Seasonal allergy meds?

[pb&j]

We went right from snow to pollen!

DS is having allergies - his eyes are itchy, he's got allergic "shiners" so bad he really does look like he's got 2 black eyes, he wakes up with a junky cough, and I've extracted tons of what we affectionately call "dragon boogers" from his nose. DS is 4, I'd like to put him on allergy meds to help him through spring pollen season more comfortably. Will consult with the pediatrician, yada yada, but was interested in what you guys are giving for seasonal allergies.

TIA!

[HIU8]

My kids have seasonal allergies. They have been really bad lately. DS always has allergy shiners (he has had them for years). Both DD and DS take children's zyrtec. The claritin does basically nothing for them (children's version). I only give benadryl allergy at night since it makes them so tired (I hate to do that to them during the day). So far we only do OTC stuff. Neither has been to an allergist for seasonal allergies (although DD has already been for suspected food allergies).

[LarsMal]

The pollen is hitting M really hard this season. I have been giving her Claritin in the AM, but have to give her Benedryl at night because she starts rubbing her eyes and getting stuffy before bed. I am going to switch to Zyrtec and give it to her at night. I'm hoping it works better than the Claritin.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We're doing Claritin here right now b/c there weren't enough bottles of generic zyrtec at Rite-Aid for the BOGO offer. So far so good, and DD was a m.e.s.s. at the park last week. She was trying to ride her bike with her eyes closed b/c of itchiness. Maybe the pedi will tell me something different to try tomorrow.

I'm all doped up also. The pollen here is NUTS! Very High on weather.com all week, and every car is bright greenish/yellow. I have a sneezing/itching/stuffed up fit just going to the mailbox, with meds.

[LarsMal]

So far so good, and DD was a m.e.s.s. at the park last week. She was trying to ride her bike with her eyes closed b/c of itchiness.

I'm all doped up also. The pollen here is NUTS! Very High on weather.com all week, and every car is bright greenish/yellow. I have a sneezing/itching/stuffed up fit just going to the mailbox, with meds.

Your poor DD!!

I'm all doped up, too. Are you doing a nasal rinse? I find doing it morning and night makes a huge difference. Still need the meds, but it definitely helps.

[egoldber]

So far, knock on wood, older DD is doing OK, but her main allergen is oak which is only just now starting to come out.

She takes Zyrtec (CVS generic, tablet, soooo much cheaper than the children's liquid) every morning and Nasonex at night. We just started having to add eye drops (Zaditor, CVS generic) because her eyes were getting really itchy.

As food for thought, you may want to consider having him tested. That way you'll know what he is allergic to, which meds to and when to start taking when. The only thing is they have to be off all allergy meds for 10-14 days before the testing, so it's hard to do it in the middle of the season.

[miki]

A lot of people say taking a spoonful of local honey a couple times a day is helpful.

[alexsmommy]

It's official, DS2 also has allergies. Ugh. Allergy shiners for him the last two days, which is the one thing DS1 did not get. Trying Claritin for DS2, but I think I'll need to add Benadryl. I'm waiting for a call back from ped, but that's how she started DS1 so I'm sure she'll tell me to start here and we'll see what happens. Plus, it's what I had on hand for DS1
Claritin does not seem to be helping much though, so we may move to Zyrtex. It's really, really bad here. I wake up and hear DSD, DS1 and DS2 sneezing, wheezing, coughing etc all needing their meds first thing in the morning.

[HIU8]

My kids are coughing so much that preschool keeps telling me their sick. While DS did have a sinus infection (treated with meds) DD is fine except for a stuffy nose and cough from nothing more than allergies (no cold according to the ped). Luckily Zyrtec works really well for both of them.

[m448]

I'm on quercetin although my dosage is much lower. I'm on it year round to prevent asthmatic like wheezing. I had asthma as a kid.

http://www.immunesupport.com/92fal004.htm

My kids so far are doing okay but I've been heavily supplementing them with vitamin D and just today read something that linked low vit d levels with asthma (at least 90% of kids).

[pb&j]

So far, knock on wood, older DD is doing OK, but her main allergen is oak which is only just now starting to come out.

She takes Zyrtec (CVS generic, tablet, soooo much cheaper than the children's liquid) every morning and Nasonex at night. We just started having to add eye drops (Zaditor, CVS generic) because her eyes were getting really itchy.

As food for thought, you may want to consider having him tested. That way you'll know what he is allergic to, which meds to and when to start taking when. The only thing is they have to be off all allergy meds for 10-14 days before the testing, so it's hard to do it in the middle of the season.

Yeah, I'll probably get him tested at some point. I had bad seasonal allergies as well as a dust mite allergy as a kid, but grew out of them. The skin test was horrible (and I was a teen when I had it done) so I am very reluctant to put him through that if the OTC stuff will do the trick.

We picked up some generic zyrtec at the pharmacy this afternoon, and will give him the first dose at bedtime.

Thanks for all your responses!!

[elizabethkott]

J's on children's zyrtec, as per his ped's recommendation.
Thank the gods that my ob said I could take zyrtec too! Even with it, I'm still itchy a bit, but nowhere near what I'd be dealing with if I *wasn't* on that magical little white pill. :)

[egoldber]

The skin test was horrible (and I was a teen when I had it done) so I am very reluctant to put him through that if the OTC stuff will do the trick.

FWIW, Sarah had it done at 5 and 7 and she was fine both times. Lollipops and the promise of a toy/ice cream afterwards did the trick.