When taking medication for your nasal allergies, you need to:
Allergy medications will not cure your nasal allergies. But they will work to prevent or to relieve symptoms of an allergic reaction. Sometimes, you need to take more than one kind of allergy medicine to control all of your allergy symptoms. For instance, you may need both an antihistamine and a decongestant. Sometimes, the allergy medications themselves will be a combination of more than one kind of allergy medicine.
Many of these allergy medicines are available over the counter (OTC), meaning you can buy them without a prescription. There are also allergy medications that are available by prescription only. Some of the newer antihistamines, for example, are only available with a prescription. Many of these antihistamines don't make you drowsy and may be safer to use.
Talk with your doctor about your goals for controlling your nasal allergies. For many people, a combination of avoiding allergens and taking the right allergy medications at the right time provides the control they need. Also talk with your doctor about other drugs you take or have taken and about your health in general. For help in talking with your doctor, see Diagnosing Allergies.
See Allergy Medicine for a list of medications that can help control symptoms of nasal allergies.
If you're pregnant, make sure all of your doctors know what drugs you take and ask if they can be taken during pregnancy. It might be best to avoid all allergy medications if your allergies are mild. If your allergies are severe, there are some allergy medications that are less likely to have any effect on your baby. Check with your doctor.