Hay fever medication
Original post by Wego Health Community Leader DanW:
You can always tell when hay fever season comes around. Even if you don’t suffer from hay fever, you can probably see it in the itchy eyes and runny noses of your coworkers or family members. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is the most common allergy in the U.S., and while by itself it’s not life-threatening, it’s a nuisance. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology reports that hay fever is one of the “two leading causes of absenteeism due to chronic illness” (asthma is the other). Furthermore, according to the AAAAI, hay fever accounts for children missing about 2 million days of school each year.
The best way to treat any allergy is to avoid the allergen that triggers the allergic reaction. But it’s awfully hard to avoid pollen, which explains why hay fever medications are so popular. What drugs have you found effective? Do over the counter medicines work for you, or do you need prescription medication? Have you experienced unexpected side effects of hay fever drugs? Please feel free to share your experiences with hay fever medications here, and please also feel free to ask questions.
Response from Kori:
I have to be on both over the counter and prescription medications for it. I’ve never found one thing that took care of it. I usually have to take a claritin, allegra, and a nasal spray. When things are really bad, I also have to add in an eye drop.
I’d love to hear if anyone else has found something that works.
Response from Ellen_CM:
Get to know the classes of the drugs that you’re using. There are many times that you can use meds from different classes together, or staggered. You need to know which of these will work tho. Be careful.
Steroid nose sprays will help you overall during a reaction (not just nasal issues), but must be taken consistently during allergy season.
If you are having a very severe reaction and have an inhaler, that also will help mitigate things a bit.
Drinking a lot of water helps, and a standard at our house is plain Alka-Seltzer which helps by balancing the pH that tends to get acidic during an allergic reaction.
A Neti-pot is actually a wonderful little thing to try also. You can get them online or at a health food store. They truly are amazing little devils! It is a way to give a very thorough saline wash. Looks gross. Feels wonderful. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Showers immediately after coming in from outdoors. A face wash is NOT enough. Oatmeal soap works wonders to help with itching skin. Changing clothes is also a must if you have bad allergies as you are bringing the pollen and “infecting” your home.
Saline eye drops can help.
A prescription of Guaifenesin will dry you up, but conk you out.
Singulair is great and is a different class as the others so it can be used WITH something else if your doctor okays it.
Tylenol 3 or cough syrup with Codeine will help with itching and pain. It doesn’t eliminate the cause or inflammation tho, it only takes away the sensation a bit. Again, will probably conk you out and should be used only with permission with specific drugs.
Leave for work early in the morning when the dew still has the pollen glued down and breezes are non-existent.
If you really need, you can buy protective goggles that will seal to your eyes when you go outside, and wear a mask. Pollen will still be stuck to your skin and clothing and hair tho so it doesn’t end up being as efficient as it could be.
Wear clothing that is tightly woven or slick. Pollen won’t stick and you won’t carry it inside with you.
If you’re worried about swollen bags under your eyes, Preparation H applied to the skin will help to shrink the tissues. Purely cosmetic. Don’t overdo tho.
Okay, so I went a bit past medications, but these other methods work very well in addition to the meds. A multi-modal approach to allergies is the best way to go. Some docs forget to tell you about these other things because they are busy or don’t know about them. Remember that leaving one step out of your treatment is going to leave you with much less in the way of results.
You can always tell when hay fever season comes around. Even if you don’t suffer from hay fever, you can probably see it in the itchy eyes and runny noses of your coworkers or family members. Hay fever, also known as allergic rhinitis, is the most common allergy in the U.S., and while by itself it’s not life-threatening, it’s a nuisance. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology reports that hay fever is one of the “two leading causes of absenteeism due to chronic illness” (asthma is the other). Furthermore, according to the AAAAI, hay fever accounts for children missing about 2 million days of school each year.
The best way to treat any allergy is to avoid the allergen that triggers the allergic reaction. But it’s awfully hard to avoid pollen, which explains why hay fever medications are so popular. What drugs have you found effective? Do over the counter medicines work for you, or do you need prescription medication? Have you experienced unexpected side effects of hay fever drugs? Please feel free to share your experiences with hay fever medications here, and please also feel free to ask questions.
Response from Kori:
I have to be on both over the counter and prescription medications for it. I’ve never found one thing that took care of it. I usually have to take a claritin, allegra, and a nasal spray. When things are really bad, I also have to add in an eye drop.
I’d love to hear if anyone else has found something that works.
Response from Ellen_CM:
Get to know the classes of the drugs that you’re using. There are many times that you can use meds from different classes together, or staggered. You need to know which of these will work tho. Be careful.
Steroid nose sprays will help you overall during a reaction (not just nasal issues), but must be taken consistently during allergy season.
If you are having a very severe reaction and have an inhaler, that also will help mitigate things a bit.
Drinking a lot of water helps, and a standard at our house is plain Alka-Seltzer which helps by balancing the pH that tends to get acidic during an allergic reaction.
A Neti-pot is actually a wonderful little thing to try also. You can get them online or at a health food store. They truly are amazing little devils! It is a way to give a very thorough saline wash. Looks gross. Feels wonderful. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Showers immediately after coming in from outdoors. A face wash is NOT enough. Oatmeal soap works wonders to help with itching skin. Changing clothes is also a must if you have bad allergies as you are bringing the pollen and “infecting” your home.
Saline eye drops can help.
A prescription of Guaifenesin will dry you up, but conk you out.
Singulair is great and is a different class as the others so it can be used WITH something else if your doctor okays it.
Tylenol 3 or cough syrup with Codeine will help with itching and pain. It doesn’t eliminate the cause or inflammation tho, it only takes away the sensation a bit. Again, will probably conk you out and should be used only with permission with specific drugs.
Leave for work early in the morning when the dew still has the pollen glued down and breezes are non-existent.
If you really need, you can buy protective goggles that will seal to your eyes when you go outside, and wear a mask. Pollen will still be stuck to your skin and clothing and hair tho so it doesn’t end up being as efficient as it could be.
Wear clothing that is tightly woven or slick. Pollen won’t stick and you won’t carry it inside with you.
If you’re worried about swollen bags under your eyes, Preparation H applied to the skin will help to shrink the tissues. Purely cosmetic. Don’t overdo tho.
Okay, so I went a bit past medications, but these other methods work very well in addition to the meds. A multi-modal approach to allergies is the best way to go. Some docs forget to tell you about these other things because they are busy or don’t know about them. Remember that leaving one step out of your treatment is going to leave you with much less in the way of results.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by lisa martini on
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I have seen in a herbal site that Nettle extract is used to treat hay fever. Anyone else is having any idea about it?
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