General Oral Medications for All Allergy Symptoms
For all allergy symptoms (red, itchy eyes; itchy skin; nasal congestion; cough), the class of the all-purpose active ingredient in many allergy medications is called antihistamine. This class of drug blocks histamine, which causes the allergy symptoms people experience when they come into contact with the allergen they are allergic to.
Though antihistamines can relieve your allergy symptoms, some may induce drowsiness, which can affect your daily activities after taking the allergy medication, for example, chlorpheniramine and diphenhydramine. However, there are currently two antihistamine ingredients available over-the-counter that do not cause drowsiness, and they are loratadine and fexofenadine. An antihistamine that causes mild drowsiness is certirizine. Note that medications with antihistamines that does induce drowsiness work more effectively than medications with antihistamines that does not cause drowsiness.
In conclusion, antihistamines that do not cause drowsiness should be taken during the daytime, and antihistamines that does cause drowsiness should be taken at nighttime or before sleep.
For nasal congestion (more commonly known as stuffy or runny nose), oral medications containing a decongestant will help to clear this stuffy or runny nose. The common decongestant you will see in over-the-counter oral medications is phenylephrine. A pro about this ingredient is that it does not cause drowsiness, making it suitable to use during the daytime.
For Itchy, Red, and/or Dry Eyes
Note: If you have a lot of eye discharge, or the symptoms are not relieved in 2-3 days, you should always consult your doctor before trying anything else.
For itchy, red eyes, the type of ingredient you should look for in the eye drops you buy over-the-counter is an antihistamine. Antihistamines commonly found in eye drops for eye allergies include: pheniramine, antazoline, and ketotifen. For eyes that are red in general, the couple of ingredients you should look for are oxymetazoline and tetrahydrozoline, these are decongestants. For dry eyes, you can try artificial tears eye drops to relieve the dryness.
Nasal solutions
Nasal solutions are good for temporary relief of nasal congestion (stuffy and runny noses) and sinusitis. For stuffy and runny noses, nasal decongestant ingredients like phenylephrine, oxymetazoline, and naphazoline can be found in the nasal solutions you might be looking for. Sodium chloride nasal solutions help to moisturize dry nasal passages.
For All Nasal Symptoms
Nasal irrigation usage, flushing sinuses or nasal passages with saline solution, have been indicated in medical reports to be a great benefit for people with sinus/nasal problems. Nasal irrigators wash away pollutants, toxins, allergens, and dirt. Nasal irrigation helps to relieve symptoms of sinusitis and allergies without the unwanted side effects that might come alongside some medications.
You can also take antihistamines and decongestants simultaneously because the medications can expedite the healing process.
For Rhinitis (or "inflammation of the nasal passages"), irrigation is a really good method to relieve symptoms of an inflamed or blocked nasal passage, i.e. runny or stuffy nose.
For Cough
If you cannot get relief from taking Robitussin DM, you can take it in combination with an antihistamine, oftentimes that combination will resolve the coughing problem. Actually, in many instances, the antihistamine alone can relieve your coughing symptom.
Decongestant Warning for those with Hypertension: Decongestants can cause hypertension, so for people with hypertension, or high blood pressure, they will need to watch out for this side effect. Its better to avoid these products if possible.
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