There are many other antihistamines, besides diphenhydramine hydrochloride that cause sleepiness. Chlorpheniramine and doxylamine are but two.
If one is suffering chronic congestion, cough, etc folks should review their meds to see if they are on an ACE inhibitor, which is a common blood pressure/heart/diabetic medication. These pills, aka lisinopril, benzapril, enalapril, and other prils (lots of trade names) cause a buildup of histamine and this triggers allergic/congestive symptoms in about 20% (or more) of the people on them.
If they’re annoying enough, switching from an ACE inhibitor to an ARB (diovan, cozaar, others)can solve the problem while still delivering the appropriate treatment. ARBs don’t cause histamine buildup like ACE inhibitors do. Talk to your doctor about it.
My allergies have been killing me lately. The sinus pressure and pain are the worst part. I have found a vaporizer to be very helpful with those symptoms. I use a small one that is easy to fill and rinse out and I put in enough baking soda to get lots of steam going. You might want to try using one whenever you are at home and while you’re sleeping.
I also often use a plain saline nasal spray and that helps, too.
Thanks to everyone for a plethora of good advice. My problem is not so severe that I’d want to try anything by prescription, but will take a look at the other products suggested.
What about beta-blockers, Q?
My anecdotal experience with various antihistamines:
Claritin works allright, but it doesn’t do anything against my worst seasonal allergies. I’ve never noticed any side effects, and it’s easily available in cheap bulk generic forms. I take it if I’m a bit sniffly but otherwise fine.
Zyrtec is more effective against my moderate to bad allergy days, and personally I’ve never had any drowsiness or other side effects from it. It’s also available as a generic, though it’s maybe twice as expensive as the Claritin generic. It’s what I use daily during the allergy season.
Heavy-duty, older antihistamines like diphenhydramine are very effective against even my worst allergies, but they can cause some pretty significant drowsiness for me. If I caffeinate and stay engaged with whatever I’m doing, I can go about my day pretty normally. But if I’m just lazing around the house on a weekend, I’ll pass out in short order in front of the TV or computer.
IIRC, the drowsiness is an inherent property of antihistamines. There are histamine receptors in the brain, and when they’re blocked the result is drowsiness. The later generations of antihistamines were designed so they would not be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, so they don’t have the same side effects.
Question: I was told years ago (by a friend who was supposedly told by her doctor) that with continuous daily use, the drowsiness caused by Benadryl should abate. Any truth to that?
abstinence.
My friend swears that his chiropractor has cured his allergies. Used to be awful, sneezing, sinus problems, itchy eyes - <crack> - now, no problems.
I didn’t laugh in his face, I think, but he swears it’s true. So, you could give that a try. Or not.
It did for me. When I was a youngster and the modern antihisimines weren’t invented, I lived on that stuff. And I was not particularly sleepy, except if I got tired out for any other reason, it seemed to hit me harder.
But I do not remember how long took to get habituated (it may have been months or years) and YMMV.
They don’t cause histamine buildup either. But they’re not an exact substitute for ACE inhibitors, as they don’t protect the kidneys the way they and ARBs do.
Waaaaaay back before the 2nd generation anti-histamines during the fall allergy season I was pretty much on Benadryl 24/7 for a couple months. Yes, after awhile I stopped being so drowsy.
When I stopped taking it I would barely sleep for 3-4 days.
So yes, you can build up a tolerance, at least in part, but if you’re taking Benadryl that often for that long you really need to see an allergist.
Cool, thanks.
Excellent post, I agree almost completely based on my own experience.
My own post-scripts:
Allergy Shots - worked great for me from ages 7 through 12. Minor pain in having to visit the clinic once a week. I am almost tempted to go this route again as an adult.
Neti Pot - I’m a convert, too. Cleared up a wicked sinus infection for me. Cheap, easy, safe. Everyone should try this.
Zyrtec - my “go-to” OTC allergy medicine. Works ok. No side effects for me. Expensive though, even with generics (like $1 per dose)
Loratidine - I took this for years. Low to medium effectiveness. Getting pretty cheap these days. No side effects. Zyrtec works better, but costs more.
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) - either does nothing (when I take 1 dose) or works excellently (when I take 2 doses). 1 dose has no side effects, 2 doses puts me to sleep. Can’t use when I work (lab/factory).
Allegra - never tried it
You should look and see if there are any studies that show a declining degreeing effectiveness for people who take PM versions of pain meds (tylenol, advil etc), given that the bendryl in them is what provides the “non-addictive” sleep aid.
Stop saying that!!! I was just at Costco this afternoon and I verified the information that I posted above just in case anybody challenged me on it. $15.95 for 365 (yes, that’s three hundred and sixty-five) 10 mg. tablets of cetirizine. Or if you don’t want to schlep all the way to Costco or you don’t live near one or you’re not a member or if they offend your sensibilities for some reason then you can just get it from amazon for a few bucks more.
ok, ok, fair enough. I could get it cheaper.
I probably should get smarter about buying it. But I really only need it like three months out of the year - so I typically don’t go about the smartest buying techniques. Usually it’s just pick Wal-Zyr off the shelf and go.
A years worth though? What is the shelf-life of Cetrizine? Just curious.
Cool, dry place away from pets and hobgoblins? Probably about 15 years.
Hmm, and with hobgoblins?
Depends on if the little bastards are allergic to your cat.