Many people suffer from seasonal or environmental allergies. Symptoms can include runny nose, itchy eyes, and congestion. It can make you feel miserable especially when you are outdoors. Here are some ideas that can help minimize your suffering.

An allergist or your primary doctor can recommend a medication that can improve your symptoms.

Antihistamines such as Claritin, Allegra, and Zyrtec are good options but Claritin and Allegra can cause behavior changes in some cases so just keep an eye out. To get the full benefit of an antihistamine, it’s important to take it consistently every day. Singulair is another medication that doctors prescribe for allergies and asthma but take it with caution. It can cause hallucination, depression,suicidal thoughts and actions, and many more side effects.

Nasal sprays can wash away the allergens and keep your nose clean. Flonase and Astepro allergy is great option because it also treats other allergy symptoms like irritated eyes, etc. 

If you are experiencing eye discomfort due to allergies you can use OTC eye drops like Zaditor and Pataday to get some relief.

These Eyelid allergy pads are another great option.

While it’s important to know which allergy medicines work to help relieve your symptoms, it's best to minimize your exposure to the allergy triggers in the first place. Below are some helpful tips that can help lower the chance of reactions.

Never leave your house or car windows open for too long. The dust, pollen, and other allergens that come in through the open window can aggravate your symptoms. Keep your air conditioner on instead.

Use Air purifiers in your house to filter out dust. Austin air and this AIRDOCTOR Purifier purifier work well. Austin air only needs to be changed every 5 years.

Humidifiers also help reduce allergy symptoms. They must be maintained properly though and cleaned often, or else allergy symptoms can worsen. This cool mist humidifier is a good option.

The ULTTY-Purifier-Standing-Control-Oscillating is a great product, I have a few in my house in different places. Besides being a great fan, it purifies the whole room and circulates clean air without having dust fly around.

Make sure you’re using the better quality HVAC filters that trap more dust particles and allergens than standard filters. The allergy filters come in different levels; the higher the MERV rating the better. Most of these allergy filters can be changed as often as once every 3 months but if you’re very sensitive you should change them more often. Here is a link to one example Filter -Allergen

Try to minimize dust buildup by using a robot vacuum that regularly cleans the floor. Removing carpets and putting down regular flooring is also a good idea. Dust and allergens stay in carpets much longer.

Even though it's hard at certain times of the year, you may have to spend more time indoors to protect yourself from the outdoor allergens.