I used to just ignore spring allergies but now I'm old and dying.
nasal steroids are the best, they take a few days to take effect but are very targeted and reduce your baseline inflammation. They're also over the counter and relatively inexpensive.
For what it's worth, store-brand fluticasone tends to be a lot cheaper than Flonase and is exactly the same stuff. Most people have fewer side effects with Flonase/fluticasone than with Nasacort/triamcinolone. Either way, plan on taking it extremely long-term, though -- as in, for several months nonstop. It's safe to do that since we're not talking about "normal" nasal sprays (e.g., Afrin) that you can't take for more than a day or two at a time, but the anti-inflammatory effects start to wear off about a day or two after you lapse. And it suuuuucks, at least if you have chronic sinus issues.
Diphenhydramine (benadryl) is the strongest antihistamine you can buy OTC
25 mg is all you should need
The other ones like loratadine or cetirizine are not as effective but they also have less severe side effects
Fluticasone (corticosteroid) spray is also pretty effective but also totally localized, so if you're getting rashes and itching all over, it won't help. It will definitely help for runny nose though
what works for me and my partner is 10mg loratadine (24 hr) but taken at night before bed, and only half a pill (5mg). this will prevent any possible drowsiness, and it still works well at half dose all next day.
I use an OTC spray called " Sensimist". It's made by Flonase. I haven't tried Flonase, but this one works for my symptoms.
Flonase, but if you want some supplementary Claritin for acute histamine attacks, go buy it from Costco, online if you have to. The price goes from:
$1 per pill for Claritin
$0.20 per pill for generic loratadine at walgreens/cvs/anywhere
$0.03 per pill for Kirkland Allerclear
Same EXACT shit. It's like a THIRTIETH the cost.
This is critically important because the "one pill" thing is a scam so they can label it non-drowsy, you actually need 2-3 if you have active allergies, and this is the European dosage.
If your eyes are an issue, I find ketotifen eyedrops to be the best. You use them twice a day every 8-12 hours, so you can do 12-12, or 8-8-0 and sleep without them. Alaway is the name brand, but you can find generics too.
