Do I Need to Take Allergy Medicine?

For many people, allergy symptoms are merely annoying and their choice to take allergy medicine is purely personal. Symptoms can include watery or itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, feeling drained. Sometimes something as simple as a tablet every 12 hours is enough allergy medicine to completely stop the symptoms for a short period of time.

Many people visit their allergists once a week or once a month for injections of a small amount of the substance to which they are allergic. By injecting the allergen into the patient's system, the patient will hopefully develop antibodies to make a system immune to the allergens. This type of treatment works for some people and other people shy away from it. There are specific treatments for bee sting and wasp bite allergies.

If a person is fatally allergic to something such as corn, peanuts, bee stings, etc., they run the risk of having what is called an anaphylactic reaction; their entire system reaction with incredible speed and can have potentially dangerous results.

These people need to carry a special allergy medicine

An adrenaline (epinephrine) injection kit is something that must be administered immediately after contact with the allergen in order to stop (or lessen) the reactions. In the best cases, this medicine works perfectly. In bad cases, a person's life may be saved, but they may suffer severe consequences that cannot be reversed. In the worst case, the person will die.

For example, a person who eats fried chicken made with corn flakes may not associate chicken with corn. If the person has an anaphylactic reaction to corn and eats the chicken, his entire body could shut down, leaving him unable to breathe without a respirator, unable to move due to neurological damage, and unable to live without constant care. A person can go from being perfectly healthy to being completely disabled in a matter of minutes.

Whether or not a person needs to take allergy medicine depends on the degree of the allergy, the inconvenience of symptoms, and personal considerations. For instance, a person who is allergic to pet dander may consider the itchy, watery eyes a small price to pay for living with a beloved pet. However, a visitor to the home may require allergy medicine to handle his own allergies or symptoms to the same pet. Another friend may choose to simply stay away, avoiding the pet completely.

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