It's
finally spring in Chicago and that means allergy season is here!!
Nationwide, allergies affect more than 50 million Americans and cause an
estimated 3.6 million workdays to be lost each year. In addition, 2 million
school days per year are lost due to allergies. It is Important for consumers
to treat allergies and not just “live” with them.
Typical allergy symptoms
include sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose.
Pollen levels in Chicago have been bothersome. The predominant pollens right
now are from birch, maple and poplar trees.
In Chicago, tree pollen is particularly bad this time of year; flowers (an
allergy myth) are unlikely to trigger allergy symptoms as flower pollen is
heavy, waxy and sticky and unlikely to become airborne
Indoor allergy triggers include dust mites, animal dander, mold, cockroach
droppings
Currently, the pollen count for the area around campus is predicted to be 9.8
by Sunday (5/4). Pollen levels between 8.1 and 12.0 tend to affect most
individuals who suffer from the pollen types of the season. Symptoms may become
more severe during days with high pollen levels.
Beating Allergies in the Windy City
• Monitor pollen counts (www.pollen.com) – highest pollen conditions occur on
dry, windy days
• When pollen counts are high:
- Stay indoors if possible,
pollen counts are the highest between 5am-10am
- Don’t line dry clothes or air
out rugs outside, etc. You will just bring the pollen into your house
- Keep the windows closed in
the house; use air-conditioning, change the filters frequently
- If driving, keep the windows
closed and use the air-conditioner set to re-circulate air rather than
bring in fresh air from the outside
- If you spend time outdoors on
high pollen days, take a shower, wash your hair and change your clothes
when you get home to get rid of any pollen that may have built up on you
or your hair or clothes; have children change their clothes when they come
in from playing outside
• Nonprescription (OTC) medications are available to treat allergies but there
are differences between them
- Talk to your pharmacist about
OTC allergy medications – new options are available OTC
- Triamcinolone
(Nasacort Allergy 24 hour) was recently switched from prescription to OTC
status
- It
is the first topical steroid available over the counter
- Will
relieve the symptoms of runny nose, sneezing, nasal itching and stuffy
nose; considered to be the first line treatment for allergic rhinitis by
the Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology according to the report of
the Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters in Allergy
- Advantages:
- No
risk of sedation or drug-drug interactions
- Long
duration of action allowing for once daily dosing
- If
no relief of symptoms after one week, see primary care provider
- Patients
who should NOT use Nasacort Allergy 24 HR before talking to their
pharmacist or health care provider include:
- Patients
with recent nasal ulcers, nasal surgery or unhealed nasal injuries
- Patients
using an asthma medicine or prescription steroid medicine
- Patients
who currently have an eye infection, glaucoma or cataracts
- When
using Nasacort Allergy 24 HR, keep in mind the following points:
- Nasacort
should be used once daily regularly without missing a dose
- May
take up to 1 week to provide full benefit and symptom relief; most
people will have some improvement on the first day
- Use
in children:
- There
is the potential for a slowed growth rate in children and it is
important to talk to the child’s doctor if the child needs to use the
spray for more than 2 months in a year
- A
non-sedating antihistamine like Claritin or Allegra is a good option for
most people including children over the age of 2. Relief from allergy symptoms
begins within around an hour.
- If
you also suffer from a stuffy nose, Claritin D or Allegra D may be a good
choice. Keep in mind that
these products are OTC but are kept behind the pharmacy counter so you
will need to ask for them.
- Before getting behind the
wheel, allergy sufferers need to carefully read labels on OTC medicines
for precautions such as ‘marked drowsiness may occur’ and ‘be careful when
driving a motor vehicle’ and heed those warnings
Getting the most from your nonprescription allergy medicines
• Read the label, be sure you are not taking multiple products (Rx or OTC)
containing the same ingredient (for example, some allergy products and some
products for insomnia contain the exact same active ingredient
(diphenhydramine); by taking them together, you are double dosing and can have
side effects)
• Follow the directions. Don’t skip doses
• If you have questions, ask your UIC pharmacist! Don't suffer this allergy
season, we can help!
Submitted
by:
Jan
Engle, Pharm.D., Ph.D. (Hon), FAPhA, FNAP
Professor
and Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice
Executive
Associate Dean
University
of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, Chicago, IL
Past
President, American Pharmacists Association, Washington DC
