Alergy Medicine: What is the best

all of the medicines have variations of like 2 or 3 drugs.

they are:

diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, and cetirizine - the same drug in OTC sleeping aids. It is an antihistamine - it fights with histamine for it's receptors where it blocks their action (H1-receptor antagonist). This is probably the main thing that will help you, but it will probably make you sleepy and 'thick'. Don't drink while you're taking it, or about 1/2 million other things, that I don't know about, as I'm not a doctor.

psudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine - get some iodine, hidriotic acid, and red phosphorus and you can make crystal meth. Sort of a bad, non-cognative aproximation. It'll speed up your heart, raise your blood pressure, and make you agitated. Also, if you have an itchy nose, it'll dry out your sinuses, making them itch as well. Probably better for flu and colds than alergies in my opinion. It's only real use would be if you were having hay fever.

various analgesics like asprin, acetomeniphan, etc. These might be a good idea in moderation.

caffene another bad idea. Less effective and more side effects than psudoephedrine. It'll just annoy you.

guaifenesin an expectorant. It'll only make you cough up goop from your lungs/throat.

dextromethorphan - a cough suppresant at clinical doses. Doesn't seem appropriate in your case.

I'd, therefore seek something with one of the antihistamines, as well as an analgesic, with perhaps some caffine thrown in (as always seems to be the case). Pretty much all of the brand names carry these medcations is pretty standard doses. Sort of look around and see what has the drugs you want in a combination you want. My personal favorite for the antihistamine is with some generic OTC acetaminophen. I have the ufounded impression that the liquid in the pills seems to make it work faster, but who knows?

 

Ask you doctor.

Seriously. You shouldn't be looking for medical answers from us morons.

BTW, if you have high blood pressure or heart problems, don't take any type of anti-histamines without asking your doctor first. Your nose could be cleared, but you could be dead.

 

THIS, coming from a so-called, Doctor!....



rH

 

Benadryl makes me too damn sleepy. Claritin works great but it's too expensive in the States. It's over the counter in Canada and Mexico. If you go, can you bring me a box or 2?

I never had allergies until one summer about 5 years ago when my girlfriend subletted an apartment with a big furball cat. Since it was summer, we had fans at both ends of the apartment blowing the breeze through and fur from this cat would drift like tumbleweed. I've been midly allergic ever since.

A couple years later, I was in Vendee, which is a very allergenic part of France, apparently, and the air was so choked with pollen and god-knows-what, that my eyes were still killing me even though I was popping a bunch of Benadryl. It was awful: I was too sleepy to move and the allergies were still driving me crazy and I had to socialize with friends and relatives all night anyway. I hate allergies.

 

It's my eyes that bother me the most. Itchy, watery eyes that make it impossible to see clearly. I have to carry a bottle of Visine Allergy Relief with me at all times.

Sometimes I wake up in the morning, and my eyes have crusted over so badly that I have to pull the lids open with my fingers. I hate going thru this twice a year.