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Old 17th April 2017, 10:13 AM   #1
Cainkane1
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Why doesn't allergy medicine help with asthma?

Over the counter allergy meds can dry up a stuffy nose and stop sneezing and watery eyes but if you are having asthma it doesn't even touch it.

Why not?
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Old 17th April 2017, 10:28 AM   #2
Spindrift
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Originally Posted by Cainkane1 View Post
Over the counter allergy meds can dry up a stuffy nose and stop sneezing and watery eyes but if you are having asthma it doesn't even touch it.

Why not?
Why would it?

Just because symptoms are similar doesn't mean the cause is the same.
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Old 17th April 2017, 11:08 AM   #3
Skeptic Ginger
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Speaking as a person with an immune system that's a mess, I've learned a whole lot more about this very subject.

Despite the fact these are all immune system reactions, they involve different kinds of cells. Even cells that should be the same aren't affected the same. It all comes down to the cell wall where the meds bind or which chemical transmitters the drugs affect or don't affect.

In the case of nasal allergies vs asthma, it's much more clear cut. Asthma affects the airways causing bronchoconstriction, edema and inflammation. Your stuffy nose is coming from histamine release that causes an increase in nasal secretions and inflammation of the nasal passageways. Your airways and nasal passages are lined with different cells, plus in the case of the airway, there are neurotransmitters that are telling the bronchi to constrict. Normally they would help the airway dilate when you need to breathe harder. In asthma the neurotransmitters cause airway constriction. There are no similar neurotransmitters in your nasal passages.

The autoimmune disorders: Lupus, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Scleroderma, Sjogren's and a whole slew of others are all related, but each affects different cells in different locations. The result is some immunosuppressants work on some disorders and not others, while the opposite is true for other drugs.

I have some weird version you can't find anyone else with. My mouth (all parts of it from tongue to lips), eyelids, skin, joints and capillaries are affected. It was mild until my mouth became involved. Now it's annoying as hell.

Last edited by Skeptic Ginger; 17th April 2017 at 11:09 AM.
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Old 17th April 2017, 02:10 PM   #4
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When I have very bad hay fever, I get sneezing, stuffy nose, my ears hurt, my skin gets itchy, burning itchy eyes - and some tightness in the chest, wheezing, and difficulty breathing. If the anti-histamines I take work to make the rest of the hay fever symptoms less sever, the breathing usually eases too.

That said, the hay-fever related breathing issues I have are pretty mild - I've had one Dr. say it is asthma, and one say it isn't. I only have the breathing issues when I have all the other issues (sneezing, itchy eyes, etc...) as well, and I sometimes have all of the other issues but no breathing problems. Still, the anti-histamines make the breathing easier.
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Old 21st April 2017, 07:26 AM   #5
psionl0
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Originally Posted by Cainkane1 View Post
Over the counter allergy meds can dry up a stuffy nose and stop sneezing and watery eyes but if you are having asthma it doesn't even touch it.

Why not?
Because if it did then you would not need to buy additional medicine.
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