Allergies Traditional Treatment

Allergy Medications

Medications - Allergy medications can ease symptoms by reducing the immune system's reaction to the allergen. Depending on the allergy, patients may use an over-the-counter or prescription medication, nasal sprays or eye drops. Popular types of medications include:

Corticosteroids:

• Flonase
• Nasonex
• Celestone
• Cortone
• Decadron
• Cortef
• Medrol
• Prelone
• Kenacort

Antihistamines:

• Benadryl
• Allegra
• Claritin
• Singulair
• Zyrtec

Decongestants:

• Afrin
• Vicks Sinex
• Dristan
• Sudafed
• Actifed
• Neo-Synephrine

Cromolyn sodium:

• Crolom
• Nasalcrom
• Intal
• Opticrom
• Gastrocrom

Leukotriene modifiers: * Singulair * Accolate * Zyflo

Immunotherapy - This is reserved for severe allergies or for those people who are not relieved by other treatments. If a doctor recommends immunotherapy (allergy shots), it involves a series of injections of purified allergen extracts, usually given over a period of a few years.

Allergy shots are given on a schedule that involves two phases:

The buildup phase lasts about three to seven months. During this phase, the allergen dose is gradually increased with each shot. Shots are usually given one to three times a week.

After the dosage has been increased to an effective level, there will be a maintenance phase where the dose contains a consistent amount of allergens. The injections are about once a month for three to five years.

Sublingual immunotherapy is a newer treatment. It’s a method of allergy treatment that, instead of shots, uses an allergen solution given under the tongue. Over the course of treatment, it reduces sensitivity to allergens.

Companies that manufacture immunotherapy products include, Immuno Laboratories, Allermed, Antigen Laboratories, Crystal Laboratory and HollisterStier.

Emergency Epinephrine - This is reserved for severe allergies, but a doctor may give the patient an emergency epinephrine shot to carry at all times. An epinephrine shot can reduce symptoms until the person gets emergency treatment. Epinephrine shots are available as a prescription under the brand names such as Twinject, Primatene Mist, Adrenalin and EpiPen.