Can Allergies Make You Groggy

Could My Allergy Medication Be Part Of The Problem

Prescription medications can cause fatigue, but when used properly and managed well, they can help allergy sufferers battle through.

The best treatment outcomes are always when the patient and physician work together to tailor a treatment plan to a particular patients allergies, lifestyle, and needs, explains Dr. Haden.

Mississippi-based pharmacist Lori Elliott says to use caution when combining allergy medications with other prescription products that can cause drowsiness, including those for pain, anxiety, depression, and blood pressure.

People should take these medications at night, says Elliott, who currently works as a pharmacist in Oxford and has worked as a pharmacist in Georgia and Mississippi for more than 30 years. If drowsiness continues to affect quality of life, I recommend contacting your prescriber for a reduction in dose or a change in therapy.

Allergies Affect People Day And Night

Chances are high that individuals with allergies know they have them. Theyll spend their days sneezing, coughing, and feeling congested. Typically, people realize how allergies affect themselves during the day. Not all sufferers recognize that allergies can worsen the quality of their sleep. The immune system targets allergens, and this frequent immune response disrupts the body in various ways.

Fewer Allergens Means Less Fatigue And Better Sleep

After taking these steps, individuals can expect their constant fatigue to lessen. Symptoms could improve in leaps and bounds for some sufferers. Fewer allergens in the home and bedroom will lead to higher quality sleep. From there, a person can expect to feel more rejuvenated in the morning and have more energy during the day. Those that suffer from severe allergies can still reduce their fatigue and other symptoms in noticeable ways!

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Can Allergies Make You Feel Sick And Tired

Allergies can cause all kinds of unpleasant, distracting symptoms, from digestive upsets and headaches to respiratory trouble and runny eyes. However, you may also have experienced another few hallmark symptoms of allergy problems: fatigue, drowsiness, and mental sluggishness.

Is feeling sick normal with allergies?

You dont normally associate seasonal allergies with nausea for good reason. Nausea and vomiting are rarely, if ever, symptoms of a seasonal allergy. Typical seasonal allergy symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes and maybe a rash.

Can allergies make you feel horrible?

When your body encounters an allergen, it releases histamine, and histamine in your body can make you feel fatigued, he says. In addition, the inflammation that happens in your sinuses when you are allergic to something can cause sinus infections, which will also leave you feeling slow.

How Allergy Symptoms Can Make You Tired

Your immune system responds to airborne allergens by releasing chemicals that create inflammation in your nose. As a result, you might experience nasal congestion, sneezing, and a runny nose. All of these symptoms narrow airways, making it difficult to breathe, especially when youre lying downwhich can make for difficult nights sleep.1

While many people suffer from seasonal allergies , millions of Americans experience year-round symptoms. The culprit: indoor allergenssuch as dust mites, pet dander, and moldall of which can be found in the bedroom.2

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How To Tell If You Have Sinus Infection Or Allergy

So look out for the signs your symptoms arent allergies, but an actual, potentially contagious illness like a sinus infection, cold, or the flu. 1. Your snot is green. Its not pretty, and its a sign of infection. 2. You have a fever. Hot flashes and chills are symptoms that are never linked to allergies. 3. You feel pain in your cheeks.

How To Help A Loved One With Allergies

The first step for just about everyone is to start with a nasal steroid or with at least a nasal saline rinse. Those are both really safe interventions. They dont have many side effects because theyre just topical treatments within the nose, and they dont require you to be on an oral medication.

We almost always start with nasal saline rinse just to rinse the allergens out of the nose and then a nasal steroid such as fluticasone that will help the nose to be less over-reactive.

Well also encourage patients to try an antihistamine. A lot of the non-drowsy antihistamines are available as a generic and can be found over the counter and are relatively cheap.

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Tips For Getting Quality Sleep With Allergies

If your allergies are keeping you up at night or causing fatigue during the day, itâs important to take the proper steps to get quality sleep each night. Below are a few simple tips that can help you get a good nightâs sleep so you can feel rested and alert during the day, even if allergies are a problem.

Retrain Your Immune System With Sublingual Immunotherapy

While limiting your exposure, taking medication, and using a neti pot can all help manage symptoms, theyre not a long-term solution. Sublingual immunotherapy can help you treat your symptoms and provide lifelong relief.

Sublingual immunotherapy retrains your immune system to ignore the allergens that cause your symptoms, and over time your symptoms can be reduced. Unlike allergy shots that require frequent injections, you can take sublingual immunotherapy by mouth. Sublingual immunotherapy can also be taken from the comfort of your home.

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The Emergence Of Allergies

You can develop an allergy at any point in your life. Most people develop allergies during their childhood or young adult years, but you can develop them later in life, too. Seasonal allergies may develop as you age because you have an increased amount of exposure to environmental allergens, such as pollen.

You may outgrow allergies. Some experts believe that tolerance to allergens may develop as a person is exposed to very low levels of the allergen over time. This is similar to the way vaccines work to immunize you against certain bacteria and viruses, or the way allergy shots work to decrease a persons allergic response to a particular allergen.

Lee Ann Shore, who had allergies for a long time, reports that she experienced the onset of allergies while going through puberty, but that her symptoms decreased with time. Her doctors couldnt explain why.

I never had anaphylactic reactions. The worst I would have would be some throat itching and sneezing. The issues just decreased over the years, says Shore.

She reports that she still experiences mild symptoms, but theyre not as bad as they were during her teen years.

If you have an allergy, your doctor will provide you with a proper treatment plan. Treatments for allergies differ depending on the allergy and severity and may include:

• emergency epinephrine

Take A Shower Before Bed

Taking a shower before bed can help wash pollen or other allergens out of your hair or off your skin, ensuring that you are not bringing allergens into bed with you. Taking a shower or bath before bed may even improve your ability to get a good nightâs sleep by lowering your body temperature, which can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. This should help you feel more rested when you wake up the next morning.

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Do Allergies Cause Fatigue

Allergy symptoms occur when your bodys immune system reacts to a substance youre allergic to.

As part of the antibody response, your body releases substances called immunoglobulin E and histamine.

These substances create inflammation in your body to fend off the allergens, which may cause you to experience allergy symptoms such as:

• Throat irritation

In addition to these classic allergy symptoms, studies suggest this whole-body inflammation caused by an allergic reaction can also make you feel tired.

You may also notice you feel mentally foggy when you have allergies.

Thats because when you experience nasal congestion, you may breathe in less oxygen through your nose.

This can interfere with your ability to concentrate on tasks or remember things, which some people call brain fog.

Allergy symptoms can also cause difficulty sleeping. If youre tossing and turning at night due to a stuffy nose or sneezing, you might feel fatigued the next day.

Lastly, its possible your allergy medication could be making you tired.

For example, diphenhydramine is known to make people sleepy, so its often used as a sleep aid.

Talk to your doctor about the best allergy medication for you if you suspect yours is making you feel tired.

Can Allergies Cause Fatigue

We know that allergies can cause symptoms such as congestion, sinus headaches, nasal swelling, but have you ever wondered, Can allergies cause fatigue? In fact, allergies can cause fatigue and tiredness in patients who suffer from seasonal and/or chronic allergies.

But why and how do allergies make us tired? And how can Texans struggling with allergies in Houston can find relief from their allergy-related fatigue?

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Depression Anxiety And Fatigue

Symptoms: Sadness feeling hopeless, worthless, and helpless fatigue

Sometimes, depression or anxiety is at the root of chronic fatigue. Depression affects twice as many women as men and often runs in families. It commonly begins between the ages of 15 and 30.

Postpartum depression can happen after the birth of a baby. Some people get seasonal affective disorder in the winter, with feelings of fatigue and sadness. Major depression is also one part of bipolar disorder.

With depression, you might be in a depressed mood most of the day. You may have little interest in normal activities. Along with feelings of fatigue, you may eat too much or too little, over- or under-sleep, feel hopeless and worthless, and have other serious symptoms.

• Feeling “on alert” most of the time
• Feeling of impending doom

If you are depressed or have regular symptoms of anxiety, talk to your doctor and get a physical exam. If there is no physical cause for the depression or anxiety, your doctor may talk with you about treatment options, and may refer you to a psychiatrist or psychologist for a psychological evaluation.

Although the specific causes of depression and/or anxiety are unclear, these are highly treatable medical problems. Medication, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two can help relieve symptoms.

Allergy Symptoms And Sleep

A runny nose, watery eyes, and a persistent cough are what you expect when allergies flare. But constant fatigue and sleepiness? Allergy experts say its more common than you think.

Feeling congested, itchy, and uncomfortable can certainly be a nuisance when it comes to falling asleep and getting deep sleep, says Sujay Kansagra, MD, an associate professor at Duke University Medical Center who specializes in sleep disorders.

Other factors related to allergies can also come into play, he says, creating chemical and physical reactions that lead to chronic fatigue.

Left untreated, problems from a lack of sleep can be more disruptive than the allergy itself. Heres what experts want you to know about the connection between allergies and sleep.

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So How Do Allergies Make You Tired

When battling with allergies, many chalk up their fatigue and low energy to stress and other factors. But the truth is, allergies contribute to fatigue in more ways than one.

1. Your Long-Term Immune Response is Exhausting You.

When your bodys in healing mode, it prioritizes its resources to bring you back to health.

With short-term illnesses like colds or the flu, well typically feel tired for a few days and begin regaining energy as we start feeling better.

But with allergies, our immune system stays active for longer than its meant to, requiring more resources and energy to keep up the disease-fighting histamine and immunoglobulin E activity.

As time stretches on, the inflammation meant to heal us can become chronic and lead to long-term fatigue resulting from diversion and depletion of your bodys energy.

2. Youre Breathing in Less Oxygen.

Stuffed noses and congestion make it harder to breathe and reduce your oxygen intake. With less oxygen comes less energy for our cells to refuel our bodies, making the impact of a long-term immune response even more exhausting on our systems.

3. Youre Not Sleeping Well.

Nasal congestion can make it uncomfortable, if not impossible to get a good nights sleep. In addition to our decreased oxygen intake, finding a comfortable position to fall asleep can feel like an infuriating pipedream.

Sleep is a restorative process that keeps us healthy our health declines when were deprived of sleep, leaving us more and more fatigued.

Sleep Disorders And Fatigue

Symptoms: Chronic fatigue, feeling exhausted upon awakening, snoring

Sleep disorders are a group of conditions that disrupt or prevent restful, restorative sleep. That can take a toll on your health and quality of life, so itââ¬â¢s important to look out for signs and symptoms.

Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders. If you or your partner notices loud snoring and you wake up tired and stay that way, you could have sleep apnea. More than one-third of adults in the U.S. snore at least a few nights a week. But if the snoring stops your breathing for seconds at a time, it could be sleep apnea.Ã Learn more about the best sleep positions and see if sleeping on your stomach is bad or not.

Obstructive sleep apnea causes low blood oxygen levels. That’s because blockages prevent air from getting to the lungs. The low oxygen levels also affect how well your heart and brain work. Sometimes, the only clue that you might have sleep apnea is chronic fatigue.

Your doctor may prescribe a medical device called CPAP that helps keep your airways open while you sleep. In severe cases of sleep apnea, surgery may help. The surgeon will remove tissues that are blocking the airways. If left untreated, sleep apnea can increase your risk of a stroke or heart attack.

But sleep apnea is just one of many sleep disorders that cause fatigue. Other common types include:

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How To Get Tested For Allergies Causing Fatigue

As we have discussed above, both seasonal and year-round allergies can cause fatigue. Getting tested is the first step to feeling better if your allergies are triggered by pollens, animal dander, mold, dust mites, cockroaches, weather changes or possibly something else.â

âToday, testing for allergies can be both convenient and accurate. When combined with a detailed medical history, allergy testing can very often identify the specific trigger of your symptoms.âSays Ivor Emanuel, M.D, board certified allergy & otolaryngology specialist.

If your fatigue is caused by allergies, the best treatment is to get your allergies under control. Once you have been tested and have identified your allergies, you can work on avoiding triggers and controlling your environment. There are also other non-pharmaceutical and non drowsy medications available today.

Common allergy tests include:

• IgE Blood tests – If you have allergies, your blood will contain certain IgE antibodies that show youâre sensitivity to many possible allergen triggers.
• Skin tests – This involves pricking your skin with a needle to expose you to a small amount of an allergen. If youâre allergic, youâll develop a raised bump on the area of the allergen prick you are reacting to.
• Physical exam – There are many physical signs of allergies, from skin irritation to nasal and breathing problems. These may help your doctor diagnose your allergies.

Take Medication At Night

There are several over-the-counter medications that can help manage your allergy symptoms, including fatigue.

Antihistamines, the most common OTC allergy medication, work by blocking the effects of histamines, which stops the inflammation in your body and your allergy symptoms.

Common antihistamines include:

• Chlorpheniramine

While diphenhydramine is the medication most commonly linked with sleepiness, its possible for other allergy medications to cause fatigue, too.

If you think your antihistamine is making you tired, try taking your medication at night.

The drug should still control your symptoms during the day, but talk to your doctor if you still feel tired during waking hours. You may need a different medication.

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Fastmed Is Your Allergy Resource

Of course, there are many things you can do yourself to reduce your allergies, from staying inside on high pollen count days to wearing a face mask . Once you know what is triggering your allergic reactions, stay away from those substances as much as possible.

If youre struggling with allergy-related fatigue and want to feel like your energetic self again, FastMed is here to help. If youre struggling with allergy-related fatigue and want to feel like your energetic self again, schedule a visit at FastMed were here to help.

You can also view these FastMed allergy blogs for more information:

Tired Depressed It May Be Hidden Allergies

People with allergies know that their sniffling and sneezing is allergen-induced, but allergies don’t always present themselves with such typical symptoms. Sometimes allergic reactions can cause fatigue, headaches or even depression. While not everyone agrees there is an allergy link to these conditions, there is evidence that strongly suggests it. Here’s what’s been found, and how to control your allergies to alleviate each problem.

Chronic fatigue syndrome If you’ve been experiencing extreme exhaustion for 6 months or more and your doctor hasn’t been able to identify the cause, you might have chronic fatigue syndrome . And if you do have CFS, allergies could be playing an important role, says Leo Galland, MD, director of the Foundation for Integrated Medicine in New York City and author of “Power Healing.”

Though no one knows exactly what causes CFS, researchers have found that more than half of the people with CFS they’ve studied also have allergies. “I believe that being an allergic individual predisposes you to chronic fatigue syndrome,” says Galland. “Chronic fatigue syndrome seems to be associated with an over-reactivity of certain parts of the immune system, which is similar to what we see in people with allergies.”

“All we can really do is treat the depression with therapy and/or antidepressant medications and treat the allergies with shots, antihistamines, and avoidance of the allergens,” Marshall says.

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