So - I put this here because its a medical question - I am looking for similar experiences and anecdotes, advice or whatever - I saw a doctor within the past month and plan to go again tomorrow for this same issue.
You are not my doctor and anything gleaned here is worth the price of it - yada yada yada.
This has been the worst year yet for me for nasal allergies - I am nearly constant with some form of runnoff.
Had one of those days about a month ago where I went to the doctor - over the counter stuff not doing any good - Clariton had stopped years ago, zirtech wasnt doing it, and I was taking zirtech-D 3-4 times a day trying to get relief.
Dr fusses at me for overdoing zirtech-D the way I was (HBP, etc) and suggests “Singulair” + Allegra to be taken daily together.
For 2 days I had clear breathing -then still some drip bt not as bad - 30 days later - I’m back where I started. The prescription for Singulair had just run out today, and I planned to go a day or 5 without to see if it was actually doing anything, within an hour of my ‘regular’ taking time, I was back to itchy eyes, running nose and sneezing. I got the prescription refilled and took one about 2 hours later than normal - no relief today - (yes, I took allegra too).
I can’t decide if it actually wasn’t doing anything or if it just lost its effectiveness.
Do others find that these allergy meds lose effectiveness like this?
at the prices they are, I can’t stand to throw money away like this.
No. I find that they’re not effective to begin with. It doesn’t matter what I take, 99.8% of the time my nose is so stuffy it depresses my sense of smell. I only know this because of that .2% of the time when I can smell things like cucumbers, which normally have almost no scent at all to me.
I have nasal allergies, too, and since I’m very susceptible to drowsiness (even from non-drowsy anti-histamines), I use only Flonase, a nasal steroid spray. It’s working just fine for me - the medicine goes right to the source of my problems. Have you tried a nasal spray rather than an antihistamine in pill form?
Speaking as a doctor, a constant clear allergic nasal drip may respond nicely to atropine nasal spray. It works quickly and reliably, and often much better than steroid nasal sprays.
Perhaps you can raise this point with your physician.
I started going to an allergist this year because mine were the worst ever this year - that, and the food allergies seem to be increasing. I have bloodwork this Friday, and I’ll tell how it goes, but I sympathize deeply. I have been taking ceratizine hydrocloride 10mg (I think that’s how you spell it), but it makes you drowsy, so I take it at night for 24 hours. it works, except when it’s a cold rainy day out like today.
Anyway, I wonder that you don’t go to a proper allergist. Or do you? Is your doctor a regular physician? Maybe the allergist can help out?
But I generally refer to an allergist for asthmatics that continue to have unacceptable symptoms despite maximum therapy, or need continuing oral steroids to manage their asthma.
In addition, I also generally refer for other problematic allergy symptoms that don’t respond to basic interventions like avoidance, neti pots, antihistamines, nasal steroids or nasal atropine, leukotriene inhibitors, or the infrequent oral steroid use.
However, other primary care docs may choose to refer sooner in the process, or even later than I do.
And many patients feel they should have a specialist for each condition they have. While is may be necessary for many conditions, it is usually not needful for most.
For a lot of routine stuff, probably not necessary especially for day-to-day management of your symptoms.
If you need a more detailed analysis of what you’re allergic to (i.e. skin tests and maybe blood tests) so you know what your triggers are, and/or if you need to go the route of allergy shots, and/or your primary care doc’s suggestions aren’t doing it, then sure.
Also in my not-medical opinion it’s not unreasonable to go to an allergist to touch base every couple of years, even if you don’t need them to manage you on a routine basis.
But for routine seasonal snifflies, it’s cheaper and probably easier to see your primary care doc.
I take my kids to the allergist about that often, in case retesting is needed, or to find out if the allergist knows of new options we hadn’t tried before. My son has a known peanut allergy and if we were to try a newish therapy to try to desensitise him, it would be under the care of a specialist who had some experience with it.
QtM: interesting on the atropine nasal spray - I’ve occasionally had an asthma inhaler that added atropine to albuterol; what’s the mechanism there?
And also - I can’t believe you haven’t suggested a neti pot yet :). (for the OP, a neti might not be all that helpful if the saline can’t get where it needs to - but if it CAN, the physical removal of allergens from the nasal passages might reduce symptoms).
simster, has the doctor checked for any physical obstructions? Years of allergic symptoms can lead to some physical changes (polyps, turbinates can apparently swell) that lead to constant stuffiness. While that doesn’t sound quite like what happened, given that you had a few days of relief, it’s something to ask the doc about. I actually had septoplasty / turbinate reduction 20+ years back… and was stunned that the ol’ proboscis was actually usable for something other than holding my glasses up. I’d literally NEVER been able to breathe through my nose.
Atropine reduces mucus secretion. I’m not a big fan of it, as I am concerned it’ll thicken those plugs in the lungs, but if I’ve got a real tight asthmatic who’s laboring to breathe, it can help turn the trick. I don’t prescribe atrovent inhalers often for asthma. Hardly ever, actually.
Meds like atropine inhalers play more of a role in COPD. Spireva has been shown to be very helpful there, and better than steroids for most sufferers.
I have tried nasal sprays in the past - a) hated them b) they didn’t seem to work - have not tried a ‘neti pot’, can’t say that I will/won’t.
He agreed with me that the current strategy (singulair + allegra) wasn’t doing the trick and prescribed a new one (Lodrane, haven’t picked it up yet) to try and set up an allergist appointment in 2 weeks.
My symptoms rarely change indoor/outdoor and do not seem to be seasonal in nature - there haven’t been any major indoor changes that would account for the behavior, etc. so that’s why we’re headed to the allergist to see if we can find the trigger.
Used to be certain perfumes would set me off, and if I handled dry grass seed ‘enough’, but anymore, it just seems to be ‘random’ - cigarette smoke will definitely set me off - even ‘captured’ smoke on clothes (not bbq smoke, however) - but no one in the house smokes and if the neighbors do, I don’t know it or they are well enough away.
He hasn’t specifically checked for physical obstructions - we both think its ‘run of the mill’ allergy stuff, but I’ll add that to the list -
QTM - It’s not just a ‘drip’ - its a ‘left side clogged, always feel snotty’ feeling on good days - and when I have the ‘attack’ -its the full spectrum, scratchy eyes, sneezing, funning ‘just use a t-shirt and pray for death’ - with the only relief coming from sleep if I can find a position that allows me to breathe without drowning.
Well, if your regular doc can’t help you find relief I’d say it’s time for a specialist. I was sent to an Ear/Nose/Throat guy at one point to make sure it was allergies and not something else going on. I wouldn’t up with allergy shots which were one of the best things I ever got, but the process is lengthy and there is some discomfort.
I’m surprised you never mentioned diphenhydramine a.k.a. “Benadryl”. Yes, it makes you drowsy but if you’re trying to sleep that’s good, right? If that doesn’t bring you relief I’d have to ask if it’s really allergies that are the problem here and not something else. Needless to say, do not take if you’re driving or operating heavy machinery.
Well, yes, I understand that’s a common side effect, but if taking it for a night would give you significant relief would you consider it? Or is it so unpleasant for you it’s completely out of consideration?
I am NOT recommending you take it on a regular basis!
I went to an ENT to try and get relief for my nasal symptoms. I had my turbinates reduced in 2008, but they grew back. We are now trying allergy shots, nasal saline irrigation, nasal steroids and OTC allergy meds (Zyrtec). I also stopped smoking in January.
I’ve been on this regimen since January. I’ve been doing well, so far. The weekly trip to get the shot isn’t that much of a big deal, the office is 6 blocks from work.
My problem is that every now and then, I get a really bad sinus headache that is only relieved by taking an anti-histamine or a decongestant. Unfortunately, Benadryl and pseudoephedrine make me feel like I am crawling out of my skin and I am going nuts, so I just suck it up and suffer with the headache. Phenylephrine doesn’t work.
I went to an allergist to find out exactly what it is that I’m allergic to. Turns out it isn’t some of the usual suspects (not allergic to cats or dogs), but it is trees and grasses. I found that helpful, as it’s easy to mistake one allergy for another if you’re always around trees and grasses and pets.
There are a lot of environmental things you can do to help. We run a HEPA filter 24/7 in each room where a lot of time is spent. Using a steam cleaner on potentially moldy areas such as under sinks and around the toilet also helps. I’ve enclosed the mattress and pillows in barriers; wash the sheets at least once a week in super hot water, and the blankets and mattress pad the same way at least once a month. If I’m exposed to cats or dogs, I shower ASAP. Sadly, I have to stay inside with the air conditioner running about 6 months a year.
Definitely get tested. If you know what the allergens are, you can fight back better. For instance, if you’re not allergic to dust mites, the bedding strategy is a lot of work for little benefit.
it’s good to see a lot of real MD’s chiming in here. I’ll throw in 50 cents from a slightly different perspective, responding to various points above and adding additional suggestions. I spent 25+ years as a ‘guinea pig’ for an allergist. It started out as a way to afford college textbooks, and the office just kept calling me whenever they thought I fit the parameters of a study. I got paid to qualify Allegra, Claritin, Zyrtec, Advair, and several other products for FDA approval.
An allergist is an internist. As noted earlier, the family doc or GP will be able to handle 95% of whatever ails 95% of the world. Quite frankly, your complaints sound like a special 5% situation.
I noticed that, quite often, I would record in my diary that things weren’t all that bad – only to realize just how effective the test products were when the trial period was over and I was going without any drug at all (trying to ‘wash out’ before transitioning to the over-the-counter substitute). Maybe you don’t think a pill did anything. That doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t do anything.
Somebody above asked if you ever tried changing environments and diet, etc. You noted that changing your diet didn’t seem to help. Spend over a week in another region of the country (or world) if you can. Many allergens come from local flora/fauna that you might get away from. This is another benefit from an allergist; get a skin test done to find out what broad classes of irritants are triggering your symptoms, then see where you might go to get away…
Something I’ve seen in hindsight: Lack of sleep exacerbates allergy problems.
Something ConAgra won’t admit: Corn and corn byproducts can exacerbate allergic reactions or be allergens themselves.
Something Beatrice won’t admit: Gluten (wheat) allergies can cause nasal allergy symptoms.
Awareness of corn and wheat (gluten) allergies is becoming more widespread for two reasons:
More media attention
More recent strains of those grains are known to cause stronger allergic reactions (see Beatrice and ConAgra accusations, above).
Make sure you’re balancing your diet – even while avoiding foods you can’t eat. The modern diet is astoundingly poor in vegetables. i’ve noticed that, now that I force myself to eat salad more often, my allergy symptoms are much less severe.
