Live In San Diego? Here's How To Tell If It's A Cold Or Allergies

This is not medical advice.

With beautiful weather year-round, San Diego is a fantastic place to live. However, because of its good weather, allergies are common throughout the entire year in San Diego — and they may be far worse in the winter and spring.

If you live in San Diego and suffer from seasonal allergies, here are some tips to help you manage them, differentiate them from a cold and understand whether immunotherapy or other medications may be beneficial.

Is It Allergies Or A Cold?

What Are Allergies?

Seasonal allergies occur when the body's immune system overreacts to foreign triggers. These are typically harmless substances such as pollen, pet dander, dust or other debris. A person will get an allergic reaction when the immune system mistakes these substances for “invaders.” When the immune system overreacts and incorrectly perceives these substances as harmful, it creates a variety of symptoms in the body.

A person will have an allergic reaction to something when they are sensitive to that substance and come in contact with it. At a person's first contact with this allergen, the immune system will mistakenly interpret it as a threat and create antibodies against it. While medical experts are unsure why this occurs in some people and not others, it is more likely to happen if you have a genetic predisposition to allergies.

People are typically most sensitive to allergies during the spring and fall, when there is a change in foliage. In a city, such as San Diego, where weather is consistent, allergy season can happen during any season, even lasting the entire year. Allergy season typically lasts for however long a person is exposed to what they're sensitive to, which can be a few days or many months at a time.

Allergy Symptoms

Most people experience mild symptoms that result in discomfort from their allergies. However, some of these symptoms can be life-threatening. General symptoms include:

• Sneezing and nasal congestion.
• Coughing, chest tightness and breathlessness.
• Itchy, red and watery eyes.
• Nausea and stomach pain.
• Dry and itchy skin.
• Skin rashes.
• Swollen lips, tongue, eyes or facial areas.

What Is The Common Cold?

The common cold is caused by a virus known as viral rhinitis, which is one of the most common types of infection. The virus infects a person's upper respiratory tract, which includes their nose, sinuses, vocal cords and throat. Colds are most common during the colder seasons of autumn and winter, when people are spending more time indoors and socializing. However, a person can get one at any time of year.

Colds are spread when a person breathes in the virus in the air. The virus spreads from person to person when an infected person has close contact with someone else or sneezes or coughs in their personal space. A person is most contagious to spread a cold a few days before their symptoms start, and they'll continue to be contagious for as long as they have symptoms. Typically, a cold lasts between seven and 10 days, but symptoms can last up to three weeks.

Cold Symptoms

The Mayo Clinic lists the following symptoms as being the most typical of a common cold:

• Runny or stuffy nose
• Sore throat
• Coughing and sneezing
• Nasal congestion
• Body aches
• Headaches
• Low-grade fever
• Fatigue

Why Do We Confuse Colds And Allergies?

It's easy to confuse the common cold with allergies, as they have many similar symptoms. As evident by the above lists, a runny nose, cough, congestion and sneezing are all symptoms of both the common cold or an allergic reaction. Some signs that what you are experiencing is allergies are if your mucus is clear or watery — as opposed to thick and discolored, as it would be during a cold; your symptoms stay the same and you have them for longer; and if your eyes become itchy or watery, which does not happen during a cold.

Treatments For Colds And Allergies

Allergy Treatments

One of the best possible ways to treat allergies is to avoid whatever triggers your body altogether. Knowing what triggers your allergies and how your body will react is the best way to prevent any type of symptoms. In some cases, such as nut allergies, this is easier to do than with environmental allergies, which a person cannot control their exposure to.

Certain over-the-counter medications often help relieve the symptoms of seasonal allergies. The two types of fast-acting over-the-counter allergy medication are decongestants and antihistamines.

Decongestants ease the symptoms of a runny nose and a sore throat by reducing the swelling of blood vessels in your nose. An example of one is pseudoephedrine, which is found in Sudafed.

Antihistamines help prevent allergy symptoms before they start and alleviate them if they already have begun. Notable over-the-counter examples include:

• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• Loratadine (Claritin)
• Cetirizine (Zyrtec)
• Fexofenadine (Allegra)

For more-severe symptoms, there are also prescription allergy medications such as mometasone, azelastine, and prednisone. If your doctor prescribes you any of these, GoodRx can help you compare prices and save money at your local pharmacy.

Another way a person can get treatment for their allergies is through immunotherapy. This is a process in which an allergy specialist exposes a person to small doses of their allergic trigger over the course of several years. This process gets your body used to the allergen and, therefore, your reaction becomes milder and more manageable. While this is a lengthy process, it can help some individuals who suffer from allergies over time.

Cold Treatments

For the common cold, some of the best ways to keep from getting sick are to reduce your exposure to people who are sick and to practice good hygiene. This means washing your hands with soap for over 20 seconds, especially before and after you eat and when you are socializing with other people. You should also avoid touching your face with your hands, especially if you have not washed them recently.

There are no medications that can directly cure a common cold. However, there are many remedies that can ease your symptoms and help your body fight back against the virus. One way is to take an over-the-counter cold or cough medicine, which will help with the congestion and relieve your pain. They won't, however, prevent a cold or shorten its duration, says the Mayo Clinic.

Other ways to combat a cold without medicine include staying hydrated with water, juice and herbal teas with honey. Avoid drinking coffee, alcohol and soda, which can make your dehydration worse. Soothe your sore throat with warm liquids and by adding moisture to the air with a vaporizer or humidifier. Most importantly, get plenty of rest, as your body needs time to heal itself.

Avoid Overpaying For Allergy and Cold Medication

Sometimes insurance companies don't cover your prescription for allergy medicine, or the prices can be out of your price range. As the leading resource in health care savings,GoodRx can help support you. GoodRx can help you find the cheapest option for prescription allergy medicine in your area. They also offer coupons for those medications to help you save even more.

Obtaining these savings in San Diego is simple. You can either visit theGoodRx website or download the free app, then add in your prescription details and ZIP code. You'll have instant access to drug coupons and be able to start comparing prescription medication prices in San Diego to find the best price for you.

If you want to try to lower the cost of your prescription medications for allergies, common colds, and other ailments, tryGoodRx. The GoodRx app can help you find and compare prices for all your prescription medicines and save you money at the pharmacy.