In the Northeastern part of the US, “allergy season” begins in the middle of March, with trees being the first to send pollen into the air.
For those of you who traditionally suffer with Spring allergies, now is the time to start using steroid nasal sprays. It is best to suppress inflammation and congestion before they start. Waiting until you are stuffy and sneezy makes the nasal steroids slower to work and less overall effective. Commonly used products include triamcinolone (Nasacort), fluticasone (Flonase) and mometasone (Nasonex). These are all available without a prescription. (cost $5-$18 per month)
Once symptoms begin, antihistamine pills are very often used. These can help with congestion, sneezing and watery eyes. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is a very old medicine which is effective. However, it generally only lasts 4-6 hours and causes many people to become sleepy. The newer medicines loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra) are all equally as powerful as diphenhydramine, but these last up to 24 hours and produce only minimal drowsiness. ($3-$20 per month)
My patients very often use both types of medicines together for their allergies. Nasal steroids tend to be slower but more powerful, whereas antihistamines are quicker but often are less effective, especially when one has been suffering with symptoms for a while. In these cases, doctors often prescribe pill steroids as a boost.
There are other products and strategies that can help lessen the misery of seasonal allergies. Talk to your doctor.
The Cleveland Clinic has some additional information. Click here
DR JOSHUA USEN 