Latakia, You're bumming me out man!

[DrumsAndBeer]

I love Latakia. Some of my absolute favorite blends are laced with it. However, I am finding out slowly but surely that Latakia may not like me.

There's no doubt about it, this has been one of the most troublesome years in the last decade for seasonal allergy suffers in the Sacramento area. I had a 2 month long cough that I couldn't shake, daily fits of hay-fever, itchy eyes, sore throat from post nasal drip and sinus pressure galore from May clear through to now. This valley of ours needs a serious deluge of rain right quick to knock some of this crud out.  I also suffered through my first bought of asthma in like 15 years. As a result, I have smoked very few pipes this summer, perhaps just 2-3 a week.

And now the kicker, through all this suffering, I started to notice something else. Smoking Latakia, even though I have had no prior problems with it, has started to make me wheeze. Has anyone else experienced this? I have always had a very mild sensitivity to evergreen plants (mostly their pollens), but I am seriously starting to think that I have developed a mild sensitivity to pine smoked Latakia. Is this even possible?

I am in the process of a little bit of an elimination diet with tobaccos, going through blends that I have, trying to figure out if it's a certain blender's Lat-weed that's giving me trouble or just Latakia in general. I am hoping to find a silver lining. Perhaps my allergies are just so bad that pipe smoking in general just exacerbates things and the Lats are a little more irritating?  Any how I would love to hear from others who may have experience with this.

 

[Anonymous]

I've been dealing with the same type thing for the past few years - even before I started smoking a pipe - but after a trip to the ENT and Allergist they've told me I have rhinitis but I have no allergies. I've written it off as anxiety.

One thing they have said. We are experiencing some of the highest allergy seasons on record. It's part of the warming trend (global warming, climate change or Armageddon or whatever).

 

[monbla256]

Over my 40+ years of smoking a pipe I have developed a similar thing with Burley tobacco. I cannot even stand the tin note of any blend with Burley as a major component in the blend. I will begin to violently sneeze and it is not comfortable at all. I think it probably is possible for someone to develop a reaction to certain tobaccos over time. That may be the case for you. Sad but maybe true  :twisted: :twisted: Try some straight Va blends, no Lat or Orientals or Perique and see what happens.

 

[Puff Daddy]

You're not alone D&B, I'm suffering here on the east end of the sac valley too. It's been a horrible "Bad Air" year. I usually have allergy issues in April/May, but this year it just never really ended.

Rain, lots of rain.....

 

[Kelhammer]

I thought I was reading my bio from last year. Then you said asthma and I was compelled to respond. I went thru a similar bout last year where I was always stuffy with sinus drainage. The chest cold I had would not clear as well. I would cough and cough to no avail. I am only slightly asthmatic, but now seem to require breathing treatments to clear a chest cold. We already had a nebulizer for the kids. Once I wised up to that, everything else seemed to clear up with just OTC allergy meds.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Well the experiment continues tonight with a difference Latakia Blend. Tuesday night I had some SPC Plum Pudding, which I really enjoyed but by the end of the smoke I had a pretty good wheeze going. Last night I smoked a bowl of Christmas Cheer with no problems. As I mentioned, I believe the pine smoke curing is the irritant but I am not for certain just yet.

Kelhammer, when I was young I had staggering allergic reactions to a lot of food. I was reading that while most childhood allergies are out-grown, ones of adult onset usually stick around for good. I think I am going to have to break down and get myself some good allergy meds, I am also thinking of picking up my first Albuterol inhaler since the early 90's. Dammit.

PD, Same here man. Allergies start in April for me, then go away and come back when they're baling the hay and alfalfa in the late summer. This year they never went away.  

A question for you Latakia guru's. I read in an article that was written by Russ Oulette back in 2011 that Cypriot Latakia is an Oriental smoked over Pine and Oak, and that Syrian is smoked over just Oak. Can anyone confirm this?

D&B

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

My condolences to any pipe smoker not able to indulge because of any malady<img class="emojione" alt="??" title=":no:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/1f1f3-1f1f4.png?v=2.2.7"/>  

 

[monbla256]

Besides the different types of Latakia ( Cyprian or Syrian) there are the added Herbs added to the smoke fires used to cure each type which you'd be hard pressed to find out what they are. If it were an allergy to any of the wood species, you would probably encountered it before now when you came in contact with one or the other of them. If it's Syrian Latakia, not to worry as it's no longer produced in Syria and the supplies of it left in various blenders warehouses is dwindling FAST and several favored blends which depend on it are going to CHANGE in the future. I'd put my money on the added herbal elements in the various smokes used to cure the Latakias. Just some thoughts . :twisted: 

 

[gravel]

It's been a terrible year for it in the Willamette Valley.