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Nasal Allergy Medications Directory
Nasal allergy medications such as nasal sprays or oral antihistamines can help many people control their nasal allergy symptoms. Pollen, grass, mold spores, and other inhalable triggers can wreak havoc on your nose. The good news is that most medications no longer cause drowsiness, so you can take your medications and get on with your day. Follow the links below to find WebMD's comprehensive coverage about how nasal allergies are treated with medications, drug side effects, and much more.
Medical Reference View All Features View All Slideshows & Images Quizzes Health Tools News Archive View AllWhat Is A Mold Allergy? Symptoms, Causes And Treatments
Mold allergies are set off by several triggers, meaning it's often tricky to pinpoint the direct cause. "Mold can enter indoors from windows, doors, vents and heating and cooling systems, and are even in some of our foods like fruits and vegetables," says Dr. Williams. Given molds are a common microorganism of the fungi family, they are constantly circulating within the environment and are present where there's a mold food source, such as drywall, ceiling tiles and wood, Dr. Williams adds. Therefore, the causes of a mold allergy can be due to a number of factors, including the following:
Overactive Immune SystemThe main cause of a mold allergy is an overactive immune response to mold spores, which prompts your body to identify them as foreign invaders and develop allergy-causing antibodies to fight them, explains Dr. Williams. If you are hypersensitive to a specific type of mold, your immune system often responds with symptoms upon exposure.
Exposure to Specific TypesAlthough there are hundreds of molds, not all of them lead to an allergic reaction. "The most common molds that cause allergies include alternaria, aspergillus, cladosporium, stachybotrys and penicillium," says Dr. Mavunda.
The more obvious hiding spots of common molds are:
Mold reduces air quality and indoor molds may cause allergies year-round, says Dr. Mavunda. The higher your exposure, the more likely the severity of your symptoms. However, there are steps you can take to improve indoor air quality, including a rigorous cleaning schedule, allowing fresh air to circulate the home and improving air quality with an air purifier.
Environmental FactorsGlobal warming and increased exposure to mold in indoor environments may explain why the number of infectious and allergic diseases is increasing, says Dr. Mavunda. "Problematic indoor environments are offices and homes with ventilation issues or water leaks from old plumbing, roof leaks or poorly maintained air conditioning units, as well as from insufficient framing around windows and doors."
Outdoors, mold tends to become inactive during cold winter months—but it doesn't die. Instead, mold often reactivates in warmer weather, adds Dr. Mavunda. Some molds tend to spread in dry, windy, foggy or high humidity climates.
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Can You Take Allergy Medicine With Cold Medicine?
There's nothing worse than when a summer cold overlaps with seasonal allergies. But before you find symptom relief in over-the-counter cough medicine, you may find yourself asking: can I take cough medicine and allergy medicine together?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns against taking more than one drug at a time — especially if both have the same active ingredient. For example, a double dose of antihistamines can cause sedation or, in severe cases, trouble breathing, according to the National Capitol Poison Center. (Remember TikTok's unfortunate Benadryl Challenge?)
However, if you happen to be one of the unfortunate souls in this sniffly Venn diagram from hell, you'd likely do anything to find relief. Fortunately, you won't have to go much further than your medicine cabinet. But before you do, be sure to read this advice from Erica Patel, MD, internal medicine specialist, about whether it's safe to take allergy meds and cold meds simultaneously.
Technically, yes. But because symptoms are similar for colds and allergies, you don't necessarily have to double down on the medications. Also, "many over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicines and allergy medicines may have similar ingredients," Dr. Patel notes. So it can be easy to overdo it.
Think carefully about what you actually need. "Only take medication that directly treats the symptoms you are having," Dr. Patel says. "If you have a cough, for example, then just take a cough suppressant. Don't choose a combination medication that also has a decongestant and a pain reliever if you don't also have those symptoms." That's especially true if you're already taking something that helps keep those symptoms at bay, like an allergy pill.
"A good way to avoid overdosing on ingredients is to compare labels," she tells POPSUGAR. "For example, if one medication has acetaminophen as an ingredient, then avoid taking other medications with acetaminophen in them." And be sure to check the label for contraindications. (That's when the package says, "Don't take this if you're also taking ___.") If neither is the case, "it should be relatively safe to take cold and allergy medication together as long as you're following the dosing instructions on the package," says Dr. Patel.
Common cold and allergy medication ingredients include:
If you're not sure how certain medications will interact with each other, reach out to your doctor or pharmacist to discuss your options.
— Additional reporting by Melanie Whyte
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