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Step 1
The first thing you need to do is take the medication you’re already on at the exact same time every day. There’s a long, complicated reason to do this but basically it’s because if you take it at 10:00 in the morning one day and then have to get up early at 6:00 in the morning the next day so that’s when you take it, there will be some of the previous day’s dose still in your body. Then you could be at a 120% dose for example and your body will notice the overload and react by building up a resistance to that medication, making it work less effective in the future.
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Step 2
For the same reason as step 1, NEVER take more than the recommended dose of your allergy medication. Even when things get really bad, it will cause you a lot more discomfort in the long run due to a built up resistance. Also, it may be very dangerous and damaging to your body.
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Step 3
Even without ever overdosing, your body will get used to whatever allergy meds you’re taking and become slightly resistant to them. So the best trick is to have a secondary allergy medication on reserve that you never take. If you wake up one morning after having a pretty rough, coughing and sneezing day from hell the day before and you still feel the same, take the other meds you have on reserve. This only works if you truly never take that secondary allergy medication a lot though. For example, I take Zyrtec daily but for really bad days, I take Benadryl because I only take it about three times per year tops. Because I have no resistance to it, it’s extremely powerful and helps a lot. What you don’t want to do is take more than one medication at the same time if they react badly with each other. Either consult a doctor or skip your usual medication on those bad days and only take the second one alone.
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Step 4
Another thing to remember is to never take any allergy medication on an empty stomach. This will cause it to be absorbed far too quickly into your bloodstream which means you’ll be sort of overdosed on it for a while then it will be processed and removed from your system too quickly, leaving you very uncomfortable the rest of the day.
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Step 5
If possible, stop taking your usual medication during the winter if you live in a location where there aren’t many outdoor allergies during that time. Taking a few months off will diminish your body’s built up resistance to an allergy medication and make it work as strongly for longer.
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Step 6
Finally, it may be a good idea to switch allergy medications every couple years. You don’t necessarily need to keep finding a new one every few years but rotating between them will work pretty well. I was on Alegra for 2 years then Zyrtec for 2, then Claritin for 1, then back on Zyrtec for 2 years and it worked pretty well. Staying off one medication for years will do a lot of good to reset your body’s resistance to it and make it more effective.
Comments
suzyhomeeconomy said
on 9/16/2009 Thanks for the reminder; time to take the Zyrtec!
Enjoyed the article, good tips!
zhanna said
on 9/16/2009 thanks, good information
mymukki said
on 9/16/2009 My doctor prescribed Clariton and it didn't work. I learned a year later that there was something in grapefruits that counteracted the meds! Of course, I was taking my meds faithfully with a glass of red grapefruit juice LOL -very good advice!
gahazeleyes said
on 6/15/2009 Very informative. Thanks.
woodsusa said
on 6/6/2009 Great info...thank you for this article! Both me and my four year old suffer from allergies...and sometimes they hit hard! This should really help!