Question regarding how allergies work

[Wig_Powder]

While this is in relation to a story I'm considering writing, I figured I'd put this here since it could potentially lead to a discussion or information/links that people would like to know. So to the point...

I’ve been kicking this fic idea around in my head for awhile, but it kind of hinges on a detail that I don’t know and wouldn’t even know how to begin looking up. I figured the rest of you would be much more savvy about it and could help me out.

So, the canon of my fic is a certain sci-fi universe. In an early episode of the show, the characters go to a very pretty, nature filled planet, and a few of them stay there overnight. During the night, a windstorm blows pollen from the mountaintops down into the “mainland”. Said pollen has an hallucinogenic property, causing everybody to become paranoid. Furthermore, too much exposure to said pollen could be fatal, so the situation has to be resolved as quickly as possible.

One of the characters on the show (but not one involved in the episode) canonically has allergies, with a high likelihood that that includes hayfever. So, my question is as follows…

If this character was part of the mission, would he be more or less likely to be affected by the pollen? If he’s stuffed up and miserable after reacting to all the normal plants on the planet, would the hallucinogenic pollen have a harder time getting breathed in because his airways are blocked? Similarly, if he’d managed to take a dose of allergy medication before going planetside, would his resistance to the normal pollen mean he was more likely to resist the effects of the hallucinogen, since it also comes from a plant? Or would he be even more susceptible to it, given his sensitivities to pollen in general?

My hope is to write a story if the first or second option is viable (option three wouldn't really change the episode other than adding a new hallucinating, paranoid character who happens to be sneezing. Not exactly a problem, but not as interesting to me). However, I will defer to scientific fact in this case. I’ve got plenty of other ideas featuring this guy if this story falls through.

(And yes, I could ignore the rules and just write it the way I prefer anyway. Sadly, I want to be somewhat scientifically accurate in this particular case. You can pry the “get sick by being out in the cold for too long” trope from my cold dead hands, though.)

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

I might or might not have any ideas for this, but also: what’s the fandom? Because oftentimes, you can use the way things work in canon to your advance...or, sadly, sometimes the opposite.

(I have a guess, but I’m curious if I’m right.)

[Wig_Powder]

I'm hoping to keep it somewhat of a surprise (hence my vagueness in my original post), but I'll PM you.

And while you're right that I can sometimes twist canon to my ends, I'm hoping for responses offering scientific studies or personal experience on whether or not a blocked nose from allergies makes it harder for other things, good or bad, to be inhaled and/or have an effect. Like I said, in this one specific case I'd prefer to be science compliant as well as canon compliant.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Wig_Powder

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

well, allergy medication specifically blocks the body's own production of histamine (which is what actually gives you symptoms,) so it doesn't actually block anything having to do with the plants themselves. also unfortunately, even though the character may be very congested and such, they'd still need to breathe to like, live, so the hallucinogenic material would still get into their lungs unless they had some kind of gas mask or filter. 

 

[Chanel_no5]

However, perhaps the very presence of HISTAMINES in his bloodstream could block the effect of the hallucinogenic material? I know that may not be entirely scientific as there are, as far as I know, no studies on this, but it is a chemical reaction and that chemical reaction could in turn block another chemical reaction from happening in the body. 

This is not the same thing, but I read a novel (written by an actual M.D) where an astronaut is exposed to a bacteria that kills her colleagues on the space station, but thanks to pregnancy hormones present in her body her immune system somehow fights this pathogen. 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

1 hour ago, Chanel_no5 said:

However, perhaps the very presence of HISTAMINES in his bloodstream could block the effect of the hallucinogenic material? I know that may not be entirely scientific as there are, as far as I know, no studies on this, but it is a chemical reaction and that chemical reaction could in turn block another chemical reaction from happening in the body. 

This is not the same thing, but I read a novel (written by an actual M.D) where an astronaut is exposed to a bacteria that kills her colleagues on the space station, but thanks to pregnancy hormones present in her body her immune system somehow fights this pathogen. 

oh, very clever idea for scifi purposes! nice job chanel 

[Wig_Powder]

@Chanel_no5 I checked the transcript for the episode, and there's enough vagueness that I could probably get away with something like you're describing. And if there's a book written by a doctor that uses a similar trope, that's enough justification to stretch the suspension of disbelief.

I do need one point of clarification, though. When you say "the very presence of histamines in his bloodstream", does that mean that I need to make sure he doesn't get a dose of allergy medication before he winds up on the planet to maximize his resistance to the hallucinogen?

[Chanel_no5]

9 hours ago, Wig_Powder said:

I do need one point of clarification, though. When you say "the very presence of histamines in his bloodstream", does that mean that I need to make sure he doesn't get a dose of allergy medication before he winds up on the planet to maximize his resistance to the hallucinogen?

That would be my take, for the trope to really work. Allergy meds block the release of histamines. Either that or he takes one dose upon arrival, and then it begins to wear off about the time for that pollen-infested wind to sweep down on them. That way he might get a mild first reaction to the hallucinogen but that wears off as the histamine begins to flow (aka his allergies begin to act up. ). Whichever you prefer. 

 

[Wig_Powder]

Thanks for the clarification! I think I can work with that. And oh dear, it sounds like I'll be going more with option one, where he's a sneezy mess but still has his head on straight. What a hardship that will be to write...

[Chanel_no5]

Oh dear, indeed... Glad I could be of help, have fun writing!!