After over-the-counter antihistamines, whats the next step in treating chronic allergies?

hayfever to be precise!

Do they still do that injection thing? I hear its very good and it sounds like just the thing I need right now!

I had to go to an allergist and get all those needle pricks in my back. It felt like a thousand and it took several trips. I wound up with hay fever and being allergic to several kinds of dust and lost of other silly things I cannot avoid. I take a daily preventer, plus a nasal inhaler, plus a pill twice a day. It's a pain, and right now the inhaler does give me some relief but by the middle of the day I am back to sneezing and quite uncomfortable. I also have been put recently on steroids. The bad thing for me is that it also affects my asthma. I don't know how the two relate, but they do. I have chronic hay fever and asthma. I do everything to keep pollen out of the house but there is no "cure". It just a pain in the a$$. I've tried injections and they work for a while. The best thing for me is steroids but they tend to make me gain weight. I'm on them now but only for 7 days. Then in 7 days they review my symptoms again and decide what course of action to take....it's just a pain in the a$$!!! Good luck!!!

My mother is going through this problem, and it very much depends of the type of allergy.

If it's a non-specific allergy, they will do shots, however...

If your allergies cause shortness of breath, they will give you a less-effective inhaler instead because the injection has been known to cause respiratory problems...

rock and a hardplace... trouble breathing and less effictive medicine or more effective medicine that may CAUSE trouble breathing.

Good luck with your decision and hope you get to feeling better!

Allergy is a chronic condition. It can be controlled but not cured. It is caused by a defect in the immune system. Generally, allergy symptom control is a 3 pronged approach and medication is not the "next" step it is the last step. Sounds like you need to go back two spaces. Before you even leave "Go" you need to know exactly the proteins that trigger your reactions (in allergy the immune system mis-identifies certain proteins). "Hayfever" is general. Have you been tested to know the specific plants? The reason that is important is because the first step is avoidance. You can't avoid it if you don't know what it is. You can refer to pollen maps on the internet such as Pollen.Com which can give youa 3 day pollen forecast. It is important to stay inside when pollen counts are high. You need to keep windows and doors closed and run a good air filter. Also, keep pets inside because they bring pollen in on their fur. Stay in when it is windy and stay indoors early in the day. This is when pollen counts are high. Pollen counts are lowest right after rain. If you must be outside, wear a mask. When you come inside, take a shower, wash your hair, and change your clothes because you are going to be loaded with pollen and you don't want to spread it all over your house. The second step for plant allergen is immunotherapy. That is where you get injections specifically formulated for your particular allergens. Some people will tell you that if you take a tablespoon of raw honey produced within a mile of your house that it will work as immunotherapy. There is little empirical proof of this claim. The pollens that cause allergy are not generally produced by plants that bees visit in their quest to produce honey. But, it doesn't hurt to try, cause honey does taste good! Third and lastly is use of medication to control symptoms when avoidance and immunotherapy need some assistance.
Get to an immunologist or allergist and they can help you get real relief

if the otc aren' t helping maybe you have food allergies. even if you take the shot if you eat what you are allergic to they won't help. keep a food dairy for two weeks. everything that goes in your mouth write down and how you feel after you eat. now go back and look, read what you wrote. how does that dairy product or corn or whatever make you feel? i have food allergies to corn and wheat.

Yes they still have the shots for some allergies. You need to go and see a allergist so they can give you the battery of shots to find out what you are allergic to. They may are may not at that point give you a shot for you particular allergy.

Yes. It works. They even can give it as drops under the tongue, but in the US, some insurances will only cover the injections even though the drops work just as well.

See an allergist and get skin-tested. Then they will talk about treatment.

Allergies stink, medicines mask it. hopefully one day people will get to the root cause, probably our own immune systems, and really help us repair them.. in the meantime, take as little of that OTC poison as you can.