A rock and a hard place (antihistamines)

Hi, I'm trying to find an antihistamine that doesn't make me dopey as Reactine does, but that doesn't have the side effects of Claritin, many of which are bad for OSA patients. I spoke to a pharmacist and did online research, but there doesn't seem to be anything, even new ones, that will help. Any ideas? Thanks!

How long did you take Reactine? It has the reputation of making a small number of users sleepy at first but the effect seems to wear off after a few days with consistent daily use.

I take Claritin every night before bed. What side effects am I supposed to be having? I began taking Claritin at NIGHT on the advice of one of Rooster's pet websites (Dr. Falcone?). Rooster, post that link again, the one about sleep positioning. He's the one recommending Claritin at night for those of us with allergies and sleep apnea.

I buy the generic stuff at Costco. Cheapest price I can find. If you don't have a Costco, try the generic stuff at Walgreen's. Make sure it's not Claritin D, just straight loratidine. The Pseudoephedrine can't be good for your sleep.

Cheers,
Barbara

I use generic Zyrtec, from Sam's which is much cheaper.

Well, I've used Reactine for quite a while, often only half a tab, then the other half at least 6 hrs later, then a whole one, etc. etc. Claritin seems to have ingredients more or less contraindicated in OSA, such as glaucoma, stomach problems, etc. I just wondered if there was something I hadn't heard of that was out there. Allegra is apparently similar to the first two, Aerius seems to have its own problems and I imagine Zyrtec is not a lot different. Thought it was worth asking though. It just seems like newer meds all seem to come from "families" that have very similar effects, just like statin drugs for cholesterol, or SSRI's for depression. In the end, there are only very minor differences between any meds of the same family, but I guess I'm looking for different families. Thanks anyhow.

Have you considered any of the Rx nasal sprays? I used to take Claratin & a Rx 12 hour decogestant and still had issues. Switched to Rx Nasonex and it has worked wonders.

Julie wrote:Well, I've used Reactine for quite a while, often only half a tab, then the other half at least 6 hrs later, then a whole one, etc. etc. Claritin seems to have ingredients more or less contraindicated in OSA, such as glaucoma, stomach problems, etc. I just wondered if there was something I hadn't heard of that was out there. Allegra is apparently similar to the first two, Aerius seems to have its own problems and I imagine Zyrtec is not a lot different. Thought it was worth asking though. It just seems like newer meds all seem to come from "families" that have very similar effects, just like statin drugs for cholesterol, or SSRI's for depression. In the end, there are only very minor differences between any meds of the same family, but I guess I'm looking for different families. Thanks anyhow.

Reactine and Zyrtec are tradenames for the same drug (generic name is Cetirizine).

Here is a good thread that Babs asked about: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=36483&st=0&sk=t&sd=a .

My allergy doctor favors long term use of nasal steroid sprays because very little drug is absorbed compared to the oral medications we are discussing. Against his advice, I use Cetirizine daily because it is so cheap OTC as compared to the prescription steroid nasal sprays. There is also a convenience advantage because you need to be careful administering the sprays to make sure the medicine is applied to the mucus membranes and allowed to "sit" there a little while. Cetirizine - you just "pop a pill". That's our culture.

I have found that 60% room humidity,Cpap humidifier on Vistiril and nasal crom helps.Zertec is a by product of Vistirl

Consider one of the new azelastine antihistamine sprays; I'm using Astepro (reportedly has fewer side effects than Astelin) and am quite happy with it. It replaced a generic Claritin that I'd been taking for several yrs until Pugsy pointed out that one of the reported side effects is sleep disturbances. Since I stopped taking it, nightly wakeups that I'd been having every 90-120 mins disappeared...might be coincidence, might not. At any rate, I'm not taking it again and the Astepro is working for me.

I don't need nasal help, but thank you all very much!