Many of the prescribed nasal sprays for allergies use corticosteroids to help reduce inflammation. They typically need to be used regularly in order to get best benefits, and some people find that they don’t care for certain side effects associated with them. Though rare in incidence, there is a slightly increased risk of developing glaucoma from corticosteroid sprays. If people can’t tolerate sprays or don’t want to hazard this risk, there are a couple of prescription antihistamine nasal sprays that could be tried instead. These place the nasal tissue directly in contact with medication that can help block nasal allergies and histamine response.
Though there are always new developments in medicines, presently there are only two main use antihistamine nasal sprays. These are azelastine and olopatadine, also known by the brand names Astelin® and Patanase®. Of these two, olopatadine is a relatively recent medication and may only be available in its brand name form. Astelin® has been on the market for a much longer time, and it may be possible to buy generic versions of it.
One of the advantages of steroid sprays is that they don’t usually cause sleepiness. This may be a side effect of an antihistamine nasal spray, though many people get used to this effect and cease to feel it after a while. All types of nasal sprays may sometimes irritate skin tissue and have the side effect of nasal bleeding. Antihistamines don’t tend to cause nausea, which may be a side effect of steroid sprays, and the lowered risk of glaucoma is attractive.
In testing, most steroid nasal sprays are more effective than antihistamine nasal spray, but there can be some very good reasons to choose the latter. In addition to possessing a few less side effects, histamine blockers have a significant benefit over steroid sprays. They tend to work right away, usually within an hour of being administered, whereas steroid sprays might take several days of use to come up to full effect. What this might suggest is that an antihistamine nasal spray would be more appropriate for people who suffer from occasional allergies and who might not need or want to use a spray every day.
Like most medications, both types of prescribed antihistamine nasal spray have drug interactions. In particular, Patanase® may need to be used with caution when taken with behavioral medications like tranquilizers or antidepressants. People should check with their doctors to find out if any current drugs or conditions would preclude using a nasal spray. When no other drugs will interfere, some people find an antihistamine nasal spray to be a good alternative to steroid sprays.
