How To Take And Store
Most antihistamines can be taken with or without food.
Second-generation antihistamines are typically taken in the morning. If your doctor prescribes both an antihistamine and a leukotriene modifier for allergic asthma, it’s common to take the antihistamine in the morning and the leukotriene modifier in the evening.
Storage recommendations vary by drug:
- Both Zyrtec and Xyzal should be stored at room temperature that’s ideally 68 to 77 degrees F, with excursions in temperatures ranging from 59 to 86 degrees F.
- Claritin should be stored in a cool, dry place that’s ideally between 36 and 77 degrees F. Clarinex should be kept at 77 degrees F, with excursions that can range from from 59 to 86 degrees and should be protected from excessive heat or light.
- Benadryl should be stored at room temperature that’s ideally 68 to 77 degrees F.
Are There Different Types Of Antihistamines
Generally, antihistamines have been classified into two groups:
- First-generation or sedating antihistamines can cause significant drowsiness and are generally more associated with the antimuscarinic side-effects mentioned above. These include alimemazine, chlorphenamine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, hydroxyzine, ketotifen and promethazine. These medicines may be used for their sedative effects should your sleep be disturbed by itching.
- Non-sedating or second-generation antihistamines are newer medicines which generally cause less drowsiness. However, anyone taking these medicines while performing skilled tasks for example, driving should be aware that a sedative effect may still occur and, in particular, in combination with alcohol. Second-generation antihistamines include acrivastine, cetirizine, desloratadine, fexofenadine, levocetirizine and loratadine.
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What Form Does This Medication Come In
CapletsEach pink, film-coated caplet imprinted âBenadrylâ on both sides contains 25 mg of diphenhydramine. Nonmedicinal ingredients: celluloses, dicalcium phosphate, D& C Red No. 27, PEG, polysorbate, starch, stearic acid, titanium dioxide, wax, and zinc stearate.
LiquigelsThis medication is available as a 25 mg capsule.
Childrenâs Chewable TabletsThis medication is available as a 12.5 mg chewable tablet.
Extra Strength capletThis medication is available as a 50 mg caplet.
Extra Strength CapsuleThis medication is available as a 50 mg capsule.
Childrenâs liquid Each 5 mL of colourless, bubble gum-flavoured liquid contains 6.25 mg of diphenhydramine. Nonmedicinal ingredients: artificial bubble gum flavour, carboxymethylcellulose, citric acid, glycerin, saccharin, sodium benzoate, sodium citrate, sorbitol, vanilla flavour, and water.
Topical cream Each gram of white-emulsion for topical use contains diphenhydramine 2% w/w. Nonmedicinal ingredients: cetyl alcohol, paraben, PEG, propylene glycol, and water.
ElixirEach 5 mL of red elixir contains 12.5 mg of diphenhydramine. Nonmedicinal ingredients: alcohol, FD& C Red No. 2, flavouring agents, sugar, and water.
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How Do I Know Which Antihistamine To Take
Because there are so many antihistamine products, both over-the-counter and prescription, and because they are used to treat so many different conditions, you may need help figuring out which medication to take. For minor ailments, you can probably take over-the-counter products. You can read the package labeling and match your symptoms to the labeled symptoms. Also, never hesitate to ask the pharmacist. They are highly schooled in the actions and effects and side effects of drugs. You may need to try different antihistamines to find the best medication to manage your symptoms.
If you need a prescription antihistamine, you and your healthcare provider will work together to figure out what medication will be best for you. Many drugs interact with antihistamines, so your healthcare provider will want to know what medical conditions you have and medications you are currently taking. They will also want to know if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Some antihistamines are not recommended in pregnancy because they may cause birth defects in very high doses. Antihistamines can pass into breast milk, so you should consult with your healthcare provider before using antihistamines if you are breastfeeding.
How Is Allergic Rhinitis Treated In Children
Some corticosteroid nasal sprays can be used in children as young as 2 years.
Antihistamine tablets can be used for children with mild allergic rhinitis or young children who will not tolerate nasal sprays. Some can be taken by children as young as 12 months. Only newer antihistamines, which cause less sleepiness, should be given to children.
Montelukast tablets are effective for some children.
Your doctor may recommend other medicines.
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What You Can Do To Keep Safe
- During spring and early summer, use a corticosteroid nasal spray . Start at the beginning of September and continue to the end of December.
- Keep taking your preventer medication as prescribed. If you don’t normally use a preventer all year, you should use it during September-December if you are going to be in an area where there is ryegrass pollen.
- Follow the pollen counts and weather forecasts during spring and summer so you know if a storm is coming.
- Make sure your written asthma action plan is up to date and includes thunderstorm advice – talk to your GP
- Avoid being outdoors just before and during thunderstorms, especially in cold wind gusts that come before the rain. Get inside a building or car with the windows shut and the air conditioner switched to recirculate/recycled.
Is It Allergies A Cold Or Sinusitis
There are several conditions which affect the respiratory system in addition to allergies and asthma. The common cold and sinusitis share many symptoms with allergies. Treating the correct condition will help speed along your recovery if you are sick, or help you choose the right treatment plan to ease allergies.
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Other Things You Can Do
Saline rinses: Your doctor may recommend that you use a salt water solution daily to help clear your nose and soothe the lining of the nose. Syringes and rinse bottles are available from pharmacies.
Avoid smoke: People with allergic rhinitis should not smoke and should avoid other peoples cigarette smoke. Smoking makes asthma and rhinitis worse, and can prevent medicines from working properly. Bushfires and wood smoke may also worsen allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Avoid allergens: Your doctor can help you work out which allergens trigger your allergic rhinitis and asthma. Try to avoid your allergy triggers if you can. See Avoiding allergens for tips.
If medication does not clear a badly blocked nose, doctors may occasionally recommend a surgical operation called turbinate reduction. Surgery is not a cure for rhinitis, but may help with symptoms in severe cases.
Before taking any medication for allergic rhinitis, you should tell your doctor or pharmacist if:
- you have any other medical conditions or are pregnant
- you are taking any other medicines
- you have been experiencing nose bleeds.
Is Benadryl Safe For Dogs
Benadryl is considered to be a relatively safe medication for dogs, especially those that experience acute allergies.
It is important to note, though, that Benadryl is not cleared by the FDA for use in dogs or cats. While it can be used safely in most cases for your dog, there are no official dosing guidelines.
Furthermore, there is no dog-specific Benadryl. Instead, your furry friend will have to take the same over-the-counter medication that you take. This can create some problems because not all forms of Benadryl are safe for dogs.
For example, time-release capsules are not safe for canines. These capsules interact with dogs differently than humans. They may become chewed and break open, delivering too much medication at once.
While Benadryl typically refers to diphenhydramine HCl only, it can contain other active ingredients as well. These ingredients may or may not be safe for your dog. It is essential to check that the Benadryl you plan on using contains only diphenhydramine HCl. This information is located on the information panel.
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Should I See A Doctor About My Asthma
with your health care provider if you or your child experience mild asthma symptoms .
for:
- Moderate shortness of breath
- If symptoms worsen or do not improve with treatment
- An attack requires more medication than recommended in the prescription
or other emergency treatment for severe shortness of breath , if drowsiness or confusion develops, or for severe chest pain.
How Is Asthma Treated
Asthma treatment is aimed at avoiding known allergens and respiratory irritants, and controlling symptoms and airway inflammation through medication. The main goals are to restore normal airway function and prevent severe acute attacks.
Medication for asthma is either delivered by inhalation, orally or parenterally .
Inhalation is the preferred route of administration as this allows the drug to be delivered directly into the airways in smaller doses. This causes fewer side effects than if given orally or by injection. When delivered by inhalation, bronchodilators also have a faster onset of action and give better protection from constriction of the lung bronchi.
Patients with persistent asthma should use preventative medicine such as inhaled corticosteroids on a regular basis to prevent asthma attacks. Medication is added in a step-up progression depending on the severity and frequency of attacks. It is also important to step-down the treatment when control is good.
Patients should have a personalized asthma action plan developed in conjunction with their health care provider to control their asthma. Long-term control medications and short acting medications are an important part of every asthma action plan.
Keep your regularly scheduled appointments with your doctor to review your asthma and treatments. Your healthcare provider may have you keep a diary of your symptoms, your use of the rescue inhaler, or other triggers or complications.
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Whats The Difference Between First
Just like the name implies, the first generation antihistamine were the first type approved by the Food and Drug Administration . They began to be approved in the United States in the 1930s and are still prescribed today.
They work on histamine receptor in the brain and spinal cord along with other types of receptors. Most notable about this generation of antihistamines is that they cross the blood-brain barrier, which results in drowsiness.
Second-generation antihistamines were approved by the FDA and first came to market in the 1980s. The second-generation antihistamines do not cross the blood-brain barrier to the extent that first-generation do and therefore do not cause drowsiness at standard dosage levels. Second-generation antihistamines are considered to be safer than first generation antihistamines because they dont cause drowsiness and interact with fewer drugs.
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Seasonal Allergies And Copd: Tips To Avoid Complications
Seasonal allergies are a nuisance for most people. For people with COPD, however, any extra condition that makes breathing difficult is automatically more serious.
According to a 2012 study at the Johns Hopkins Allergy and Asthma Center, people who had COPD and seasonal allergies experienced worsened respiratory symptoms such as coughing and wheezing.
They were also significantly more likely to need medical attention for their symptoms.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a group of lung conditions usually made up of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is commonly linked to a history of smoking cigarettes.
The condition results in airway blockages and mucus production, often causing serious breathing difficulties. Symptoms include:
- persistent cough
- feeling winded after activities that werent difficult in the past
- coughing up mucus
Seasonal allergies are very common. Millions of people deal with the itchy, watery eyes and stuffy noses that seasonal allergies cause.
These symptoms occur when your immune system reacts to allergens youve inhaled such as:
- pollen
- mold
- animal dander
Your immune system activates certain cells that produce substances, including histamine. These substances produce allergy symptoms.
People with COPD seem to be more sensitive to other breathing conditions. Of course, if you have COPD, you likely already have some trouble breathing.
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How Is Allergic Asthma Diagnosed
A skin prick test is the common way to check for allergies. Your doctor will poke your skin with a needle containing a small amount of an allergen. After 20 minutes, your doctor will check your skin for red bumps. These bumps are a sign of an allergic reaction.
Additional tests that can check whether you have asthma along with your allergies include:
- spirometry: measures the amount of air you inhale and exhale, and looks for narrowing in the bronchial tubes of your lungs
- peak flow:a simple test of lung function, this measures air pressure as you breathe out
- lung function: checks whether your breathing improves after you use an asthma medication called a bronchodilator
Treating allergic asthma can involve treating the allergy, the asthma, or both.
Working Our Your Pollen Triggers
To work out which pollen sets off your hay fever, make a note of any days when your symptoms are bad. Then you can use a pollen calendar to work out which pollen you are allergic to and find out when it is released. Look at the pollen chart here:
If you already know which pollen triggers you?
If you know pollen is a trigger for your asthma, speak to your GP or asthma nurse who can give additional support and advice to help you manage your asthma at this time.
Alcohol may make your symptoms worse
Alcohol contains histamine that is also released as part of the bodys reaction to allergies. It is therefore strongly suggested that alcohol can increase the sensitivity of the body to pollen and other allergens. It is advisable to avoid alcohol if you have a prone to allergic reactions or are asthmatic. Particularly if you are experiencing a worsening of your asthma or hay fever.
Prepare for pollen season
If you regularly get hay fever, start taking antihistamines up to four weeks before you normally get symptoms.
Remember a steroid nasal spray can take up to two weeks to start working, so start using it before your personal pollen trigger is released.
How can you treat a pollen allergy?
The best treatment is to avoid the allergen, but pollen is extremely difficult to avoid. To reduce your exposure to pollen you can:
- stay indoors on dry, windy days
- ask others do the gardening during peak pollen seasons
- keep doors and windows closed when you know pollen counts are due to be high
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How Do Allergies Make Asthma Worse
Lots of people with asthma find it gets worse when they’re around allergens . Common allergens include dust mites, mold, pollen, and animal dander.
If you have allergies, your immune system reacts to an allergen like it’s an unwanted invader. To fight it off, the immune system produces an antibody called immunoglobulin E .
When the IgE combines with the allergen, it starts a process to release substances designed to protect the body. One of these is histamine. Histamine causes allergic reactions that can affect the eyes, nose, throat, skin, and lungs.
When the airways in the lungs are affected, it can bring on symptoms of asthma .
The body remembers this reaction. Each time the allergen comes into contact with the body, the same thing can happen. Because of that, allergies can make it difficult for some people to keep their asthma under control.
How Do I Know If Other Medicines Im Taking Are Making My Asthma Worse
Any medicine can cause wheezing or shortness of breath if youre allergic to it. If you notice that your asthma gets worse every time you take a certain medicine, tell your doctor as soon as possible. If you use a peak flow meter to check your asthma, tell your doctor if you see changes in your peak flow readings after you take a certain medicine. Your doctor can decide whether your medicine should be changed.
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How To Cope With Side Effects
What to do about:
- diarrhoea drink plenty of fluids, such as water or squash to prevent dehydration. Signs of dehydration include peeing less than usual or having dark, strong-smelling pee. Do not take any medicines to treat diarrhoea without speaking to a pharmacist or doctor.
- high temperature paracetamol will help to bring the temperature down. Drink plenty of fluids. See your doctor if it lasts for more than a few days.
- headaches make sure you rest and drink plenty of fluids. Do not drink too much alcohol. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a painkiller. Headaches should usually go away after the first week of taking montelukast. Talk to your doctor if headaches last longer than a week or are severe.
- stomach ache, feeling or being sick stick to simple meals and do not eat rich or spicy food. If you’re being sick, try having small, frequent sipsof water or squash to avoid dehydration. Do not take any other medicines to treat vomiting without speaking to a pharmacist or doctor. Puttinga heat pad or covered hot water bottle on your stomach may also help
- a mild rash it may help to take an antihistamine, which you can buy from a pharmacy. Check with the pharmacist to see what type is right for you. If the rash gets worse, or does not get better after a week, speak to your doctor.
Becky Saunders 34 Has An Allergy To Tree Pollen And Year
I dont know what life is like without asthma
I don’t remember being told I had asthma as I was so young. My parents took me to the hospital when I was six-months-old. The doctors thought I had pneumonia to start with, then they realised it was probably asthma – though this wasnt formally diagnosed until I got a bit older.
I used to think early pollen was just a cold
When I was younger, I thought the sneezing and running nose were just signs of a winter cold, but it was really my allergy to tree pollen.
When I was 13 my mum made me go to the doctor, as I was getting hay fever symptoms all the time, not just summer. The doctor told me it was year-round hay fever and recommended I start taking an antihistamine every day.
In my twenties my allergies really flared up and I had a blood test, which confirmed I had an allergy to tree pollen and dust, which I already knew at that point and I was then prescribed a more intense antihistamine, which is 100% a life saver for me. If I didnt take it, I know my hay fever would make my asthma a lot worse.
On the odd occasion Ive forgotten my antihistamine, Ive slightly panicked and left work early to go home and take it, as I didnt want to risk feeling bad. Without it, my eyes swell up, they go puffy and itchy and the roof of my mouth is very itchy too. Its horrible.
Asthma, hay fever and a chest infection is not a fun combination
I have routines to remember my medication
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