Hay fever antihistamine with food allergy antihistamine

[Mimi124]

My 11 year old always has antihistamine on him when he goes out due to having mild food allergies (cetirizine) but this year he started having hay fever symptoms so has been taking these tablets daily (half a tablet for his age) to stop his hay fever symptoms as they are advertised as hay fever tablets.

I just wondered what happens if he has a reaction to food (egg makes his face puff up but breathing is fine) does he take another of these tablets or should he be on a different ingredients antihistamine for hayfever and keep the cetirizine aside just in case he gets a food allergy reaction?

There must be many people with both hay fever and food allergies, what have you been recommended by your doctors?
Thank you

My allergist didn't recommend a brand.

For environmental allergies, he told me to trial until I found one where the drowsiness wasn't that big a deal. For food allergies, he said take whatever I have to hand and keep taking them until I felt the reaction lessen (or escalate to epi pen, if that's where my symptoms head, per the anaphylaxis plan he drafted).

I carry Zyrtec and Telfast with my epi pen. Zyrtec works quickly and Telfast is particularly good for my shellfish allergy, it seems.

I take all kinds for environmental allergies during the bad season - trial and error! At worst, if I take them before bed, I just sleep more soundly. 🤷‍♀️

I take multiple preventative antihistamines daily under my doctor’s direction, plus have symptomatic ones at the ready. So does my daughter under hers. Layering antihistamines is common and often very necessary.

Thank you for your replies. I guess I will keep his benadryl ones which he takes for hay fever in his bag but also add the piriton one too in he bag for emergencies when the benadryl doesn't hit it. I just worried you could over dose on antihistamines like you can with pain killers but it's reassuring to know Dr recommended it.

I know I'm older, but I'm on eight anti histamine s a day for a skin problem! Quite tired but OK!

Wow, 8. Hope they are working for you and helping your skin. I take 1 daily for dust allergies, I suppose i was worried his body would get so used to them taking them daily for hayfever that if he needed one for his food allergy then it wouldn't react as well as his body was too used to it - does that make sense?

I would talk to a pharmacist. They were very helpful when I asked for advice about antihistamines.

Do not take advice about medication for a child from the internet - you must speak to a pharmacist or your GP.

You need child specific advice rather than adult - so GP or pharmacist.

But in adults taking more than the standard dose, or multiple different types is common

@tedgran I've been there too, so lucky mine calmed down a lot from the peak of 6 a day or I was head to toe in urticaria.

My DC has multiple allergies, some severe, so they carry pens, blue inhaler and antihistamine. During hayfever season, the consultant told us to give 5ml cetirizine morning and night daily, plus up to a further two doses in a day if needed to respond to a further allergic reaction, like food-induced allergy.

Thanks guys, lots of replies now to look at. We have got a dr booked now as you're right, what a child can take isn't the same as adults, I find pharmacists give conflicting advice. One said a type of antihistamine should not used for food allergies as its too slow to react and another pharmacist was trying to sell me that make. As he will be starting secondary school I need to know I've got the right tablets in the bag for him and he is confident on what he takes and when, how many he can take and what he can mix or can't mix.
Thanks all

It’s not as simple as choosing a brand for where the reaction presents itself. Put simply it’s which brand/molecule acts on the receptors triggered by the allergen.

Can you say a bit more/expand on this?

“It’s not as simple as choosing a brand for where the reaction presents itself. Put simply it’s which brand/molecule acts on the receptors triggered by the allergen“