Allergy advice—too late

I don’t have seasonal allergies (knock on wood), but many of those around me do. They’ve started suffering from itchy, watery eyes and other symptoms. A recent article in The New York Times offers advice that centers on taking action prior to allergy seasons. But, as far as I can tell, the first allergy season has already started—at least here in California and in Arizona. Anyhow, maybe this advice, which comes from allergists, could be helpful next year.

First, you must figure out your personal allergy season when your symptoms are most intense: tree pollen from late winter to spring; grass pollen from late spring through summer; and weed pollen from late summer through fall. This helps you determine when your medications might be most effective. Internet sites such as Pollen.com might help to find allergy forecasts.

After you’ve determined your season, the experts say to start taking your medication—such as Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra—about two to four weeks before your pollen season begins. This helps to block the histamines in your body from triggering itching, sneezing, and congestion.

To prevent pollen from wafting into your home, keep your windows closed starting a week or two before allergy season. Maybe even clean or replace filters on your air conditioner or air purifier and keep outdoor clothing and shoes away from areas where you spend a lot of time.

The docs also suggest using your inhaler before you go outside and keeping your skin moisturized to create a protective barrier.

Good luck!

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Rx to OTC switch

I’ve read that the FDA is considering broadening the types of dugs that can be sold without a prescription—that is, making them available “over the counter.”  FDA commissioner Martin Makary told CNBC that “everything should be over the counter” except drugs that are deemed unsafe or addictive or that require clinical monitoring.

Over the years, plenty of drugs have migrated from Rx to OTC, including those that treat allergies, joint pain, heartburn, overactive bladder, and acne, as well as those used for birth control. Examples include:

Nasonex—a steroid nasal spray.
Lastacaft, Pataday—eye drops to relieve itchy eyes.
Astepro—an antihistamine nasal spray.
Voltaren Gel—a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory topical gel.
Plan B—a form of emergency contraception.
Opill—a once-daily birth control pill.
Xyzal, Claritin and Zyrtec—antihistamines.
Differin Gel—acne treatment.
Prilosec and Nexium—for heartburn.
Oxytrol—for overactive bladder.
Narcan—to reverse an opioid overdose.

Note that OTC versions aren’t always the same as their Rx versions.

It will be interesting to see what, if any, previously prescribed medications will soon be available over the counter.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.

A doctor’s advice on consulting AI

Over a third of Americans use AI for health advice. In 2025, 66 percent of physicians also used it.

Dr. Adam Rodman, director of AI programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston says, “I believe that when used appropriately, these large language models [AI chatbots] are the greatest tool for empowering patients since the invention of the internet.”

He recommends using chatbots, such as ChatGPT, to enhance, not replace, your medical appointments. To do this, he suggests first pulling up your doctor’s medical notes (they should be available online). After removing all your identifiable information, copy those notes into a chatbot. Next, give the chatbot an update of your condition, then ask it to concisely summarize all this information. Finally, ask the chatbot: “Given this context about my health, please give me three questions I should ask my doctor about [insert health concern here] during my upcoming visit.”

Because chatbots depend on having a full picture of your health and medical conditions, Dr. Rodman says you can learn how to describe your symptoms by asking the chatbot to “interview me as if you’re a doctor.” Such a question-and-answer session can lead to a clearer explanation of your condition and help to exclude other conditions that might cause unnecessary alarm.

Chatbots try to please their users by adding layers of information. For this reason, you need to be aware they may lead you down a rabbit hole of scary possibilities. To avoid this, you need to tell the chatbot explicitly why you are asking a question. For example, “I am having a bad headache today. Here is my last note from my primary care doctor. What are some strategies to make it better?”

Diagnostic errors cause almost 800,000 deaths or permanent disabilities in the United States each year. For this reason, Dr. Rodman believes that AI can be one of our best tools for saving patients’ lives. At the same time, he advises that you need to be cautious about seeking second opinions from chatbots or rely on it for advice on treatment plans. Just use what you’ve learned as a conversation starter with your doctor.

I've never tried any of these suggestions.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.

Tests for aging well: Fourth test

This post is the last of the tests described in The New York Times article, “Are You Aging Well? Try These Simple Tests to Find Out.” Here’s the fourth test:

Single-leg stand

Stand on one leg for a minimum of 10 seconds on at least one side. As an added challenge, the article says, try it with your eyes closed.

I found that I could stand on my left leg for significantly more than 10 seconds (I stopped after 20) but couldn’t make it to 10 on my right leg. What’s with that? Maybe if I practiced.

Like everything else, balance declines with age, raising the risk of falls—a major cause of injury and death for old people. One study found that 20 percent of people aged 51 to 75 were unable to make it to 10 seconds. Experts say that those individuals had an 84 percent higher chance of dying in the next seven years, possibly because they were unhealthier at the start of the study.

I didn’t try standing on one leg with my eyes closed. I’m not going to push my luck.

Update: I have trained myself to get up off the floor using just one knee instead of two (plus both hands), which gives me another point, as described in an earlier blog. I used the technique suggested by alert reader, Jocelyn. You can see it on this video she sent to me.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.