Allergies often present as a cocktail of symptoms, making them challenging to treat. A combination of daily prevention, fast-relief medications and lifestyle changes can help manage allergy symptoms.
Antihistamines — available as pills, liquids, nasal sprays or eye drops – work by blocking histamine receptors and relieving symptoms like sneezing, itching and watery eyes.
Allergy Medications
Allergies affect the quality of life and can make even routine activities such as breathing challenging. They can cause symptoms like itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing and hives in some people. Some people find relief with over-the-counter medications, such as antihistamines and decongestants. Others may benefit from prescription medications or immunotherapy treatments. Immunotherapy is a long-term allergy treatment that involves exposing the patient to allergens over time, desensitizing their immune system to reduce the severity of allergic reactions.
It’s important to accurately identify your allergies in order to select the right allergy medication for you. Allergy medication is available in various forms to help treat different allergy symptoms, including nasal sprays (fluticasone propionate or mometasone furoate), tablets (levocetirizine dihydrochloride) and eye drops (loratadine or fexofenadine). Combination allergy medicines can also be purchased to provide relief from multiple allergy symptoms at once.
Many allergy medications come with warnings about drowsiness or other side effects, and you should always read labels to avoid drug interactions and other complications. For example, some allergy medications contain acetaminophen and can cause liver or kidney damage in people with certain health conditions.
Some allergy medications are formulated to help relieve both allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms by blocking leukotrienes, chemicals that contribute to airway constriction and inflammation in the lungs. The only allergy medicine with leukotriene modifiers approved by the Food and Drug Administration is montelukast (Singulair). It can be taken as pills, chewable tablets or granules.
Medications are a great way to relieve allergy symptoms in the short term, but they don’t address the root cause of your reaction. Changing your environment and making other lifestyle changes can help reduce symptoms and prevent them from returning.
Some of the best ways to alleviate allergy symptoms are to keep your home clean and dust free, use a vaporizer or humidifier, and rinse out your sinuses with saline solution. In addition, a variety of herbal supplements such as butterbur, bromelain, euphrasia, eyebright and goldenseal are linked to reducing allergy symptoms. Immunotherapy is a longer-term treatment option, involving gradually introducing allergens to the body over time in the form of allergy shots or oral immunotherapy (SLIT). This helps the immune system build up tolerance and reduces allergic reactions over time.
Antihistamines
Antihistamines reduce the symptoms of allergies by blocking the action of histamine, which is released when you encounter an allergen such as a pollen or pet dander. Histamines cause sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, and other allergy symptoms.
Many types of antihistamines are available over-the-counter (OTC) and without a prescription. They come in pill, liquid, nasal sprays, gels, and eye drops forms. They can be taken by mouth or injected into a vein (IV). Antihistamines can make you sleepy, so it is important to not take them when you are driving or operating machinery. They also can interfere with learning, so talk to your doctor if you want to give them to your child.
First-generation antihistamines include diphenhydramine (Benadryl), chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton) and promethazine (Phenique). These drugs can cause drowsiness. They may also interact with other medications that can make you sleepy, including some antidepressants and sedatives. Second-generation antihistamines, such as loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra), are less likely to cause drowsiness and are preferred for long-term use.
Newer antihistamines are non-drowsy, and have been shown to block histamine activity at its receptor sites, preventing the body from releasing histamine in response to allergens. They have also been shown to inhibit inflammatory cell accumulation and adhesion molecule expression, which can help treat asthma.
Allergen immunotherapy, or allergy shots, are another way to help combat allergies. These involve injecting small amounts of allergen extract into the body over a period of years in an attempt to make the immune system tolerant to the allergen, so it no longer reacts to it.
When choosing over-the-counter cough and cold medicines, choose products that contain only antihistamines if possible. These will be safer for children, and limit the amount of other active ingredients they are exposed to. Also, be sure to read the label and follow product instructions. Some products combine antihistamines with decongestants and pain relievers, and these may not be safe for everyone. Check with your pharmacist or healthcare professional about combining different medicines.
Allergen Immunotherapy
Allergen immunotherapy (allergy shots or oral allergy drops) is a long-term treatment that retrains your immune system to tolerate specific allergens. It involves administering very small doses of specific allergens, increasing the dosage over time, to desensitize your body and offer lasting relief from symptoms like sneezing, itching and runny nose.
Your allergist will identify the allergens that trigger your reactions through skin prick or blood tests, and develop a personalized immunotherapy plan for you. Before beginning immunotherapy, it’s important to maintain a good level of health and ensure that conditions like asthma are well-controlled. You’ll also need to avoid significant allergen exposure in the days leading up to and during the course of your immunotherapy treatments, as this can increase the risk of a reaction.
In a nutshell, immunotherapy reduces your allergic response by shifting your immune system from producing allergy-promoting IgE antibodies toward production of anti-inflammatory IgG4 antibodies that act as blocking antibodies against the allergens. It can also foster lasting tolerance, preventing your allergies from returning once your treatment is complete.
Allergen immunotherapy results in substantial symptom reduction and can dramatically decrease the need for medications like daily antihistamines, nasal steroids and rescue inhalers for many patients with severe seasonal or year-round allergies, allergic rhinitis, asthma or stinging insect allergies. Immunotherapy can even prevent new allergies from developing and may reduce the onset of asthma in children with allergic rhinitis.
Allergen immunotherapy is available in two forms, injections (SCIT) or under-the-tongue drops (SLIT). Injections are administered by a doctor, allowing precise dosing and monitoring and often covered by insurance; they are more effective for most allergens than SLIT, which is taken at home and has less efficacy against some allergens. In both cases, consistent treatment is essential for success. While it’s common to experience mild or moderate side effects, it’s important to let your allergist know if you have a severe reaction, such as difficulty breathing or hives, to ensure that you are receiving the right dosage and avoiding too much allergen. Allergen immunotherapy can be expensive, but it’s a highly effective treatment for many allergy sufferers and is considered a cost-effective option compared to the high costs of emergency care and hospital visits related to uncontrolled allergies.
Lifestyle Changes
A person suffering from allergies may find themselves experiencing a host of symptoms including sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, fatigue, and sinus pressure. Allergies are a result of an immune system overreaction to environmental offenders such as pollen, mold and dust. Functional medicine focuses on finding root causes of allergy reactions and uses natural treatments such as probiotics, anti-inflammatory nutrition, herbal antihistamines, and stress management to help regulate the immune response.
It is common for individuals to seek relief from their allergy symptoms with a combination of medication and lifestyle changes. Medications serve different purposes; for example, antihistamines block histamine signaling while nasal sprays reduce inflammation and eye drops target localized irritation. Managing allergy symptoms with a strategy that includes daily prevention, fast-acting relief options and an exploration of root causes is essential for long-term success.
Many people find that reducing potential allergens in their diet decreases the reactivity of the immune system to seasonal allergies. This is known as the bucket effect. The theory is that when the bucket is full of allergens, any little insult to the body or stress can trigger intense allergic symptoms. By emptying the bucket, identifying food allergens and eliminating them from one’s diet, it is possible to decrease reactivity to seasonal allergies.
Immune boosting herbs like quercetin, nettle, butterbur and bromelain can be taken in supplemental form to provide an extra level of support for the immune system. Traditional “blood cleansing” herbs like dandelion, burdock and nettle can be used to detoxify the liver which in turn decreases inflammatory responses in the body.
Acupuncture is also a great way to reduce and prevent allergy symptoms by stimulating the flow of energy in the meridians that govern our immune system. In addition to acupuncture, a number of dietary changes can be made that can dramatically improve allergy symptoms for many people. These include avoiding processed foods, sugar and dairy which all tend to contribute to the immune system imbalance that leads to allergic reactions. Adding in anti-inflammatory, whole foods rich in antioxidants is a great place to start when incorporating dietary changes.