KuromiGirl04Jan 11

How come there isnt really any OTC allergy meds for stuffy nose?

https://lemmy.world/post/41468053

How come there isnt really any OTC allergy meds for stuffy nose? - Lemmy.World

A couple weeks ago on New Year’s Eve, my mom had to run a couple of errands, and I asked her if she can pick me up some allergy meds whilst she was out. My nose was itchy and stuffy and I was having bad sinus headaches. When she came home about an hour later, she gave me a bottle of allergy meds and she told me “I looked in two different stores, but they don’t make over the counter allergy meds for a stuffy nose. At least, all the allerg meds i could find were for runny nose.” And I just find that weird. Because my nose wasn’t runny. It was stuffed to the point I could hardly breathe through it properly. But apparently cold and flu meds are for stuffy noses Why don’t they make OTC allergy meds like Claritin or Allegra-D for stuffy noses?

Show threadLumidaubJan 11
Does the cause of the stuffy nose matter? You want to make the swelling go down, regardless of whether it’s allergies or a cold. It’s just treating a symptom so any decongestant should work, no?
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11

But I dont have a cold.

It’s just allergies.

I don’t want to take cold meds for just allergies

Show threadLumidaubJan 11
No, exactly, you want a thing that makes the swelling go down. That’s a decongestant. Decongestants do nothing about the underlying cause. It’s just most commonly used when people also have a cold.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11

But I don’t want a cold med.

I want an allergy med

Show threadHavoc8154Jan 11
It’s the same thing, you’re getting caught up on a meaningless distinction.
Show threadKuromiGirl04
Maybe to you it’s meaningless but it isnt to me
Jan 11 at 4:37pmWeb
Show threadjj4211Jan 11

It’s not a subjective thing. Cold medicines treat symptoms, not the disease. Cold and allergies have common symptoms.

If your concern is that cold medicines don’t work for your allergies, thwn those tend not to work for colds either.

If the medicine is trying to use phenylephrine in a pill, that doesn’t do anything. You might also want to skip the acetaminophen usually included and you have zero need for that, but not every co of d medicine has that.

Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
But I don’t want a cold medicine, I just want an allergy medicine that treats stuff nose!
Show threadcattywampasJan 11
Cold medicines don’t treat colds, they treat cold symptoms, many of which are the same as allergy symptoms.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
If that were the case, then there should just be allergy meds that treat stuffy nose then
Show threadLumidaubJan 11
If someone is yelling for help because they’re bleeding out, do you first ask them whether they were cut or stabbed or shot and based on their response choose what to do? I’d hope you’d skip that part and simply stop the symptom, the bleeding.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
…I don’t see how that’s comparable to this at all
Show threadLumidaubJan 11

If someone is bleeding, it doesn’t matter if the bleeding is coming from a cut, a stab wound, or a hole made by a bullet. You stop the bleeding. THEN, afterwards, when the bleeding is stopped, you can think about the underlying cause and whether you need to do anything about that (like sew up the wound, look for the bullet etc).

If someone has a stuffy nose, it doesn’t matter if the swelling is caused by a cold or the flu or allergies. You stop the swelling. THEN, afterwards, when the swelling is going down and the person can breathe again, you think about the underlying cause and whether you need to do anything about it (like antihistamines, antibiotics).

Do you see the parallel?

Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
No, cause what does swelling have to do with any of this‽
Show threadLumidaubJan 11
Your nose is “stuffy” because the mucous membranes in your nose are swollen. A decongestant causes that swelling to go down.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
Then you should have just said that!
Show threadJteeJan 11
JFC literally everyone has been saying cold medicine treats these symptoms and you just reply with “I don’t want cold medicine”. You’ve been given the answer. Cold medicine treats the same symptoms as your allergy. Just call it allergy medicine to yourself or something
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11
But I don’t wanna take a cold medicine, I don’t have a cold! It’s just allergies, so I should just take an allergy med!!
Show threadJteeJan 11

The cold medicine is only called cold medicine because it treats symptoms from a cold. Which are similar if not the same as allergies.

You need antihistamines and decongestants to treat your allergy symptoms.

If a medicine has either of those, it can help you even if it’s called Benadryl, Claritin or Advil.

Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11

Benadryl doesn’t work for me anymore though.

Stopped working almost 6 years ago when I was 16

Show threadJteeJan 11
That’s not the point. Just look for the medicinal ingredients that provide relief for your symptoms. It could be called cacapoopoo cold medicine, or super crazy allergy medicine #1 as long as it has the ingredients to treat the specific symptoms
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11

But I dont wanna take a cold medication for allergies

I wanna take an allergy med for allergies

Show threadJteeJan 11
At this point you have to be trolling or incredibly neurodivergent and unable to look past the word cold on a box. The latter is understandable. I’d suggest researching which specific ingredients may help allergies and why it might be included in other/similar medication. Consult a doctor if needed.
Show threadLumidaubJan 11
Girl. The very first thing I said included “you want the swelling to go down”. You didn’t seem to mind. If you don’t want help, don’t ask for it.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 12
whatevs 🙄😒
Show threadHavoc8154Jan 11
I’m telling you it’s medically meaningless. Decongestants are decongestants. They aren’t ‘cold’ medicines or ‘allergy’ medicines. They act on inflammation in the nose and reduce congestion. How it’s advertised doesn’t make a bit of difference to what the medicine does.
Show threadKuromiGirl04Jan 11

I still just want an otc allergy med that treats stuffy nose.

I dont want a cold medicine