Ask the Pharmacist: Allergy Medicine Ingredients
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An allergic reaction is-- what happens is the body stimulates histamine. And it's the histamine that produces all of these generalized symptoms, hence the word antihistamine. So these break down the histamine so that you won't have those symptoms.
So the beauty about these over-the-counter antihistamines is that several of them are just one a day in a tablet or a gel cap. They come in a liquid form for children, and they present with very, very low amount of adverse effects or side effects.
In a lot of the cases, you see combinations of antihistamines and decongestants. And decongestants will constrict the blood vessels. So people who are expecting, rhinitis or runny nose, they're going to take a decongestant and see if that works by itself. They're in tablet form, and they're in a liquid form.
People who have high blood pressure should not be taking decongestants without the approval of their physician. If someone comes in presenting with allergy symptoms and they ask the pharmacist for a recommendation, generally speaking, first thing we're going to start them off with is probably an antihistamine.
Sometimes we'll add a corticosteroid, a nasal spray. Corticosteroids are good for runny nose, itchy nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, just nasal congestion, so similar profile as the antihistamines and decongestants. But it takes it to the next level.
Not everybody should be taking steroids either. So before you go to a corticosteroid, over-the-counter corticosteroid, is to talk to the pharmacist, mention to him or her what medications you're taking. And in addition, you can let your physician, your primary care physician, know exactly what you're taking and what you're doing.
IRA KATZ
Antihistamines are a broad spectrum of symptomatic relief. So you see antihistamines used quite often. Allergies can present in a multitude of different ways. Generally speaking, we find itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, in some cases even a rash. And so these are where antihistamines come in and generally are the first line of treatment. An allergic reaction is-- what happens is the body stimulates histamine. And it's the histamine that produces all of these generalized symptoms, hence the word antihistamine. So these break down the histamine so that you won't have those symptoms.
So the beauty about these over-the-counter antihistamines is that several of them are just one a day in a tablet or a gel cap. They come in a liquid form for children, and they present with very, very low amount of adverse effects or side effects.
In a lot of the cases, you see combinations of antihistamines and decongestants. And decongestants will constrict the blood vessels. So people who are expecting, rhinitis or runny nose, they're going to take a decongestant and see if that works by itself. They're in tablet form, and they're in a liquid form.
People who have high blood pressure should not be taking decongestants without the approval of their physician. If someone comes in presenting with allergy symptoms and they ask the pharmacist for a recommendation, generally speaking, first thing we're going to start them off with is probably an antihistamine.
Sometimes we'll add a corticosteroid, a nasal spray. Corticosteroids are good for runny nose, itchy nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, just nasal congestion, so similar profile as the antihistamines and decongestants. But it takes it to the next level.
Not everybody should be taking steroids either. So before you go to a corticosteroid, over-the-counter corticosteroid, is to talk to the pharmacist, mention to him or her what medications you're taking. And in addition, you can let your physician, your primary care physician, know exactly what you're taking and what you're doing.
