Allergy Symptoms
What are the basic allergy symptoms?
What to do for relief?
There are millions of people in the U.S. that suffer from allergy symptoms, due to a variety of causes. Some people are allergic to animal fur, others have food allergies, many have plant allergies. No matter what the cause of the allergy, symptoms are much the same.
Rashes and hives are common symptoms. Swelling in the face, watering eyes, coughing and sneezing are typical symptoms. Headaches can be in this picture too, sometimes very severe.
Allergy symptoms can be so severe that the person has trouble breathing. So allergy symptoms are not any fun at all.
If you suffer these symptoms, the first thing you need to do is get an appointment to have a panel scratch test to determine to what you’re allergic.
It’s not even a good idea to take OTCs for allergic symptoms. Some people have a terrible reaction to decongestants, while an antihistamine is fine. There was a case where a woman took an OTC for seasonal plant allergies, which sent her into outer space.
The reason turned out to be that the OTC remedy contained a particular plant to which she was violently allergic. So, it’s important to find out the source of your allergy symptoms before taking any remedy.
Another thing to help you nail down the cause is to simply be observant.
If your allergy symptoms only appear in spring, odds are that spring plants have something to do with your symptoms. If every time you pet and play with your dog, you start sneezing, you’ve got a clue. Pay attention to what you’re eating, too.
Maybe you’re allergic to the wheat in your favorite cereal. If you periodically break out in rashes or hives, try to notice what you ate just prior. Make notes of any correlations you can make in this way and describe the allergy symptoms that showed up following exposure to a possible allergen.
Take your notes with you to the doctor’s and let them do the analysis. Such information can speed the process of getting some relief from those miserable symptoms.
The scratch panel of allergy tests can be expensive.
Doctors sometimes limit the test to the most likely culprits. If these are discovered right away, you can save some expense on further testing. If you need to have the full spectrum analyzed and can’t afford it, check with your County Health Department to see if they can do the tests.
Here’s how the scratch test work. The doctor applies a tiny amount of various substances to which you might be allergic. Using, a fine comb-like tool the area is scratched, so that the skin reacts to the allergen on the edges of the scratched skin.
These tests don’t hurt and won’t make you sick.
There’s no reason to suffer allergy symptoms for at least a few months out of the year. Get some help, but from a professional!
Don’t experiment with OTCs. You could end up sicker than you were!
Tagged with: Allergy Symptoms • panel scratch test • relief
Filed under: Pain Relief
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