There is a huge variety of products available to treat whichever hay fever symptoms you have. You can always call into any McGorisks Pharmacy to ask advice from our helpful staff.
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For regular hay fever sufferers, taking antihistamines daily from the start of spring can help prevent symptoms occurring. Alternatively, they can be taken on days pollen is high or you know you wil be outdoors. Antihistamines block the histamine being released when you first come in contact with any pollen. The most popular over the counter antihistamines are loratadine (e.g. Clarityn, Lorat) or cetirizine (e.g. Zirtek, Cetrine). These are once a day tablets and are usually non drowsy. Older generation antihistamines such as chlorphenamine (Piriton) can be useful when skin reactions are also occuring or when sleeping is difficult due to allergies. Piriton does cause drowsiness and shouldn’t be used long term. Fexofenadine (Telfast) is another antihistamine that has recently changed over from only being available with a prescription. It is a non drowsy, once daily antihistamine and gives 24 hour relief.
Nasal sprays can be helpful in two different ways – decongestant nasal sprays such as Otrivine or Sudafed can be used for the first few days to clear blocked noses. They shouldn’t be used for any longer than 5 to 7 days as they can cause rebound congestion. Steroid nasal sprays such as Beconase, Nsascort or Flixonase can be safely used all throughout hay fever season. These reduce the inflammation in the nose which helps to control symptoms. Steroid nasal sprays give some relief straight away but need to be used for a few days to feel the full effect. Sterimar hayfever is an isotonic salt water spray than can help to remove pollen from the nose. Sterimar is drug free so is suitable for use in pregnancy.
Eye irritation can be one of the most annoying hay fever symptoms for a lot of people. Eyes can be red and itchy or watery. Using antihistamine tablets and even nasal sprays is often enough to treat the eye symptoms but other times eye drops are needed. Opticrom are the most popular anti allergy eye drops and can help with symptoms of itchy, streaming or redness. The come in both a multi dose bottle or as single use little plastic tubes. Otrivine Antistin eye drops contain two ingredients – both an anti allergic and a decongestant. As it contains a decongestant, it shouldn’t be used for longer than 7 days. Another natural anti allergic molecule is Ectoin. This is found in both hylo dual and fusion allergy and can help ease itchy, red, watery eyes.
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