I knew fall was officially here the other morning not because of the date, but because I woke up with itchy, watery eyes and a very runny nose. I like many others suffer from fall seasonal allergies. It seems like the severe weather change and winds of the week have made my symptoms and the symptoms of several people I know especially bad this year. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help reduce seasonal allergy symptoms.
The first thing, though, in treating seasonal allergy symptoms is making sure it really is a seasonal allergy. Seasonal allergies, along with colds, flu, and COVID all have common symptoms. But there are some things that are different with seasonal allergies than with viral infections.
Common allergy symptoms include frequent sneezing, watery or itchy eyes, runny nose, congestion in nose, ears or chest, postnasal drip, itchy throat, and swollen eyelids. Less common symptoms of allergies can be wheezing, coughing, changes in exercise endurance, and mild headaches.
If you have fever, fatigue, body aches, weakness, severe headache, or severe sore throat you are unlikely to be suffering from allergies, but from some sort of infection like a cold, the flu, or COVID.
Duration can also be a clue. Seasonal allergies persist until the thing the person is allergic to is gone, which can take months for some allergens. Viral illnesses, except COVID, generally last less than two weeks. With most people COVID is the same, but there are people who do hold onto COVID symptoms for months.
Fortunately, those cases are rare. The other clue with seasonal allergies is exactly that, they are seasonal. They show up at about the same time every year. In the fall, pollen from weeds, like ragweed, tumbleweed, pigweed, sagebrush, and Russian thistle are the biggest culprits.
According to the Mayo Clinic there are several things you can do to help reduce your risk of suffering from seasonal allergies. First, reduce your exposure. Stay indoors, especially on dry, windy days.
Delegate lawn mowing, weed pulling, and other gardening activities. If that is not possible, consider wearing a particulate filtering mask when doing those activities. Shower and wash your hair at the end of the day to remove allergens from your body before going to bed. Pollen counts tend to be the highest in the mornings, so avoid outdoor activities at that time of day if possible. Second, keep indoor air clean. Use high-efficiency filters on air conditioners and heaters and change them out according to manufacturer recommendations. Consider a HEPA filter in your bedroom to reduce allergens, and clean floors with a HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner.
There are several over-the-counter medications that can help. Oral antihistamines such as loratadine (Claritin, Alavert), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra) can help with the sneezing, itching, runny nose and watery eyes.
Some antihistamines can cause drowsiness, so be careful when you add those to your routine if you are doing any activities where you need to be alert (like driving). Nasal congestion can be helped by oral decongestants like pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Afrinol), or oral decongestants like oxymetazoline (Afrin) and phenylephrine (Neo-synephrine).
Be careful to only use nasal decongestants for a few days. Longer-term use of those medications can cause rebound congestion and make symptoms worse. There are also medications like Claritin-D and Allegra-D that combine both antihistamine and decongestant properties. Cromolyn sodium nasal sprays are also good at easing symptoms because they help clean nasal passages, but they work best if they are started before the symptoms occur.
Another-over-the-counter remedy that seems to work well for many people are nasal rinses such as neti pots or nasal irrigation squeeze bottles. They literally flush the allergens out of your nasal cavities.
If you use those devices make sure to use distilled sterile water to make the solution, and make sure the device is cleaned well according to manufacturer instructions after each use. With any medication watch out for possible interactions with medications you are already taking and be aware of side effects. If you aren’t sure which is best for you, talk to your pharmacist or primary health care provider.
Finally, talk to your primary health care provider. Your health care provider can help you decide the best treatments for your seasonal allergies. If your allergies are severe, your primary health care provider can refer you to an allergy specialist where you can get tested for specifics on what you are allergic to and then decide on the best strategy to combat those allergens.
