Sufferers of hay fever and nasal allergies generally reach for anti-histamines to calm their itching, sneezing, congestion and profuse watery nasal discharge. More appropriately however nasal corticosteroid sprays offer superior benefits without some of the unwanted side effects of traditional oral therapies. Recently F.D.A. approved as an over-the-counter option, Flonase Allergy Relief offers 24 hour symptom control both for nasal complaints and itchy, watery eyes as well.
Hello i’m dr. ken lander do you suffer from nasal allergies well if you do you’re one of about 50 million people here in the united states who have similar problems the nasal allergies can cause sleep problems they lead to daytime fatigue they cause problems at work problems at school we spend about 17 billion dollars treating nasal allergies in the united states
Every year and unfortunately while 70% of the people with the allergies are going to use some kind of over-the-counter medicine at least half of the people are dissatisfied with their chosen therapy well in 1994 the food and drug administration authorized sale of flonase flonase is an intranasal corticosteroids intranasal you place it inside your nose you spray
It inside your nose and it contains cortisone in 2014 the food and drug administration said to the company you can go sell it over-the-counter it actually was the second steroid available over-the-counter now it’s important to realize that flonase or the generic equivalent of the flonase called fluticasone can be used in people over age 4 for nasal allergies not
For symptoms of the common cold but for nasal allergies and they work extraordinarily well when they were prescription it seems the food and drug administration only authorized their use for nasal allergies but they actually work very well for ocular allergies eye allergies as well eye symptoms can be treated by the intranasal corticosteroids not sprayed into
The eye but sprayed into the nose well the problem is typically an allergic reaction to something hay fever so you’re allergic to pollen you’re allergic to dander you’re allergic to mites you’re allergic to mold and unfortunately it causes lots of symptom symptoms in the i itch of watery eye symptoms in the nose itching or sneezing or congestion or running and
What’s the therapy the therapy for the overwhelming majority of people is best used with an intranasal corticosteroids medicine might flonase onset within 12 hours of the first squirt but it doesn’t really reach its maximum level of benefit for about the first seven to fourteen days and you can use it for months and months without seeing a doctor now remember
It’s to be sprayed only into the nose not into the eyes not into the mouth and because you’re applying the top into the nose for hygienic reasons just one person per bottle the medicines are extremely effective and at least as effective as every other kind of medicine out there on the market typically comes in two sizes a smaller size sixty sprays or larger size
120 sprays they call one the smaller one the pediatric dose pediatric size and the other the adult but they contain exactly the same medicine exactly the same concentration just different number of sprays how do you use it well one spray per side morning one spray per side night or two sprays in the morning on each side for about the first week and then you cut
Down to one spray per side per day if you’re an adult if you’re a child you start off with and you continue to use just one spray per side per day how do the medicines work well they cause the vessels to constrict and they stop the release of some of the allergy relating substances what we call the cytokines and the inflammatory cells it prevents them from being
Released inside the nose and the inhaled corticosteroids for those people who have mild to moderate symptoms guidelines say that is the therapy you don’t have to add anything to it you don’t have to take anything in addition unless you have moderate to severe symptoms then you might need an add-on medicine you might need something in addition well are there any
Side effects sure but the side effects are not really significant it’s a nasal dryness or irritation maybe some burning or some bleeding maybe you get a sore throat or a peculiar taste in the back of your throat and in some people it’s possible maybe to get overgrowth of yeast but that’s extremely rare now people worry about cortisone and corticosteroids and side
Effects from cortisone but the intranasal cortisone doesn’t really get absorbed into the body so it’s only when you take the pills that when you get a shot and you do it at a high enough dose for a long enough period of time then yes corticosteroids cortisone prednisone can lead to cataracts and glaucoma can lead to fluid retention and high blood pressure can
Lead to muscle weakness and osteoporosis and loss of calcium from the bone and peptic ulcers and mood swings but the good news is when you use the internal corticosteroids only 2 percent of the material is bioavailable and it doesn’t really get anywhere outside the nose where can you purchase flonase or similar products you can do that at any grocery store and
The drug department you can find them in every single pharmacy you can find them at costco and walmart and sam’s club they’re all relatively inexpensive the smaller bottle costs about $15 larger bottle costs about $25 that’s about a month other names ryan accord nasonex nasacort baroness becca nays all of these medicines also contain intranasal corticosteroids
What are the other options well they’re the anti histamines you can use me antihistamine ii there’s a spray there’s still prescription still fairly expensive they only last about four hours have more side effects seem to be less effective than the internal steroids we know you could take an oral antihistamine that’s a benadryl for pheniramine well these medicines
Cross the blood-brain barrier and they get into your brain and they make you sleepy to make you have difficult time staying awake concentrating going to school going to work driving a motor vehicle well they have a new kind of aunt isis to me we thought second-generation antihistamine that’s the allegra in the claritin those medicines seem to have fewer side
Effects but for many people they don’t really relieve all of the symptoms then you can use a decongestant is a spray that would be afrin you only use it for three or four or five days so if you happen to have allergies all year that wouldn’t be a choice or you could take the decongestant by mouth that would be the pseudoephedrine that’s when you see allegra d or
Claritin d the d is the decongestant but unfortunately the decongestant can stimulate your heart increase your blood pressure causes urinary retention cause tremors cause sleeplessness and as a result they’re not very well thought of well we have other medicines too we have something called an anticholinergic that can help dry the secretions that’s a spray it’s
Called actor event we have another medicine called neza chrome nazo chrome is a medicine known as crumblin that helps also stop the mast cells from releasing some of their chemicals inside the nose and cuts down on the allergies but doesn’t work nearly as well as the steroid and then we have another class of medicine as typifies by single art now it’s important
That you realize that you can use the intranasal corticosteroids i itself for the overwhelming majority of people who suffer from nasal allergies but sometimes if you have severe symptoms you might need an add-on drug maybe you take the oral antihistamine maybe you take the antihistamine spray and if you do that we ought to be able to make you function much
Better fewer side effects feel better and then you’ll be happy with your therapy anyway thanks for watching i’m dr. ken landau you
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Flonase By wellnowdoctor