Allergy Relief: Getting Familiar With Allergy Medicines
Title: Allergy Clinic Source: WebMD Link: http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/medications
Which allergy medicines are best for your needs? By Debra Fulghum Bruce, PhD WebMD Feature Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD
If you're tired of suffering with nasal allergies and need ongoing allergy relief, maybe it's time to review the different allergy medicines available and find the best ones for your allergy symptoms.
Allergic rhinitis (allergies) affects up to 40% of children and 10% to 30% of adults in the United States today.
While some allergy sufferers experience an occasional sniffle, sneeze, or runny nose, allergies can cause miserable and sometimes serious symptoms such as fatigue, headache, itchy eyes, and even asthma symptoms.
When these symptoms continue for weeks without any allergy relief, they can result in missed time from work or school, lower productivity, and even health problems like sinus infections and sinus pain.
Is it any wonder that nasal allergies, particularly at night, can keep you from feeling your best and being productive?
Why do you get allergies?
If you want to place any blame, go ahead and put it on your parents. It's true. Allergies are a genetic disease, says William E. Berger, MD, MBA, professor of medicine at the University of California, and the sneezing, itching, and nasal congestion run in families. When one parent has allergies about 25% of the time a child will develop allergies, also. When both parents have allergies, there's at least a 50% chance that their children will have allergies.
You can also blame your miserable allergy symptoms on histamines, the chemicals in the body that cause swelling of the mucosal membranes and increased mucus production.
Histamines are released quickly in response to contact with an allergen (the substance you're allergic to). Once the histamines get released, they do their damage big time and result in a host of allergy symptoms (ongoing sneezing, weepy eyes, itchy nose, and nasal stuffiness).
What's the best way to get allergy relief?
According to Berger, author of Allergies and Asthma for Dummies, the best way to treat nasal allergies is with prevention.
First, get a skin test to find out which allergens -- such as dust, pollen, mold, and pet dander -- are triggering your allergic reaction. Try to clear those allergens out of your indoor environment, and away from your yard as much as possible.
If you still have symptoms, it's time to turn to allergy medicines.
Berger explains that the first line of allergy treatment is inhaled nasal corticosteroids. Inhaled nasal steroids decrease inflammation and reduce mucus formation, so you have fewer allergy symptoms.
"You need to start about two weeks before pollen season with the inhaled nasal corticosteroids," Berger explains, "and possibly stay on the inhaled allergy medicine for months, if you have ongoing nasal allergies."
Are there other allergy medicines that can prevent allergy symptoms?
Consider intranasal (inhaled) antihistamines. These medicines can give allergy relief of the sneezing and itchy nose without the drowsy feeling you might get by taking (older) oral antihistamines, Murray Grossan, MD, tells WebMD.
This Los-Angeles based ENT, inventor of the Grossan Hydro Pulse Nasal Irrigator, and author of The Sinus Cure , says you can also try to prevent allergy symptoms with over-the-counter nasal sprays that contain mast cell inhibitors (such as NasalCrom). "These allergy medicines need several days to give good allergy relief and must be started a few weeks before contact with allergens."
What about antihistamines or decongestants?
Antihistamines cannot reverse the histamine-charged nasal allergy symptoms, Berger says. Antihistamines block the receptors -- the tissues that cause swelling -- to help prevent future symptoms. But they can undo the miserable allergy symptoms you may be experiencing the moment you take them.
Decongestants, another common allergy medicine, can relieve nasal congestion and nasal stuffiness. But, again, decongestants relieve existing problems, and don't prevent congestion.
"It takes several days to reverse any nasal allergy symptoms," Berger says, "So preventing allergies is the most effective way to get allergy relief."
What allergy medicines are available for ongoing allergy relief?
There are many targeted allergy medicines such as antihistamines, decongestants, steroids, and other anti-inflammatory medicines that can give you allergy relief. These allergy medicines are
delivered in a variety of ways from oral pills, tablets, capsules, and liquids, to inhaled nasal sprays. Some allergy medicines are available by prescription only, while others are available over-the-counter -- including the newer second-generation, non-drowsy antihistamines.
Working with your doctor, you can find the type of allergy medicine that's most effective for allergy relief without causing you uncomfortable side effects.
But what do all these allergy medicines mean to you and your allergy symptoms? Here's a brief overview of the various types of allergy medicines and how they work:
Steroid nasal sprays -- Control all allergy symptoms
Decongestants -- Control nasal stuffiness and congestion
Antihistamines -- Control sneezing and drippiness; may relieve congestion from allergy
Anticholinergics -- Control runny, drippy nose
Mast cell stabilizers -- Prevent nasal congestion before exposure to allergens
Combination allergy medicines -- Prevent nasal allergy and reduce swelling in stuffy nasal passages
Expectorants -- May thin mucus in the airways so it can be expelled or drain out
Allergy eyedrops -- Contain various ingredients to help with red, itchy eyes
If allergy medicines don't work, where can you turn for allergy relief?
If allergy medicines fail to prevent and treat your allergy symptoms, Berger suggests you see an allergist and consider getting allergy shots.
Allergy shots or immunotherapy is successful in up to 90% of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis and in 70% to 80% with perennial allergic rhinitis. "And allergy shots (immunotherapy) can prevent allergy symptoms," Berger tells WebMD.
Another reason for checking in with an allergist is you may not have allergies at all. Berger says many people have "nonallergic rhinitis," which are nasal allergy symptoms triggered by weather changes or by variations in temperatures. Nonallergic rhinitis can have different treatment than allergic rhinitis (allergies).
For now, don't give up the family pet until you find answers for your allergy symptoms. You may find out that your furry pet isn't the cause of your congested nose after all. Talk to your doctor and seek good answers so you can live allergy symptom free.
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