Treatment of seasonal allergies by natural product

[Tanisha]

Hi, my cousin Lisha is a 38-year-old woman. She says her seasonal allergies have been terrible for the past few weeks. She has itchy and watery eyes, and her symptoms have gotten worse over the last few days, so she went to see her primary care physician. He diagnosed her with seasonal allergies and recommended her to take an OTC product called cetirizine. Her friend who also has seasonal allergies takes a natural product called milk thistle, which cures the friend’s allergies. The friend told Lisha that this product worked instantly for her and recommended that Lisha should also try this natural product first. Lisha is not against conventional medicine but since milk thistle is working for her friend, she figured she would try it. Can anyone recommend to Lisha regarding treatment for her seasonal allergies?

[Harry]

@Tanisha Lisha is a candidate for self-treatment, especially since her physician advised her to self-treat her allergies. There are some data suggesting that milk thistle may be effective for allergies when used in combination with cetirizine. In a study, researchers found 140 mg of milk thistle 3 times daily in combination with cetirizine decreased the severity of allergies compared with cetirizine alone. However, there are currently no data suggesting that milk thistle alone would be beneficial. Since Lisha is not opposed to conventional medicine, it might be beneficial to educate her on the research regarding milk thistle. She should be advised not to use milk thistle as monotherapy to treat her seasonal allergies. Since there are good data supporting the use of cetirizine to treat seasonal allergies, it would be appropriate to recommend cetirizine 10 mg daily. It is also important to monitor Lisha for allergy symptoms. If her symptoms improve, it would be appropriate to continue cetirizine as monotherapy. If they do not improve, she could consider using a combination of products. Other nonpharmacologic therapies such as saline mists and avoiding pollen may also be beneficial for Lisha.