Once the allergy season kicks in, the misery soon follows. What can you do to get some relief?
- For the outside allergy triggers like ragweed, tree pollen, grass pollen, etc. we want to:
- Close your windows
- Run your air conditioner with the filters
- You can get quick relief with over-the-counter antihistamines and decongestants, sometimes within the hour. Make sure you use a non-sleepy or minimally sedating and long acting one. Fexophadine, loratadine, cetirizine medications are readily available. Generic medications work well so you are safe to buy those and save yourself some cash. There are even eye drops available to help with your itchy eyes.
- If it’s summertime and you are not happy with the results after 4 hours, it is important to get started on a daily nasal steroid. Be sure to continue using it until a week after a hard freeze (26 degrees F). The most commonly used nasal steroids include Flonase, Nasacort, or Rhinocort. They are all available over-the-counter and most are available in a generic formula. The key to your success is to: Use It Every Day! Just remember, medications take a few days to really help, so don’t give up on them too soon!
- If the first three tips don’t bring you relief, your provider will need to be sure it is an allergy causing your symptoms. If it is confirmed that an allergy is causing your symptoms, a systemic steroid prescribed by your provider could temporarily calm things down.
- Finally, if you made it to tip #4, you should seriously look at your options to become less allergic. Talk with a Board Certified Allergist to see which type of immunotherapy would be best for you.
Our goal at Dakota Allergy & Asthma is allergy relief! Contact us if you need more information!
