How To Manage and Treat Your Allergies

Allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, causes cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose, sneezing, sinus pressure, and itchy eyes. Your immune system, designed to protect you, can misinterpret harmless substances like animal dander or pollen as threats.

These triggers, called allergens, induce immune responses, resulting in what we commonly term as an "allergic reaction." Some common allergens are:

• Animal Dander: Proteins in saliva and skin dander from pets like dogs, cats, or rabbits can trigger allergies. Strategies like keeping pets out of bedrooms, using HEPA air filters, and regular grooming can help alleviate symptoms.
• Dust Mites: These microscopic creatures thrive in bedding and carpets, particularly in humid environments. Using dust mite encasements for pillows and mattresses and regular vacuuming with HEPA filters can help control dust mite allergies.
• Molds: Mold spores, similar to pollen, can cause allergic reactions, especially in warm, damp conditions. Reducing indoor humidity and promptly fixing leaks can help prevent mold growth.
• Pollens: Pollens from trees, grasses, and weeds can trigger sneezing, congestion, and itchy eyes. During high pollen seasons, staying indoors with closed windows and using air conditioning can reduce exposure.
• Latex: Allergic reactions to latex, found in rubber gloves, can manifest as skin rash, hives, or respiratory symptoms. Using latex-free alternatives can prevent allergic reactions.

When you encounter an allergen for the first time, your body produces allergic antibodies. These antibodies, designed to identify and remove allergens, release histamine, which contributes to allergy symptoms. Understanding common allergens and employing management strategies can help alleviate allergy symptoms and improve quality of life.

Common Symptoms

Symptoms of allergies can be either intermittent, such as exposure to animal dander when visiting someone’s home, or chronic/long-term, which includes symptoms that last for months whenever the pollen count is elevated.

• Sneezing
• Runny nose
• Wheezing
• Coughing
• Red, itchy, and watery eyes
• Thin and clear mucus
• Rash

Allergy symptoms generally last for a few days or even a few months after contact with an allergen.

Warning

If you have severe allergies, you're at a higher risk of experiencing anaphylaxis. This condition is a life-threatening emergency characterized by a sudden and widespread response of your body to the allergen. Anaphylaxis can be triggered by various factors such as certain foods, medications, and insect stings.

Prior to the onset of anaphylaxis, you might experience intense facial or ocular irritation. Within minutes, more severe symptoms may develop, including throat swelling, which can impede swallowing and breathing, constituting a medical emergency. Other symptoms may include stomach discomfort, cramping, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, and swelling.

If you encounter a potential allergen and experience any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention immediately.

Causes

Allergies are largely hereditary, meaning they are often passed down from parents to their children. Therefore, if your child develops an allergy, there's a good chance that you or your partner may also have allergies.

When your immune system mistakenly identifies a harmless substance as a threat, it triggers an allergic reaction. This can happen with various allergens, from pollen to pet dander.

Once your immune system recognizes a specific allergen, it produces antibodies that remain vigilant for its presence. Upon re-exposure to the allergen, these antibodies prompt the release of immune system chemicals like histamine, which in turn leads to the familiar symptoms of allergies.

Allergy Season

Allergy season typically occurs when certain plants release pollen into the air, triggering allergic reactions in susceptible individuals. If you find yourself regularly suffering from symptoms resembling a cold at the same time each year, it's likely you have seasonal allergies.

In many regions, spring allergies typically start in February and can last through the early summer months. This is because trees begin to pollinate first, usually in the early spring, followed by grasses later in the spring and into the summer. Ragweed, another common allergen, typically pollinates later in the summer and continues into the fall.

Therefore, depending on your location and the specific plants in your area, allergy season can vary slightly, but generally spans from early spring to early fall.

Allergy Medications

Selecting the appropriate medication treatment depends on the severity of your condition, as well as your symptoms.

Intranasal steroids

These are first-line medication options for chronic/long-term moderate-to-severe stuffy noses, otherwise known as rhinitis.

These medications work by reducing inflammation within the nasal passages, effectively targeting symptoms like nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, and overall congestion. It may take up to a week of consistent use to experience experience full relief from symptoms.

Shake the bottle well before each use. Additionally, even if the bottle doesn't feel empty, it's important to discard the intranasal steroid device after the total number of estimated doses has been administered.

Examples of intranasal steroids

• Budesonide (Rhinocort Allergy OTC): 1 spray per nostril daily
  Preferred in pregnant women
• Fluticasone (Flonase Sensimist Allergy Relief): 1-2 sprays per nostril daily
• Nasacort Allergy 24HR OTC: The skin and eyes may appear yellow due to the breakdown of red blood cells, which produces bilirubin.
• Frequent Infections: 1-2 sprays per nostril daily (for adults and children 6 years and older)
• Flunisolide: 2 sprays per nostril twice a day or three times a day
• Mometasone (Nasonex): 2 sprays per nostril daily

Common side effects include: headache, dry nose, nose bleeds, unpleasant taste, localized infection

Oral antihistamines

Oral antihistamines are used for mild to moderate, intermittent allergy symptoms. They are effective in reducing symptoms of itching, sneezing, runny nose, and other types of immediate hypersensitivity reactions, but have little effect on nasal congestion.

Examples of first-generation oral antihistamines

• Diphenhydramine HCL (Benadryl): 25-50 mg taken by mouth every 4 to 6 hours
  Children between the ages of 6-11 years old: 12.5-25 mg taken by mouth every 4 to 6 hours
• Chlorpheniramine:
  IR (immediate-release formulation): 4 mg every 4 to 6 hours
  ER (extended-release formulation): 12 mg every 12 hours

Common side effects of first-generation oral antihistamines include: sleepiness, cognitive impairment, dry mouth, blurred vision, urinary retention, constipation, seizures (may occur in higher doses), increased heart rate (may occur in higher doses)

Examples of second-generation oral antihistamines

• Cetirizine (Zyrtec): 5-10 mg taken by mouth daily
  Children between the ages of 2-5 years old: 2.5-5 mg taken by mouth daily
• Levocetirizine (Xyzal Allergy 24HR OTC): 5 mg taken by mouth every night before bed
• Fexofenadine (Allegra): 60 mg taken by mouth twice a day or 180 mg daily
  This medication must be taken with water, not juice because it may decrease the absorption of this medicationy
• Loratadine (Claritin): 10 mg daily or 5 mg twice a day

Common side effects of second-generation oral antihistamines include: sleepiness (most common with cetirizine and levocetirizine), headache

Intranasal antihistamines

Intranasal antihistamines help with nasal congestion and can be combined with intranasal steroids.

Examples of intranasal antihistamines

• Azelastine + Fluticasone (Dymista): 1-2 sprays per nostril twice a day
• Olopatadine (Patanase): 12 sprays per nostril twice a day

Common side effects include: bitter taste, headache, nasal irritation, nose bleeds, sinus

Decongestants

Decongestants are effective in decreasing sinus and nasal congestion.

Oral decongestants:

• Phenylephrine PE (Sudafed PE): 10 mg taken by mouth every 4 hours as needed
• Pseudoephedrine (Sudafed): 60 mg taken by mouth every 4-6 hours as needed, 120 mg every 12 hours, or 240 mg daily
  Because pseudoephedrine is a methamphetamine precursor, it has restricted distribution and is only available behind the counter.

Common side effects include: tachycardia (increased heart rate), palpitations, increased blood pressure, anxiety, tremors, insomnia, nervousness, restlessness, fear, hallucinations, dizziness, headache, anorexia

Topical (intranasal) decongestants:

• Oxymetazoline 0.05% (Afrin): 2-3 sprays per nostril every 12 hours as needed
• henylephrine 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1%: 2-3 sprays of 0.25% to 1% per nostril every 4 hours as needed

Common side effects include: nasal stinging, burning, dryness, sneezing, rhinitis medicamentosa (inflammation of the nasal mucosa caused by rebound congestion if used longer than 3 days)

Immunotherapy

Allergen immunotherapy, commonly referred to as “allergy injections”, aids in developing your tolerance to allergens and lessens or completely gets rid of your symptoms.

You get regularly administered an allergen dose that progressively increases until a maintenance level is established.

Speak with Your Doctor

Talk to your healthcare provider today about which treatment option is best suited for you, and send your prescription to Marley Drug. Save up to 95% compared to your local pharmacy by using Marley Drug.

Marley Drug provides free nationwide shipping, allowing you to receive your medication at no additional cost straight to your door.