Allergy medication for all your allergy needs

Allergy medications are available to treat various symptoms of allergy and the doctor would prescribe a certain drug regimen depending upon the symptoms exhibited by the patient. There are no specific drugs to treat specific allergies.

There are many side effects that are associated with allergy medications and an important side effect that is lesser known than others is that allergy medications could lead to depressions. People who are already under depressions may have exaggerated episodes of depression after taking allergy medications or people with low level depression that was earlier not realised by the patient might be heightened as a result of these medications. A patient who feels depressed after taking these medications should consult with his doctor for alternative treatment. The allergy medications that lead to depressions generally contain some forms of anti histamine in them. Other side effects include increase in appetite, anxiety, change in taste and smell, infertility in women and slow reactions to situations.

There are many prescription allergy medications that are available to treat the various symptoms of allergy. Prednisone (Prednisone Intensol) and prednisolone (prelone) are oral corticosteroids that are used for severe cases of allergy. These prescription allergy medicines cause a large number of side effects and so are used for short periods of time, when used for long periods they cause delayed growth in children, muscle weakness, cataracts and osteoporosis. Budesonide(Rhinocart aqua), flunisolide (Nasarel), beclomethasone ( Beconase AQ) are examples of corticosteroid drugs that are used as nasal sprays during runny noses, itchy or stuffy noses. These allergy medications do not cause as great a side effect as oral corticosteroid but they are responsible for side effects like bleeding nose, unpleasant smell or taste and even nasal irritation. Fluoromethalone (FML), Prednisalone ( Pred Forte) and dexamethasone (Maxidex) are some examples of corticosteroidal eye drops that are used when the body is affected with allergic conjunctivitis or hay fever allergy exhibiting symptoms like Itchy eyes that are red and watery. When such medications are used for prolonged periods they could lead to glaucoma, cataracts and even increase the risk for eye infections. Skin creams that contain corticosteroids should be used with caution as they could lead to skin irritation and sometimes even discoloration. Examples of skin corticosteroidal creams include hydrocortisone (Cortaid), triamcinoline ( Kenalog) and these creams are used when an allergic reaction leading to eczema also called Atopic dermatitis is caused leading to scaly and itchy skin. Corticosteroidal drugs can also be inhaled and examples include flunisolide ( Aerobid) and fluticazone (Flovent) and these are used during symptoms of asthma caused by allergy. Prolonged use of these allergy medications could lead to a hoarse voice or eve a headache.

Histamine, produced by the body as a result of an inflammatory response to an allergic reaction is blocked by antihistamine drugs. Fexofenadine (Allegra) is an example of an oral antihistamine drug that may be obtained on prescription and is used to cure urticaria, watery eyes, runny nose and itching. Oral antihistamine drugs could cause drowsiness and many act as sedatives and thus caution should be when using these drugs. Azelastine ( Astelin) is an example for prescription anti histamine drugs that are used in the form of a nasal spray and these are used to provide relief against runny nose, sinus block, sneezing etc. Anti histamine nasal spray cause side effects like nasal bleeding, burning nose, dizziness, drowsiness and headache. Prescription antihistamine eye drops include olopatadine (Patanol) and emedastine(Emedine) amongst others and are used to reduce swelling of eyes and to relieve itchy and red eyes. The side effects produced by these drugs include headache and mild burning sensation.

Another prescription allergy medication that is known to block leukotrienes produced by the body is Montelukast(Singulair) . Runny nose, nose congestion, sneezing and other similar symptoms caused as a result of allergy are alleviated by this drug. Ear infection and sore throat are some of the symptoms seen in children while upper respiratory tract infection is seen in adults. The Federal drug Administration has issued warnings that the use of leukotriene blocking drugs could result in psychological symptoms like insomnia, anxiety and also this drug has been implicated to be an allergy medication that might lead to depression.

Mast cell stabilizer prescription eye drops block the release of chemicals like histamine and are used in the case of itchy eyes that are red as a result of an allergic reaction. There are no known side effects for these eye drops and examples include cromolym sodium (crolom), pemirolast (Alamast) etc.

There are many new asthma allergy medications and drugs like Accolate, which acts as leukotriene receptor antagonist, are used to prevent asthma, but once asthma sets in, another drug that opens the airway needs to be used. This drug will not be able to treat the asthma. Omalizumab (Xolair)are medications that are given to decrease the sensitivity of the body to an allergen and is administered to patient who develop asthma as a result of an allergy.

A new allergy prescription medication is Xyzal which helps against allergic rhinitis and has been found to be very effective. This drug may be used by adults and children over 6 years of age.

The allergy medications that have been discussed earlier provide information that would help compare the seasonal allergy medications that are available for the various seasonal allergies like hay fever. Since all these drugs are prescription allergy medication, there effect is a lot greater than over the counter drugs. However, these drugs should be administered under the supervision of a doctor as many of these allergy medications tend to react with each other leading to harmful situations that might require immediate medical attention. The doctor should also be briefed about any other medication that is being taken like for heart ailments as these allergy medications will react with these drugs causing harm.

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