i don't understand how allergy medicines work?you know how on every allergy medication box it says it "temporarily" relieves allergy symptoms? would you have to take the allergy medications for the rest of your life (since you have allergies) or does the allergy go away? but how does it go away if the medication only relieves temporarily? please answer thanks
-sal1970
some people grow out of their allergies but if they don't then they must take allergy meds the
rest of your life. antihistamines block the effect of histamine which is released from mast cells
during the antibody/antigen reaction. nasal sprays containing cortisone block the antibody/antigen
reaction thus prohibiting the release of histamine. you can be desensitized against whatever you're allergic to by receiving injections of small
amounts of the allergan
-Jared
Allergy medications are essentially histamine blockers of some type. When we have allergy's.. it just means our bodies produce an allergic reaction to a certain 'thing'. This reaction is often a release of histamine into the blood stream that is beyond normal limits. This histamine causes the typical allergy symptoms.
When you take an allergy medication it releases chemicals that essentially 'block' this extra histamine from binding, and relieves your symptoms (temporarily).
The temporary part, is just as with any medication, it only is active in your body (bloodstream) for so long until our body naturally flushes it out. Then if the allergen is still present, your body will start with the histamine again. Rinse, Repeat.
Generally people take the allergy medication during times of the year when the allergen that bothers them is particularly potent.. (IE: Spring, etc). Some people that are allergic to things that can bother them year round, do, in fact, have to take the medication daily , basically year round.
It all depends on the severity of your allergy and the environment you live in.
Hope that helps a bit,
-Chronic Hiver
In order to understand how the meds work, first you need to understand a little about how the immune system works. It's complicated, but I'll try to keep it as short and simple as I can. :-)
In a healthy person, the immune system identifies foreign substances which can be dangerous to the body, and makes antibodies against those things when they are encountered in the body - we're talking stuff like viruses, bacteria, and the like. Sometimes, however, the immune system mistakenly perceives innocuous things as dangerous, and forms antibodies against them - this results in allergies.
OK, so for example, your immune system sees peanuts as a danger. Antibodies are formed against peanuts. So when peanuts get into your body, your immune system goes on the attack. Specialized cells, such as mast cells, are called into action. These cells release chemicals to help your body rid itself of the "invader."
One of the most common chemicals that do this is called histamine. Histamine causes typical allergy symptoms - runny nose, itching, hives, cough, congestion, sneezing, watery eyes, etc. To block those symptoms, you need to take a histamine blocker - an antihistamine, in other words. Those are the drugs which are generally thought of as allergy medicines, but other drugs can also be used, including leukotriene blockers (another chemical released by mast cells), corticosteroids (they block the immune response) and mast cell stabilizers (prevent mast cells from releasing their chemicals).
Now, antihistamines work by competing with histamine for the receptors in your body. Think of it as being like a game of musical chairs. The chairs are the histamine receptors. The players are histamine and antihistamines. When the music stops and everyone scrambles for a chair, they are competing with each other, right? Same with histamine and the antihistamine drugs - they compete for those receptors. If histamine is already attached (which it will be at first, if you are having an allergic reaction), then the drugs cannot attach and do their work. But eventually histamine will lose its hold, and the antihistamine can take its place. Now the histamine has nothing to attach to, so your symptoms back off. Alas, the antihistamine also loses its hold, and will come off the receptors. Which is why it is important to take your meds regularly.
Allergies do sometimes go away on their own, but not very often, it seems. Children are more likely to "outgrow" allergies than adults. Many people find that they can make them go away by getting allergy shots - these are tiny doses of the things you are allergic to, which allows you to gradually build up a resistance to them.
Hope this made sense for you. :-)
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