Piriton EVERY day?

[strawberrycake]

Gp has prescribed daily piriton, reckons it'll help with ds wheezing/ mucus. IT has massively helped his eczema, but not much on the wheezing front, though he is no longer coughing awake in the night.

I'm starting to think it messes up his sleep though, he seems to wake MORE, not less as the GP said he would. Without it he's a one-a-night waker for a feed but with it he seems to get unsettled. Lots of half-wakings and dummies being re-inserted. Has anyone else encountered this. Also does anyone have an opinion on daily anti-histamines. Is it ok? Wise?

I have taken piriton everyday for about 15 years don't think it's done me any harm!

Wonder if you ds is allergic to house dust mites, have you tried to deal with that? Biggest difference for me was getting rid of carpets if you have house dust mite allergy and/or asthma it's probably the biggest thing you can do to help. We've also got leather sofas.

Sounds like he may be having a 'paradoxical reaction' -

C+P this from the manufacturers leaflet on here

*Children and the elderly are more likely to experience the neurological anticholinergic effects and paradoxical excitation (eg. increased energy, restlessness, nervousness).

But daily antihistamines are quite often prescribed , it may be worth discussing again with the GP with a view to possibly trying a different one?

I have to say piriton doesn't make me drowsy, nor does any antihistamine - perhaps it gives me paradoxical excitation and that's why I'm a rubbish sleeper

Carpeted throughout! It's a bloody expensive option to replace it so I don't want to do it lightly, considering it may not be the problem. Don't even know if our flats allow uncarpeted rooms in the block. We simply couldn't afford it without a loan. He's not diagnosed with asthma. Obviously if it comes to it I'll find a way, but it's early days. I do dust/ wipe down with wet clothes very often, hoover and kept the place clean to a high standard (do anyway).

Thanks moaningminnie, that's interesting. He doesn't have an extreme reaction, in fact it does make him drowsy yet his sleep is lighter.

You want to ask for him to have allergy testing. I take it you dont have pets? They don't usually diagnose asthma until after a year old. The wheezing doesn't sound good though.

What hoover have you got? We use a miele with there super filters for allergy/asthma sufferers. They start off at a reasonable price of around £200

DS HT at school said daily antihistamines can cause 'behavioural problems'. . I do thinks its true it can cause unrestlessness.

Maybe if he's getting drowsy he's less active in the day hence the lighter sleep? Could you maybe ask for a swap to ceterizine which is non-drowsy. DS is on that now when on daily.

We have a pet frog, pretty unlikely he's causing issues as he's fluff free!

We have a dyson, seems pretty powerful.

Is allergy testing useful/ accurate in a 7m/o? He's not allergic to the extent he breaks out in hives/ swelling on contact. On milk he poos blood/ diarrhea/ loses weight and on soya he becomes massively constipated. Repeated exposure causes ecezma. One accidental exposure just causes a bit of a flushed face, vomit and/or stomach pain and a few runny nappies. A few days of milk would cause a body rash and severe diarhhea to the extent of hospitalised for dehydration..

The recent I ask if it's useful is that it seems his allergies keep changing at this stage. His reactions to milk have become more obvious with the flushed face, runny poos after tiny traces of dairy and he's slowly disagreed with soya too (for a while he was fine on soya milk). He's gone from being fine on nutramigen for months to needing neocate. He didn't use to wheeze. Everytime it seems that I know what's going on the rules change. Butter was fine, now he reacts to toys that other kids have played with after having milk! Now he wheezes at a change in temperature even.

He is more restless mumbar, I'd put it down to him being newly mobile and more active at 7m/o.

something else I worry about is that daily piriton may be hiding his allergy. Despite taking he he now flushed and gets a few spots if he has dairy. If he didn't have it I wonder if he would react worse, but we don't know iykswim (I'm no expert, just pondering)

Sorry think I've confused myself and you . Went off on a tangent about DS HT!!

I was just pondering whether if the puriton was making him drowsy, he was being less active during the day and therefore sleeping more lightly?

I didn't realise he was only 7mo. AFAIremember at this age DS sleep patterns always changed. Especially as he became more active as he wanted more milk/water during the night.

May be worth discussing with GP about trying cetirizine and seeing if he sleeps better?

You sound like your having a hard time with you DS allergies/intolerances. I would second allergy testing.

Hope things improve soon. xx

I'm expecting change in sleep at 7m/o...I have noticed though an improvement in his sleep without piriton (well for a few days until he starts hacking his lungs up all night...)

I feel so awkward constantly going to the GP!

Yes I know what you mean about constantly going to the GP. I would encourage you to though, and tell him/her what you've said here. There are other AH to try and its not like your going for every cough and cold. Is there a GP in the surgery who you feel really listens and is more helpful? Theres one in my surgery who listens really well and I only see him re my DS allergies, he is very reassuring that we will get there in the end but have to work through it systematically.

I'll go. I'm someone who wasn't even registered with a GP prior to pregnancy, had no idea how they work and still getting used to them. Haven't found a good doc yet (see my last post about GPs!).

I've never left the GP without a prescription or a refferal (and I've never pushed) so I guess I'm being daft about going. DS has 6/7 repeat prescriptions and I even feel awkward colecting them!

Both my DC were allergy tested at 6 months, so I would push for that. Also nighttime coughing, could be allergic asthma, so I would have thought asthma medication would be mrore appropriate.

Piriton every day does seem a lot for a 7 month old, given that on the bottle it says from 1 year up.

Your ds has severe allergy problems - you need to wean him fully yet and who knows what problems that can give him. The asthma possibility is a huge concern as well.

You def need to go to the gp and insist on an urgent referral to paeds allergy specialist . If he is getting secondary contact allergy that is seriously allergic.

I do think the latest thinking of the cure being controlled reintroduction of things to desensitise backs up my personal experiences - I am very allergic to cats but have cats and can tolerate them but the first 3 weeks felt like I was going to die I felt so ill!

However this is a very specialist thing done with tiny tiny amounts when it's food so in some ways giving him piriton and letting him have some exposure may not harm in the long run and in fact do the opposite but it's not a risk I would be taking with a baby or any non verbal child who can't communicate that they don't feel well quickly.

Agree with advice to get a referral.
My son has been on a daily antihistamine since he was young - loratadine and citirizine seem to be flavour of the month for very young kids - high efficiency and low impact.

Also steaming DS' room when he was very little (lid off of a watched kettle for 5 mins) at bedtime helped him enormously,
Good luck, sounds a troubling time for you. let us know how you get on!

Ds spent a summer taking Piriton for really bad hayfever - he was VERY restless and wakeful at night and not like he is normally at all. It knocks me out for the count but ds gets very hyper with it - I wonder if it's because they fight against the drowsiness? We switched to Benadryl.

Another GP now thinks it's a 4 month chest infection, on ABs. Not much agreement, nurse same time reckoned he needed inhaler and wheezed whereas gp thought chest congested due to infection. Well I guess if ABs clear it we could stop, although it's had a side-effect of clearing his eczema.

doesn't need to be an expensive vac, just one with a "HEPA" filter (lots of themn have it these days) which traps the tiny particles that get through an ordinary bag or filter. It goes on the exhaust outlet of the vac, and you usually get one with each packet of bags (not if you have a Dyson, obviously)

You might also like to try a Flixonase allergy ionising air purifier fan.
These came out in chemists (Lloyds had them as an own-brand) at £22, but I saw them reduced to £11 and later clearance at £5.50 (they obviously didn't sell well). It is a thing with a small, very quiet fan, and a dust filter that you can remove and wash, but it also ionises the air that passes through it, so tiny partcles stick together and fall out of the air onto the floor or table, where they stick, or any nearby surface such as a wall or radiator. You have to wash off this black dirt, but at least it's better than having it floating round in the air and getting in your lungs. I am a bit athsmatic especially in the winter and tried one of these in the bedroom, I now have one in the living room and hall as well. You can actually get them for next to nothing on Fleabay now, lots of people probably bought them as a gimmick, and some of them have never been used. If you do not have an allergy problrem then you might think it was not worth the bother of cleaning up the black particles (they collect in a halo within a metre of the ioniser). I am told they also collect tobacco smoke and tar, but I don't smoke.

I am very suspicious of unscientific alternative remedies and gimmics, so see what other netters have to say. I remember Ionising Air purifiers were tested by Which, and they really do work, though they also commented on the dirt and dust falling out of the air onto the table and having to be cleaned up.

You have probably seen dust and cigarette smoke clinging to TVs and computers due to the static electricity, these purifiers work in a similar way.

My dd used to take piriton every day (from 18m) but I am convinced it gives her nightmares so we now give her cetirizine. Better if given only in the morning as a full dose but sometimes if we split the dose she has night terrors, shouts out, wakes up, wants milk etc (3ys now)... dh and I convinced anti-histamines are to blame...

marking my place.

Well I gave up piriton, his sleep settled then on doctors advice tried it again for 3/4 weeks. Back to every 30/45 min waking. Stopped it again for a few days and already his sleep has improved. i do thing there's something in it, mentioned it to GP who looked at me like I was made and told me it makes babies sleep. His eyes are a little puffy and lots of runny noses BUT he's happier as he sleeps.