Allergy season has started for me, and I’m miserable. It all goes straight to my eyes and I’m going mad with the itching. I use eye drops, but that gives me a headache. I use Benadryl, but that only works to conk me out at night and I feel like I’m in a haze most of the time.
What do you use that works? HELP.
As a general rule for me, the stronger an antihistamine works, the more drowsiness it causes.
Benadryl is the strongest for most people, but also causes significant drowsiness, another downside is the 4-6 hour dosing interval.
Chlor-Trimeton works well for me in certain prescription things I’ve taken, but have never taken the plain OTC version. It does last a little longer than Benadryl, but causes some drowsiness as well.
Zyrtec lasts 24 hours, and can cause drowsiness - take it at bedtime and it will work the whole next day through. Zyrtec actually worked TOO well for me when taking it every day, and I got a nosebleed (twice) while performing oral sex. Awkward!
Claritin/Alavert works for a lot of people as a daily thing. If you are in full-blown allergy mode, it probably won’t get everything cleared up, take Benadryl at night along with it to get it under control, but this should keep it under control once you get there.
As a side note, the one I take is Alavert (the orange-flavored orally disintegrating tabs), even though I know well and good that the generic loratadine would do the same thing at a quarter of the price, but damn it, those things are fun! I also take my clonazepam in the same form, and wanted to use the Prevacid the same way, but didn’t like the strawberry flavor.
Just wanted to say something about Zyrtec. An undisclosed side effect of Zyrtec is that is causes UNBEARABLE withdrawal itching if you go off of it. The itching lasts about 2+ weeks and is literally like having chicken pox. I recommend anything BUT Zyrtec.
Wow, I love Zyrtec (or, rather, the Wallgreens generic, Wal-Zyr) – it’s a godsend to me. I have no side-effects at all (no drowsiness, no dry sinuses), and it works really quickly. I take one as soon as I have my first sneezing attack, and it feels like within minutes the tingling in my nose and eyes has gone away. The effects last the full promised 24 hours, at least. I don’t take it regularly, but I have gone maybe a week taking it every day, and I have never had any withdrawal symptoms. Of course, we’re all unique creatures…
Claritin was all right, but took much longer to kick in and faded out before the 24 hours were up, necessitating a dose of Benadryl to keep me from tearing and sneezing.
Benadryl works pretty well on the allergy symptoms, but it really knocks me out (so who knows, maybe I just sleep through the allergies). Like, I have to time the administration of the Benadryl to make sure I’m not in public when it kicks in, because I will fall asleep right then.
Zyrtec & Claritin work about the same. Some find Zyrtec works a little better but it can cause drowsiness…
I suggest you start with Claritin for a week or two then try Zyrtec if it doesn’t work.
Emmy2635- I have never heard of that, and I just did a quick search, and nothing came up. I don’t doubt that it occurred to you, but it does not appear to be at all common.
Apparently it is not being acknowledged as a legitimate side effect for some people. Here is a website devoted to it: http://zyrtecwithdrawal.blogspot.com/
Claritin worked pretty well for me, but only as a preventive measure: in the middle of an attack it’s useless, so instead it’s the kind of thing you just take every day.
Zyrtec works well for me, but it makes me very grumpy and irritable.
Zyrtec works great for me, and I’ve never experienced any noticeable side effects, including drowsiness.
I take loratadine (it’s like claritin, but is a generic that I pay like 8 bucks for a bottle of 100) and it works really well for me.
Take Zyrtec before bed. If you have drowsiness, it should go away in 48-72 hours. I took it every night for months.
I take Zyrtec daily, and as long as I take it before bed I don’t have any problems with drowsiness or any other side effects.
If prescription strength stuff is at all an option, you may want to consider looking into prescription-strength eye drops. Two years ago my allergies were so bad at one point that (in addition to the congestion and sneezing and other nastiness) I looked and felt like I had pinkeye in both eyes. Started on two different prescription drops, and within two days I could even wear my contacts for a couple hours at a time. They can be pricey, but I swear, it’s like you’re paying for little bottles of magical unicorn tears or something.
Isn’t that a bigger problem than the allergies?
I take Nasalcrom or the generic equivalent. It’s a spray that you have to start taking early - a week or so before allergy season. I used to be miserable, now I have zero allergy problems in the spring.
While we’re discussing it - Zaditor just went OTC a couple of years ago 
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I’ll go and compare prices tomorrow. It sounds like Zyrtec or Claritin might work. Nasalcrom sounds interesting too. I would love to have prescription strength eye drops, but my co-pay to see the doctor has gone up, so I’m hoping to find something OTC that works.
Benadryl makes me grumpy, too. Also, I seem to just sit around the next day whenever I take it. It must have a long half-life because I feel so sluggish.
Lots of information there, but there is no substantial evidence to back it up.
Considering that, “Zyrtec is also used to treat itching and swelling caused by chronic urticaria (hives)hives,” I have to wonder if this person has chronic hives and has been misdiagnosed?
There is a generic version of Zyrtec, for what it’s worth (cetirizine); I use the gigantic-bottle-for-not-much from Costco.
I haven’t found Zyrtec to make me drowsy. I take one every 3 or 4 days for hives. My hives developed before I had even heard of Zyrtec.
Just speaking personally, this is not at all like chronic hives. This reaction occurs only when I stop taking Zyrtec after being on it for long periods of time. It lasts for about 2 weeks and then gradually goes away.