Get your healthcare team's advice

Work with your care team to choose the safest and most effective allergy medicine for you. Even nonprescription medicines have side effects. Some allergy medicines can cause problems when combined with other treatments and conditions.

It's even more important to speak to your care team about allergy medicines if:

• You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• You have a chronic health condition. These include diabetes, glaucoma, osteoporosis or high blood pressure.
• You take other medicines. Other medicines include herbal supplements.
• You are treating allergies in a child. Children may need different medicines or doses than adults.
• You are treating allergies in an older adult. Some allergy medicines can cause confusion, urinary tract symptoms or other side effects in older adults.
• Your allergy medicine isn't working. Bring the medicine with you in its original bottle or package when you see your healthcare professional.

Keep track of your symptoms. Note when you use your medicines and how much you take. This information can help your care team figure out what works best. You might need to try a few different options to find the most effective medicine with the fewest side effects.