Clogged Head

Head at capacity
Pollen over 4000
Claritin collapse

[With apologies to fans of traditional haiku…]

3 Comments

  1. Kevin White says:

    If you can stand the sedation, you could stack Diphenhydramine or Chloropheniramine on Claritin with no ill interactions. But the sedation of these (especially Diph found in Benedryl) is pretty bad, if you have to drive or work it’s probably not acceptable.

    My personal regime: my allergies typically start the first week of April, and the 2nd/3rd generation antihistamines work better if they can build up BEFORE symptoms, so I start taking it the second or third week of March. Typically I was taking Allegra but this year I’m trying Claritin (actually Walgreens brand Loratidine 10mg, same stuff, just be sure it’s not children’s or Claritin-D). I carry Dramamine as a just-in-case stacker (the Dimenhydrinate is similar to Diphenhydramine). And I have Nasonex as a last resort. This gets me through April and by the second week of May I’m usually about done and I stop.

  2. Alas, I’m on Claritin-D (per doctor’s advice), so can’t add much else. 

    I tend to have problems with congestion and allergies year-round, so I take Claritin-D daily.  I think what happened is that the crap in the air is so strong that it overpowered the Claritin completely (hence “Claritin collapse”).  That, or they gave me placebos at the last place I bought them (I use the generic version of Claritin-D, usually bought at Wal-Mart).

  3. Kevin White says:

    Ah. Probably Pseudoephedrine as the decon. Technically speaking, you could still add a 1st-gen anti-histamine such as Diphenhydramine, Dimenhydrinate, or Chloropheniramine in a pinch, as evidenced by the fact that there are many OTC formulations that contain both Pseudoephedrine and one of those anti-histamines (of course if you do that make sure what you’re adding ONLY contains one of those three drugs). I’d save it only for that occasional overload day where it’s just killing you, because of the strong sedation I mentioned (though the decon may fight that a little).

    Alternatively, you might ask your doctor about Flonase or Nasonex. Good luck!