Allergy Haze?

You are taking way too many meds that have a variety of meds in them. There are duplication. Some med counteract another medications effectiveness too.

The Nyquil and Dayquil have meds in them that are similar in what they do then you took Benadryl so it didn't work.

If this is allergies and not the same virus that everyone else is having then you need to do your allergy med. Not something OTC that might or might not work.

So take your allergy med. If it's runny nose and eyes along with itchy throat and such it's likely allergies.

But if there is congestion, dryness, goo that is not clear, anything like that then it's not allergies and making the mucus dry out is not good. Getting the virus out of the body is best for me. I take real Sudafed, not the fake stuff in Nyquil. That fake Sudafed makes my heart palpitate.

When I have upper stuff I take the Sudafed, Tussin to make the goo in my lungs more runny so it will move along quicker, and Tylenol for fever. I also do nebulizer breathing treatments to get the goo that is deep down and making me cough to loosen and come up easier.

I think you have a bad cold, and not allergies which is why the benedryl isn't helping. I have a tendency to wait to go to the doctor for at least a week for a bad cold, because there isn't much a doctor can do for a virus anyway.

As for the meds - I suggest you cut way back and take ONLY what you need for your worst symptoms. And only take single-medication drugs, NOT things with combinations of meds in them. Combination meds like Nyquil and Dayquil often give you meds you don't need, and don't give you ones you do need. So you still feel miserable and you get unwanted side effects.

If your cough is keeping you awake at night, then I'd suggest Delsym just before bed. During the day, Mucinex. (for a cough, you want to suppress it at night to get sleep, but during the day you want to cough productively get the stuff up and out of your lungs).

For your nose and blocked ears, go to the pharmacist and get pseudofederine (sudefed or generic). You need to get the kind that is behind the pharmacist's counter. The kind that is on the shelf in the store is close to useless - it is NOT an effective substitution for real sudefed.

For the sore throat, tylenol or ibuprofen, whichever you prefer.

Go to the Dr. Your medication regimen is all over the place and won't be effective unless you find out specifically what you are allergic to and then target that with appropriate medicine. Switching from NyQuil to benedryl ans also using nasal spray inconsistently will make you feel worse, not better.

Go see an allergist.

Is this how your body usually responds to allergies? Is this the time of year they usually flair up? If not I suggest you have a cold. Take one type of cold medicine. Mucinex works best for me. The 12 hour kind works much better than the short acting kind. Mucinex is the only thing I take unless I'm achy. Then I add an OTC pain reliever.

If you have chills and/or achiness you have a cold. I wouldn't go to the doctor for either one. There is nothing he can do except tell you to take OTC medication to help relieve symptoms.

If you haven't seen an allergist that would be the next step after your symptoms abate. He will give you tests which can't be done unless you're well. He will want to do a baseline breath test. Now you would not respond to such a test accurately.

Usually the nasal sprays the doc orders don't become totally effective till up to three weeks. Use them all the time.
Drink lots of fluids.

It would help if you were a little more specific about your allergies (what triggers them and at what time of year), and whether you are referring to environmental allergies or also medication allergies.

I think you are overmedicating and perhaps for the wrong things. If your ears are clogged, and if that's not a usual allergy symptom, then you probably have a cold. If your throat hurts, it could be just irritation from the coughing but it could also be a symptom of the virus or perhaps a bacterial infection (e.g. strep).

Dryness is a huge factor in mucus membrane irritation and of course it's much worse in the winter. Humidification can help and it's unlikely that you can humidify so much in the winter that you cause mold growth which causes allergy symptoms in some people. It might be worth checking, however, to see if you have a mold problem elsewhere in the house - there are test kits you can get at the hardware store and send off for analysis. Key areas for investigation are bathrooms especially if there is a way for water to get into the cracks around the tub/shower area and grow mold in the walls. You can use a simple saline spray available over the counter ("Ocean" is one brand but there are store brands as well - they're basically salt water and safe.) If your doctor has given you a prescription spray to reduce the swelling in the nasal passages, that can cause a rebound effect when it wears off so it may not be effective.

You're also exhausted which makes symptoms worse (cold, infection or allergy) and recovery more difficult.

I think you have too many different medications and also that you are trying to get immediate relief from either a viral infection or an allergy - but the immune system doesn't work like that. It takes time to recover when you are sick, and there's an old adage that it takes 7 days to get over a cold if you take medication, and a week if you don't!

It takes time to boost your immune system (sometimes a few months) but thereafter, if you've done it properly, you can be almost symptom-free. I work in this field, and I got rid of my colds, allergies and chronic bronchitis about 6 years ago. It took 3 months but that was the end of it and I haven't been to the doctor since. We had some really bad spring allergy seasons with everyone complaining about pollen, but I sailed through without any prescription or over-the-counter meds.

I also do a lot of education in this area and I can tell you the science of immune system support over the past 30 years has been really helped by the emerging science of epigenetics. There's one discovery of a superfood that has been proven to work in the area of helping the body recover and right itself, with benefits in many areas. Knowing this, we can safely enhance the immune system benefits we already had, and do so much for prevention. For many people, it's preferable to supplement the diet with something that has no warning labels (like medications and most supplements/vitamins) but whose manufacture is still overseen by the FDA. If you can prevent health problems and allergies, it's so much easier than playing "medication roulette" like so many - with the problems you're now experiencing.

Sounds like a sinus infection to me. I'd go to the dr.