Antihistamine Treatments

Antihistamines block the histamine receptors, thus stopping the body from producing more histamine. Histamine is produced as a reaction to some foreign invader, such as an allergen. As such, antihistamines are taken to combat or relieve allergy-related symptoms. Antihistamines come in a variety of forms.

Pills

• Antihistamines are commonly found in pills, caplets, capsules and tablets. They can be prescribed medications or purchased as OTC (over the counter) drugs. Benedryl is a common OTC medication, good at reducing swelling and rashes. Other popular medications, once sold by prescription only, include Claratin and Zyrtec. Because some antihistamines can make people drowsy, there are often non-drowsy versions. As well, antihistamines may be combined with decongestants. Often, these will be labeled with a D, as in Claratin-D.

Sprays

• Nose sprays might also contain antihistamines, although OTC sprays typically mainly provide decongestants. However, there are two prescription antihistamine sprays available: Astelin and Patanase (which has only been available since 2008). These are not steroids. And while they do not provide some of the advantages of nasal steroids in combating allergies, they do have the advantage of working much faster. And nasal antihistamines have fewer side effects than their steroid counterparts.

Creams

• Antihistamine creams are typically used on rashes (such as those resulting from poison oak or poison ivy), insect bites or other skin reactions, often due to a contact allergen. If the skin is broken, use should be avoided as an antihistamine cream can aggravate allergic dermatitis. In general, antihistamine creams are used for small area break-outs. Large scale rashes are typically treated with oral antihistamines. Benedryl makes an antihistamine cream that is available OTC.