Gabes - Did You Find An Allergy Med That Works For You?

Post by **tex** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:41 pm

Hi Gabes,

A few weeks ago, you posted about allergy medications. I haven't taken any allergy meds in a couple of years. As dry as it is here this year, I assumed that there wouldn't be any pollen problems this fall, but every time a norther blows through, the pollen blows in with the cooler air, and the levels are really rough, and to make matters worse, mold is almost always high, to add to the mix. (Why is mold so high, when it's so dry?

).

Anyway, last week, the day after a norther blew in, my eyes were constantly watering and itching, and my nose was running, and congestion was getting to be a problem, so that just breathing was a PITA, so I broke down and bought some 24-hr Allegra, (Fexofenadine Hydrochloride). It might have helped my eyes and nose a tiny amount, but the congestion just got worse, so the next day, I dug out some of my old 12-hr Chlor-Tripolon tablets, (which had expired a little over a year ago - June 2010), and I took one of them. After a couple of hours, I was in pretty decent condition, again.

I have no idea why the Allegra didn't work for me, but that was pretty disappointing. It might have worked better if I had taken it before the symptoms started, but I don't usually take antihistamines unless I need them.

I was just wondering if you had any luck with the Claritin, (Loratadine), or if you had found something that worked better.

Tex

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:53 pm

hi there Tex
yes i did - Claratyne = CLaratine for the USA.

handled it quite well no apparant MC issues and it was very effective for the hayfever

Thanks to the pharmacist's help we chose the medication that had the least amount of negative feedback and was the smallest tablet = smallest amount of lactose.

Of interest, we had to check the technical sheets online to confirm all the ingredients, most of them the full ingredient listing was on a sheet inside the sealed packet.

I hear you with the pollen etc, I only had to take the tablets for a couple of days, as then we had some rain and the westerly wind has dropped so the air is a bit less pollenated.

We considered the Polaramine, but given its main side effect is drowsiness and one of my other meds causes drowsiness, the pharmacist said that the meds tend to have a combining effect where the drowsiness would be worse.

Post by **tex** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 4:52 pm

I'm glad that worked out so well. I may have to try that product, if I have another run-in with pollen.

I had a similar experience with the wind - as soon as it changed back to the south, so that it picked up a little moisture from the Gulf, and increased the humidity, I had no more hay fever problems.

Thanks for the fast response,
Tex

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 9:07 pm

Tex,

I'm glad to hear the wind has shifted. I was taking 1/2 a loratidine pill daily for a while, as part of my experiment... tolerated it well. (I am now wondering whether my mostly calm allergy symptoms, but continuing dry eyes, might be something to raise with my ophthalmologist, who is a neighbor & friend as well as the best doc on my whole team... I am wondering whether Sjogren's wasn't yet another undiagnosed issue of my mother's - Dr. Ann was my mom's eye doc as well.)

I carry Benadryl as an emergency "allergen hammer" but try not to use it.

As I mentioned in another post this evening, quercetin also seems to be beneficial for me - but it's such a multi-factorial set of things we're all dealing with I can't say categorically that I'm recommending it for general use, of course. I had a very mild allergic set of symptoms last night, and recognized that this was the first time in a very long while that I had noticed this, thankfully.

Hope the winds are in your favor - always!

Love,
Sara