to mention a good book written by Dr. Harold Levinson called "Phobia Free" that speaks about all of this.    

I know there is a lot of speculation about the link between allergies and anxiety. Have a look here. Our son who has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder is worse every spring. He also has tree pollen allergies. The verdict is still out in the medical community but you will likely get improvement if you treat the allergies. We note that the non-drowsy ones don't work for our son - just the old fashioned ones given at night.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2678838

I run a Hypnosis clinic and find that Hypnosis really helps reduce anxiety like nothing else I know of, reduce your anxiety level and you will see a huge change in the way you feel both on a mental and physical level.

i have suffered from major anxiety with less depression for over 15 years now i have been on every drug possible with little or no lasting effects. one strange thing that brought me to this site, last week i was rubbing my ears and noticed that when i stayed on one single specific spot near the top point my anxiety disipated almost completely within seconds..i googled ear pressure points and intrestingly enough the point was for allergies? i was confusued so i googled more to see if there was a corelation between anxiety and allergies and wahlaaaa i ended up here! weird yeah?

I'm going through a bout of depression and about a month ago I had stopped taking my Claritin.   I get bad hay fever and congesting so I take a Claritin every day.   For the past two weeks I've been feeling down and just not motivated to do much.   I made the connection to my allergies because I get deep black circles under my eyes when my allergies are acting up.   After reading all the comments I actually feel better about this because I know I'm not alone.    Still the geek in me wants to know if this is some type of withdrawel to Claritin D or if this is the allergies.    Who knows.

It appears that several researchers are investigating links between depression and allergic symptoms; a study at the University of Maryland just ended and it will be interesting to see the results. http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00770068

A 2002 study found a connection between ragweed (autumn) allergies and depression, but was not extensive enough to determine whether the correlation is mainly the result of poor sleep that many allergy sufferers experience. So it is not yet clear whether allergies "cause" depression or anxiety; but allergies and depression do appear related, and apparently some people do find their depressive symptoms relieved at least somewhat by better allergy treatment. It's certainly worth investigating, especially if conventional antidepressants are not working for you.

OMG, I too have been suffering anxiety, stomach issues, insomnia and depression for many years and each major episode seemed to start with sinus stuff and such.  I have been on anti-depression meds for years and they really do not seem to rectify the situation; rather, they allow me to cope better. 

Well, back in January, I got tested for allergies and I am allergic to seasonal things (trees, grasses, etc.) as well as year round ones (dust, dust mites, dogs, cats, feathers, etc.)  I opted to take allergy shots (meds. not good) and soon after I began them, I was not worrying a much and my sleep got better.  Of course, with allergy shots, the build-up stage can be killer in that I reacted to each dosage increase with the same symptoms that I was being treated for.  However, I have now reached maintenance so no more increased dosages. 

I am looking forward to feeling better and better as I continue the regiment of allergy shots.

In summary, I truely feel that there is a connection!  

Do you know, I think all the medical research/denial into link between anxiety/depression disorders and allergies is forgetting an important point: not all depression is the same.  Yes, there's situational depression which stems from an unbearable situation (stress, illness, etc.) and will generally go away once stress is relieved.  There's also chronic, or clinical depression-- those depression disorders which actually appear to have no cause.  Then there's Seasonal Depression, where sufferers seem to be affected by the lack of sunlight and warmth in the world...

Many people are misdiagnosed as having Clinical Depression when they are in fact affected by outside influences.  It is too easy to prescribe an antidepressant (or ask for one!) when a patient is unable to function in daily life.  Time was, when a trip to a therapist was indispensable to recovery.  Nowadays, we're medicated and sent home.  If researchers have forgotten that "depression" is not a blanket-diagnosis, then of course they will fail to find a definite handshake between illness and depression triggers...

However... What one must ask themselves when looking at allergies as a source for depression isn't whether feeling bad all the time makes them depressed.  What one should ask is, "Is fatigue a major symptom of my allergies?  Do my allergies cause me to feel tired, lack focus, concentration, and does that lack cause me to be irritable?  When I'm sick, do I generally sometimes feel like whimpering and going to bed?"  I think most of us will answer "heck yeah!"  So...

I don't think that allergies cause depression or vice versa.  What I think is that the *symptoms* of allergies are mistaken for depression.  Allergies depress the central nervous system, make us feel foggy, tired, unable to function... So maybe rather than doctors poo-pooing allergies as having no link to depression, perhaps they should simply take a closer look at their diagnosis... and ask themselves if the symptoms their patients are experiencing could *only* be caused by depression.

In closing, I'd like to mention that when I was 28, I came down with Mono.  My family doctor of 10 years immediately prescribed me an antidepressant when I went to him with fatigue, mysterious pain, and tears.  A followup with a different doctor produced a positive "Mono Spot" test and elevated liver count.  'Nuff said?

I have noticed a very significant link for me between the use of medications for allergies and depression.  At first I thought it a coincidence, but after being advised by my PCP to use an OTC antihistamine every day (rather than periodically when allergies were really bad) I had such intense irritabililty and depression my family was alarmed.  I stayed with it for a long time, miserable but allergy free.  Within three days of discontinuing, my mood returned nearly to normal.  Now two weeks later it seems like a three month bad dream has ended. I can't find any real research on an antihistamine/depression link, but for me, it's definately a connection.  I remember a relative stopping Seldane many years ago with the same complaints.  I am starting to think this isn't rare.  I do think it's possible that the same genetic variables that contribute to depression may be linked to allergies?