How can allergic rhinitis be treated?
Patient: Morning, I have had what appears to be an allergy reaction to pollen since moving from One city to another. Runny eyes, runny nose, very bad chest cough, hot and cold flushes, slight temperature elevation. Saw my GP who said it was a reaction to pollen due to area I live in. Gave me Telfast 180mg. I have had this for more than 3months. Very tired, lack of sleep at night due to coughing fits etc. Also take a Multi Vitamin as well. I m 56 yrs and not getting any younger. Starting affect my daily routines, work, and external activities. Any suggestions please. Tony Doctor: Allergic rhinitis is not a rare disease and can effect a people of differernt ages. All the symptoms that you are having are more or less classical for this condition. There are three major ways to go about in treating Allergic Rhinitis1. Prevention - Taking medications to avoid having the symptoms2. Symptomatic - Taking medication to alleviate the symptoms you are experiencing.3. Immunotherapy - Make you immune to the allergens causing the symptoms in the first place.In your case as your symptoms have already started. We need to get your symptoms in control first. You are unfortunately having the full package of symptoms i.e., your eyes, your nose and your chest, all three things are involved. If your symptoms have failed to settle with an anti allergic medication like telfast and are experiencing fatigue and lack of sleep then its better you see your physician sooner than later. I would suggest that you should be on the following drugs initially and then the drugs can be slowly tapered off.1. Steroid nasal spray2. Anti allergic eye drops3. Anti Allergic oral medication4. A Steroid + Beta Agonist inhaler (If the chest on examination reveals narrowing of airways)5. In extreme types of allergic Rhinitis your physician can even give you a few days of oral steroids to get your symptoms under control quickly.Once your symptoms are under control then he can concentrate on referring you to an allergy specialist for immunotherapy which can take weeks to months to get the adequate relief required. Till then your drugs will help keep your symptoms at bay and help you go about your daily work with little or no problems. I hope this helps.