Before going on to anything specific, let's outline some basic facts about allergies:
• Allergies are your immune system reacting to a foreign substance as if it were harmful, despite the fact that it is not generally harmful to others.
• When you are allergic to a substance, that substance is considered to be an allergen.
• Typical allergens are pollens, drugs, lints, bacteria, foods, and dyes or chemicals.
• During an allergic reaction, your immune system creates antibodies, called IgE (Immunoglobulin E), to combine with the allergen in order to prevent it's perceived danger. The IgE attaches itself to mast cells. Mast cells fill a variety of functions in the body, but are commonly found in the airways, and your lungs are particularly susceptile to allergen exposure. The IgEs combine with the allergens and attach themselves to the mast cell, stimulating the mast cell to release several chemicals into the blood, one of which is histamine. Histimines normally are a response to tissue damage, and can cause blood capilaries to dilate. Dilating makes capitlaries more penatrable, allowing liquid to escape into nearby tissues. This reaction generally causes swelling and itching.
• Symptoms of allergies include itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, itchy, runny nose, rashes, feeling tired or ill, and hives, though certain allergies can manifest in indigestion and even difficulty breathing.
So now you've had the crash course in allergies, so what now? Now, I blog.
I'm going to get everyone started with the most simple method of managing the most common symptoms of allergies; antihistimines*. Antihistimines are drugs available without a prescription that compete with histimines in your blood for histimine receptor sites. By blocking the receptor sites, they prevent histimines released by mast cells from causing the blood capilaries to dilate.
I've personally discoverd that diphenhydramine (sold as Benadryl) is the most effective antihistimine for me, preventing more allergy symptoms than Claritin, Zyrtec, Clarinex and Allegra. I do have a common side effect of drowsiness after taking Benadryl, but this generally decreases in severity after prolonged use. Others have reported side effects such as dizziness, headache, indigestion, decreased coordination, and dry mouth, though these are generally mild.
Next week, we're going to discuss methods of prevention....
*Note: if you are using an MAOI, have narrow-angle glaucoma, or are breast feeding, please do not use antihistimines.
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