Piriteze is like a sleeping pill for me?

[Balacqua]

Worried because i have had an allergic reaction to being bitten by something in the garden- itchiness has been waking me up so taken half a piriteze before bed to calm the lumps- been absolutely knocked out, weird dreams and struggled to get up in the morn- tried to sleep last night without and couldn't! Wtf- is this normal?

Yes it's normal, antihistamines are known for this. If you're not used to the tablets, it's a pretty normal side effect, it's understandable you feel freaked out, but nothing to worry about.

I remember I took Night Nurse once when I had the flu - it knocked me out totally for two days. The first day was very scary because I felt like I couldn't physically keep my eyes open.

I think some antihistamines do this to people - I would maybe try a different one other than Piriton if it makes you drowsy.
I take cetirizine hydrochloride with no problem but I think that's the active ingredient in Piriton. Have you tried Loratadine or Acrivastine?

Piriton knocks me out for the whole night.
I take it for my eczema and I like it as I dont scratch in my sleep with it, unlike the other non drowsy ones.

Almost all antihistimines affect me like this. Absolutely knock me out, including 'non-drowsy' ones. I can take Zirtec which makes me a bit dopey but doesn't completely knock me out but I couldn't take it regularly.

I take an antihistamine if I suffer from night sweats and anxiety attacks , prob about once a month but it seems to calm me down and makes me sleepy at night.

Totally normal. Piriton is the only antihistamine that works for me for insect bites but I can only take it at night because it absolutely knocks me out. You may find one of the newer non-sedating antihistamines like Clarityn or Zirtek less drowsy making, though the downside is it may not work as well for your skin reaction.

"I take cetirizine hydrochloride with no problem but I think that's the active ingredient in Piriton."

Nope, cetirizine is Zirtek. Piriton is chlorphenamine.

I struggle with hayfever early summer time but I have to be very careful when taking antihistamines, they make me drowsy within about twenty minutes, I would be unable to safely drive a car and am definitely not with it. On the rare occasions I have relented and taken one at work, colleagues have noticed that I become drowsy and even a bit confused.

Me too. I can only take them at night.

Me too. As a teen I reacted horrendously to any insect bite so the GP advised me to take piriton everyday as a preventative measure (to stop me getting to the point where I was covered in blisters). I started taking them on holiday with my parents, and I remember almost nothing of the two weeks except sleeping. Wish the GP had warned me.

Oops! My mistake. Luckily people don't take medical advice from unqualified people on the internet eh!

I am the same and have this with both Piriton and Zirtek. It wipes me out completely for at least 24hrs with headaches and dizziness as well as sleepiness. My hay fever has to be really bad before I consider taking them because the side effects are sometimes worse than the hay fever.

I have been recommended chloprrnaphine (sp) whatever piriton is as a sleeping pill by the pharmacist. They sell it as a sleeping remedy completely fm separately from the allergy use.

I occasionally take Nytol for sleeplessness. Once when asking for some at the pharmacy they were out of stock and gave me an antihistamine instead, said it was very similar ingredients.

"My hay fever has to be really bad before I consider taking them because the side effects are sometimes worse than the hay fever."

I hardly ever take antihistamines for hay fever any more since I started using Avamys spray - it's on prescription but it works incredibly well, I'll only need a tablet as well when the pollen count is insanely high.

Yup- as others have said it's an anti-histamine. Nytol, a sleeping aid which I use a lot, is an anti-histamine too.

OP is talking about Piriteze which is cetirizine hydrochloride and you can buy off the shelf. Piriton is chlorphenamine and can only be bought OTC at a chemist

Thanks all- I am quite worried I could become dependent! I've never taken a sleeping aid before and wow- I could be quite tempted by this

Oh right, didn't know Piriteze was cetirizine. Yeah, some people find that makes them drowsy as well, though doesn't really have that effect on me.