Benefits of Different Treatments

Help and advice on the causes of hayfever the effects and the best hayfever treatments available

Lets take look at these treatments in a bit more detail. The main thing I found out about all of them is that they only treat the symptoms of hayfever. None treat the causes. They don't work for every allergy. Being medicines, all have some side effects, with varying degrees of intensity.

1) Antihistamine tablets, capsules or liquid medicines
These are the commonest treatments for hayfever. Their great advantage is that taking one tablet every day will treat the symptoms in the nose, eyes, ears and throat. There are two main kinds of antihistamine taken by mouth.

a) Older antihistamines, which cause drowsiness
b) Newer antihistamines, which cause little or no sleepiness
eg Benadryl, Zirtec, Clarityn.

I would not take older antihistamines, which cause sleepiness, unless your GP prescribes it for you. They maybe cheaper but there is clear evidence that they may cause road accidents and affect learning in children at school. How do we know? There has been lots of research, which shows this, but two experiments are especially interesting.

In one set of experiments, drivers had to drive in straight lines, at a steady speed along a motorway for 70 miles, with a video camera on the roof. The videotape showed those drivers who took older antihistamines wobbled more during driving. Sometimes to such a dangerous extent, that the test had to be stopped. Old antihistamines are dangerous! Newer antihistamines caused no increase in wobbling compared to the dummy tablets.

In a second set of experiments schoolchildren with hayfever were sat in front of computers with a program. This taught them about farming in the desert. When they had finished learning they played a computer game. Guess what the game was about- farming in the desert. Depending on how well they did they each have a score.

Here are the results. The children whose hayfever was treated with the old antihistamines did WORSE than those children who took the dummy tablets. And those who took newer antihistamines did better than those who took the dummy tablets. This shows how hayfever itself harms learning. Treating the hayfever undoes this harm, providing it does not make the children sleepy.

Both sets of experiments were done by a team under the supervision of Professor O'Hanlon, of Holland. Many other experiments have shown similar results. The older antihistamines have these harmful effects even in people who do not notice sleepiness from the tablets.

The new low-sedatory antihistamines are at least as effective for hayfever, but they cost more. These treatments differ in a number of ways. The size of tablets, length of time they act, how effective they are. The extent to which they cause drowsiness, and of course price!

Two of the newer antihistamines do have a rare, but serious problem. Both Terfenadine and Astemizole have on rare occasions had life-threatening or fatal side effects. In overdose or when in combination with one of a small number of other medicines. Or in people with certain kinds of heart trouble. They can cause the heart to beat in an abnormal way, and despite enormous numbers of people who took the drugs, a small number died.

With proper precautions, both are still very good and safe drugs. In the case of Terfenadine that problem has now been solved.

Older antihistamines, which do cause drowsiness, are still on sale without prescription. If they are cheaper - sleepiness in today's fast paced environment is not an acceptable side effect.

Although usually mild, rare and temporary, all medicines have side effects. Nausea, vomiting, difficulty sleeping, palpitations, and headaches are possible. Even with new products. Always read the label carefully.

Much research has been done to check the safety of the commonly used antihistamines in pregnancy. This found no evidence of harm to unborn babies. In cases of the newer versions systematic research is still to do. Most have been used a lot. It is reasonable to assume that they are safe during pregnancy.

2) Antiallergenic nasal sprays or eye drops
All the main medicines e.g. Opticron, Tilarin and Rapitil work and have good safety. Like antihistamine sprays or drops they are used when people do not want to use steroid sprays or drops, which cause serious side effects.

Eye drops sting if your eyes are inflamed. The reason for this is the germ killing antiseptic. The stinging soon stops. You need to use eye drops continually for some days for them to become effective. If you can't stand the stinging - eye drops are not for you.

Nose sprays may sting as well. It is not especially a problem with antiallergenic nose sprays.

3) Antihistamine sprays or drops for noses or eyes
These work about as well as the antiallergenic sprays and drops. They have the same advantages and disadvantages. They only work in your nose or eyes. If they work then that is great. You get a good result without taking tablets, which get into your body.

4) Steroid sprays or drops
This spray is very effective in the nose. Steroid sprays seem to work particularly well against blockages in your nose. However a steroid nasal spray is a watery liquid. This is not the easiest of treatments to deliver up the nose. It can easily run down the back of your throat or run out of your nose.

Sticky steroid sprays are formulated to stick to the lining of your nose. This stops it running out or trickling down the throat. You need to take them continuously. Miss a dose and they do not work instantly. Steroid sprays are safe because the dose is low. You spray them where you want them. You don't need to use much as far the body is concerned. Secondly they are biodegradable. They break down very quickly in the body. They don't cause side effects. Except for stinging in the nose for some people.

Nose bleeds are uncommon and are often of a temporary nature. They are not serious. If you have delicate blood vessels in your nose you should get rid of them first by cauterisation.

Steroid eye drops are very effective but can lead to serious side effects such as glaucoma, cataracts, damage to the cornea and possibly blindness. If you want to take steroid sprays or drops, please consult your doctor.

5) Decongestant sprays
These can help over a short period of a few days. But can cause more trouble than you started with, if it is used for longer. They give excellent relief of the blockage in the nose .The only problem is that when they wear off. Soon afterwards, the nose is blocked again. If anything it is worse than before. This goes on and on. You end up with a worse blocked nose than before.

6) Decongestant tablets
They can help, but the risks are considered serious by some authorities. They definitely help blockage of the nose, there is evidence that on rare occasions they may have devastating side effects. They can cause trouble especially in people with high blood pressure and difficulties in sleeping. If you do wish to take decongestants by mouth, consult your doctor first.

7) Steroid tablets or injections
They work well but have side effects too. They should be used for only short periods. Why inject if taking other treatments work just as well? Steroid injections can cause 'fat atrophy' making a small dent in your buttock. This may look odd if you wear a swimsuit. Rarely they can cause an abscess. Though rare this is an extremely unpleasant side effect. Consult your GP before administering any injections.

8) Desensitizing injections
Hardly used much in Britain anymore. You should have advice from an allergy specialist. It is time consuming and expensive, especially the way it is done in Britain. There is a risk of death from the treatment. Not recommended.

In Summary
All these treatments worked to a greater or lesser degree on the symptoms of hayfever rather than the causes. To understand we need to look at the causes of hayfever.