Navigating Seasonal Allergies: A Pharmacist’s Advice

If I never stepped foot outside the pharmacy again, I would still know it was spring by the crowds of people arriving with itchy eyes, sneezing, and nasal congestion. Allergy season hits the Okanagan hard!

Luckily, there are lots of safe and effective options to grab off the shelf: oral antihistamines like loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Reactine), and desloratadine (Aerius), nasal sprays like fluticasone (Flonase) and triamcinolone (Nasacort), and eye drops like Cromolyn. Be sure to check with your pharmacist that the medications are appropriate for you.

TIP 1: Get Ahead of Your Symptoms

If you are a long-term seasonal allergy-sufferer, you’ve probably heard it’s better to pre-treat your allergies. Preventing the reaction means you don’t have to wait for the medication to kick in. Even if most allergy medications are pretty fast-acting-typically 30-60 minutes-save yourself the trouble and take them before you start suffering! This may mean taking an allergy pill every morning from March to September.

TIP 2: Double or Triple-Up

Who says you can only use one allergy remedy at a time? If you’re taking an antihistamine pill and still suffering with nasal congestion or post-nasal drip, add on a corticosteroid nasal spray like fluticasone! Still have itchy eyes? Add cromolyn. These products work differently and do not negatively interact with each other. No need to take multiple different allergy pills at the same time, though.

TIP 3: Minimize Use of Decongestants

Decongestants work great. However, they can pretty quickly cause something called “Rebound Congestion”-meaning your congestion will come back when you stop using them! Avoid ingredients like pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, xylometazoline, and oxymetazoline for longer than a couple days at a time. Instead, choose desloratadine (Aerius), or nasal sprays like fluticasone and triamcinolone for managing congestion.

TIP 4: Change It Up

Allergy pills lose effectiveness. This is something I hear regularly from daily antihistamine-users. When this happens, swap products. Even though many antihistamines are very similar, switching between them every couple months may help keep them effective for you.

TIP 5: Utilize Your Pharmacist’s Prescribing Ability

Call your pharmacy anytime to book an appointment for a minor ailment consultation. This takes 15-30 minutes and may allow your pharmacist to prescribe prescription-strength allergy products AND submit them to your medication insurance plan, including:

Bilastine (Blexten) or rupatadine (Rupall) oral antihistamines
Other corticosteroid nasal sprays like mometasone (Nasonex) and fluticasone (Avamys)
Dymista, a combination corticosteroid and antihistamine nasal spray
Olopatadine eye drops