For those of you who suffer from allergies what, if anything, do you guys use or do to keep it under control?

For whatever reason my allergies are flaring up right now (live in LA) and I am sneezing a lot/having a runny nose/my eyes are itchy and feel uncomfortable.

Is it worth it to go see a doctor? Or should I just try some over the counter stuff first?

www.google.com

Go to a local farm that produces honey.
Take two tablespoons day.
Seriously, this will help you.

I love allergies, i don't have any allergies but when im high and my eyes are red it is a good excuse.

sorry op, i know thta didn't help

Go to the doctor. Mine gave me his opinion of the best allergy medication (Reactine, Claratin is dog piss that barely passed the requirements to be a drug in the first place), gave me some eye drops, and some nose spray (flonase?). The combination has been brilliant, and for the first time in 30 years, I enjoyed summer.

Both. I get seasonal allergies bad, from Aug-Oct. A few years back I started taking loratadine (Claritin) daily mid-July before symptoms even began, and it helped a lot. Last year, though, it wasn't getting it done. I went to the allergist and he prescribed some nasal spray (in addition to short-term steroids). It was ****ing magical. Eliminated 99% of my problems. Refilled it this year and started taking it again in mid-July before symptoms started (didn't bother with the loratadine) and it was the best summer I've had in 10 years. Had maybe 1-2 days with mild itchy throat/runny nose.

P.S. The nasal spray is Nasocor.

by blowing my nose 1000x a day

I have bad allergies and Rhinocort (Rx) is the the best thing I've found. It's a nasal spray you use once in the morning and you won't touch a tissue all day.

are most of the medications you guys are mentioning over the counter or do they have to be prescribed?

If your allergies are bad enough to post about, they're probably bad enough to see an allergist about. If you just have prolems occaisionally, buy some claritin (otc) and keep it in your medicine cabinet for when you need it.

Get a Hepa air filter for whichever room you spend the most time in. Def go see a doctor.

I have seasonal allergies and then some. I'm allergic to about 25 different things . Doctors tell me I need to be taking prescription allergy medicine 10 months a year. In reality my seasonal allergies only act up for about two weeks a year. My other allergies can typically just be avoided. So I don't see the sense in paying for 2+ prescriptions year round. I started my own quest to find what's what.

Many of the recommendations in this thread are solid. Here are my thoughts (without having to go to the doctor).

Local Honey is great. If there is a bee farm within reasonable traveling distance it would be a good idea to check it out. A farmers market that might bring these types of things closer is also an option. Local honey may cause your allergies to go a little crazy for a short time but your body will react against the allergies and after a couple days you should be fine.

Rhinocort is a fantastic nasal spray. Last time I used it was via prescription. I'm not sure if you can just buy it outright now. In my opinion its irrelevant as Afrin is hands down the best nasal spray you can buy at any drug store.

Claritin has gone the way of the buffalo. Zyrtec is the best pill out there. You take one every 24 hours. It recently went from being prescription only to over-the-counter. It's a bit pricey compared to stuff like Benadryl but is surely worth it.

Getting an air filter is also huge. I have two of them in my house and the purified air makes breathing clearly an everyday thing. There are a lot of good ones out there. Hepa air filters are quality products, but most require a the filter to be replaced regularly. I use "ionic" type air filters that are very low maintenance and require no additional purchases. They're much more expensive then ones that require new filters to be purchased, but not having to buy filters will quickly make the initial payment more reasonable.

bumping this...

I have been taking zyrtec for a pretty long while, after having been on Allegra-D for the better part of my child-young adult life. I recently ran out of my bottle and, due to a combo of laziness and forgetfullness, haven't gotten another bottle for 4-5 days. But, beside my allergies starting to act up a little, I've noticed that I have a TON more energy than I did before. Does anyone know if Zyrtec has been known to cause drowsiness? Are there any meds out there that do NOT cause drowsiness that are still effective?

I have pretty bad seasonal allergies...

I live in Canada and while most allergy meds aren't covered by medical plans, over-the-counter 20mg reactine's are covered.

I take 1 reactine and a squirt of flonase in each nostril everyday.

Try eating less protein and more carbs. My ex-wife, who had never had any allergies at all, went on the Atkins diet and immediately became a slave to pollen, cedar, all the allergy stuff. Really bad, huge hacking cough for weeks at a time.

If it's just a runny nose and sneezing, it doesn't sound that disruptive. Some people have to move over stuff like this. Try otc drugs before going to a doctor.

I have a friend who takes a tablespoon of honey a day. It has to be local, from within 50 miles. Swears it works, sounds crazy to me.

anyone know of any non-drowsy allergy meds that work well? as I said, I think Zyrtec makes me drowsy...

+1

If you want to take the natural route, grape seed extract has anti-histamine properties. It also has the side effect of being a very strong anti-oxidant.

I think green tea is great for allergies as well due to the anti-inflammatory effect it has.

Yeah zyrtec causes drowsiness in my opinion.

i have had a stuffed up nose for 5 years. i think its structural, not allergies. i'm gonna make that doctor's appt. any day now.

A post to OOT isn't exactly a 911 call. His original post seems to indicate he hasn't even tried otc drugs. Go to an allergist with garden variety hay fever and he'll charge you $XXX to tell you to try an otc drug. Maybe he'll give you some free samples. Try the otc drugs on your own first.

OTC allergy medicines are a lot more expensive than getting a prescription for a comparable drug (at least for my plan)

This is why health care costs are spiralling!