How Antihistamines Can Help You to Fight Allergy Symptoms?

• Antihistamine allergy treatment can help minimize your allergy symptoms.
• Immunotherapy, also called allergy shots, can help lower the sensitivity you have to allergens.
• Allergy treatment can change your life if you suffer from allergies.

Antihistamines can be one option when it comes to allergy treatments, but the final treatment will depend on the severity of the allergen and your specific medical history. Allergies can range from mild, such as hay fever, all the way to the life threatening, such as a bee or nut allergy that results in anaphylactic shock and the threat of death if not treated immediately. For mild to moderate allergies tha are common and may be seasonal, like hay fever and mold allergies which can flare up during the year, the threat to your body is not the allergen, such as pollen or mold, but the extreme reaction your body has to this allergen. Antihistamine allergy treatment may provide a way for you to stop this overreaction.

An allergy causes your body to create and release histamines, which will cause all of the allergy symptoms like sneezing, itchy watery eyes, coughing, and others. Antihistamines stop the histamines from doing their intended job by attaching to the receptor before the histamine can, thereby preventing an allergic reaction and symptoms. Antihistamines can have side effects, especially the older ones which can cause you to become drowsy or sedate you. The newer antihistamines only work on the nasal receptors, so drowsiness is not a problem. Using antihistamine allergy treatment may mean that you no longer have to practice allergen avoidance.

Another common allergy treatment is immunotherapy. This treatment is also commonly referred to as allergy shots, and this treatment involves giving you successively larger amounts of the allergen to help build up your tolerance and resistance to the allergen. This is an option for anyone who is very allergic to some substances, and should only be done under the supervision of your doctor because of the high risks of anaphylactic shock. This treatment may also be ordered by your doctor if your allergies are mild but occur frequently, and have a big effect on your life. Another type of immunotherapy is a rushed schedule which gives bigger allergen doses every couple of hours instead of weeks. This is only done in the hospital because of the deadly risks involved.

Anaphylactic shock is a very severe allergic reaction that can become life threatening very rapidly. This reaction will not occur the very first time that you are exposed to the allergen, and this creates an antigen which starts the allergic reaction in motion. You can be exposed a number of times without any problems, or just a mild allergic reaction, and then the very next time you may go into anaphylactic shock. Symptoms of this severe reaction normally happen very quickly and include difficulty breathing, a skin reaction including redness and hives, a drop in blood pressure, dizziness, generalized swelling, faintness, unconsciousness, and then death. At the end of this reaction if medical treatment is not received to stabilize the patient the heart will quit beating and death will occur.

Antihistamines do not cure allergies but they can stop the allergic reaction from becoming severe or life threatening. If you suffer from severe allergies you may need to carry an injectable epinephrine pen with you everywhere you go. This will allow you to inject yourself at the first sign of a severe allergic reaction, and this move may save your life. Epinephrine works very rapidly to narrow down all the blood vessels in your body. This will cause your blood pressure to go back up and prevent shock from setting in. Various drugs including antihistamines, can help control the swelling, itching, and skin rashes you may experience as well. When controlled properly, your allergies can be a nuisance but do not have to be fatal.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.