Is this acceptable?

[Newnamenewopenme]

I’ve never slept well. It takes me ages to drop off, dp snores which drives me mad (one of us ends up in the spare room), I wake up constantly during the night and then am shattered all day everyday.

I went to the doctors about a year ago but they couldn’t offer any help. Recently I had to take an antihistamine for a reaction, it said none drowsy but it knocked me out for 8 hours and I woke up the most refreshed ever. A few days passed of bad sleep again so when I was exhausted I took another and it worked again.

I kept this up for about a month and then realised I probably shouldn’t keep taking them. So the last week I’ve stopped but I feel like death warmed up again.

Is it acceptable to take them long term? I feel so much happier after taking them because I’ve actually slept!

Which antihistamine is it? Most are quite safe.

I take antihistamines every day of the year, as prescribed by my doctor. I figure they're less harmful and addictive than sleeping tablets?

I don’t think so. You’ll build up a tolerance? Some people do taken Them every day for allergies but not for sleeping.
Run it past a pharmacist or your GP.

I should have added that I have a sleep disorder and have taken a medication for it for many years - Eszopiclone - brand name Lunesta.

I once forgot to bring it on an overnight trip and had a horrible time falling asleep without it. My doc isn't crazy about the fact that I'm on it long term by she keeps renewing the prescription.

I think they are called allacan from boots.

@MissConductUS do you mind me asking about how you got your doctor to give you them?

I’ve tried getting in bed at around 8pm, doing nothing, reading in bed, watching tv, white noise and nothing helps! I can still be wide awake at 5am and then my alarm goes off at 6am for work. I get home, have tea then do a class or go for a run, have a bath and then try to sleep again but just don’t drop off.

I've found this with supposedly non- drowsy antihistamines before. Check with a doctor, but loads of people take antihistamines every day.

Allacan is cetirizine - it's quite safe. I've taken it for months at a time when my seasonal allergies peak in the spring. Here are some of the drug data:

www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/30045#gref

I have what's called sleep maintenance insomnia - I tend to wake up after 4-5 hours and then am unable to fall back asleep.

www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/too-early-to-get-up-too-late-to-get-back-to-sleep

I'm in the US. I discussed it with my doctor and she appreciated that the medical risks associated with poor sleep were greater than the risk of prescribing an intervention for it. I'm an RN and I think that doctors here tend to treat more aggressively than yours do. I've also read that NHS front line/primary care doctors are given a monthly maximum target of prescriptions to write and can be negatively evaluated if they consistently go over it. In the US your insurance company pays for the medication so there's no disincentive for the doctor to write the rx.

If the cetirizine is working for you stick with that. Unfortunately, nothing over the counter works for me. Eszopiclone has been available as a generic for years so it's cheap as chips and my insurance doesn't mind paying for it.

I was recommended to use anti-histamine based Nytol by my GP several years ago when they were cutting back on regular prescriptions of sleeping tablets.
Given that my 'regular prescription' was a prescription of ten tablets once a year which I would use one less than monthly to break a pattern of not sleeping. I thought was a bit of an overreaction.
I still use them from time to time - they're cheaper than the current prescription charge.

I take otc ‘non drowsy’ antihistamine daily as part of my asthma management, have done so for the last three years. Asthma nurse told me to do so, as my asthma is allergy related.
I’m not medically qualified, but based on personal experience I would hazard a guess that you would be ok.

Have you tried Melatonin?

www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/melatonin-and-sleep

My GP actually prescribed me an antihistamine to help me sleep.

I've been taking them for years. Melatonin, too. It's fine. The UK undermedicates just about everything, like it's some badge of honour to suffer for FA reason.

Eszopiclone has been available as a generic for years so it's cheap as chips and my insurance doesn't mind paying for it.

You can't get it here in the UK for love or money, even privately. It's ridiculous. But that's another story. I have to source private care for my son and once had a GP try to obstruct the medication his consultant prescribed. So I sacked him.

Zop is the only thing really works for me but I have to have it prescribed abroad.

Brits are fucking ridiculous when it comes to meds and about 20 years behind the rest of the world.

DS takes cetirizine daily for possible asthma/allergy symptoms. He’s not even 2! So yes perfectly safe for an adult.

Failing that, promethazine is amazing stuff.

I'm an RN and I think that doctors here tend to treat more aggressively than yours do.

You are correct.

It's ceterazine, I've been taking it daily for 40years for allergies, I wish it made me sleepy!

@Thehogfatherstolemycurry

It's ceterazine, I've been taking it daily for 40years for allergies, I wish it made me sleepy!

Yeah, it does FA for me.

I take a daily antihistamine all year round too. It's fine

I take fexofenidine daily pretty much all Spring and Summer.

Zop is the only thing really works for me but I have to have it prescribed abroad.

Brits are fucking ridiculous when it comes to meds and about 20 years behind the rest of the world.

It's a fabulous med. I fall asleep quickly when I'm ready and then get a good solid 6-7 hours, which at my age is pretty normal, then wake up clear headed.

Given that it is cheap and has been in very wide use for many years with no hint of safety problems why is it off formulary for the NHS?

If it’s less than £9 a month, you’re better off with it non prescribed and buying it otc.

Sorry to hijack. For those that cetirizine a lot, what happens when you drink on it? I have been taking it recently but had some wine last night and was vomiting all night. It could equally have been food poisoning (takeaway) or the allergic reaction itself that caused it.

There is something your GP can do. There's an NHS sleep programme calle SleepStation that lasts 6 weeks. It's tough going but it works. I went from chronic insomnia to sleeping about 7 hours every night when I did the course last year.

It all went to pot when lockdown began but I've followed the basics of the course over the last 3 weeks and I'm getting back to a decent sleep pattern most nights.

www.nhs.uk/apps-library/sleepstation/

@Thinkle

Sorry to hijack. For those that cetirizine a lot, what happens when you drink on it? I have been taking it recently but had some wine last night and was vomiting all night. It could equally have been food poisoning (takeaway) or the allergic reaction itself that caused it.

If you check the article I linked above you'll see this in section 4.5 on interactions:

In sensitive patients, the concurrent use of alcohol or other CNS depressants may cause additional reductions in alertness and impairment of performance, although cetirizine does not potentiate the effect of alcohol (0.5 g/L blood levels).

It's very unlikely that the cetirizine caused your vomiting.

@MissConductUS

Zop is the only thing really works for me but I have to have it prescribed abroad.

Brits are fucking ridiculous when it comes to meds and about 20 years behind the rest of the world.

It's a fabulous med. I fall asleep quickly when I'm ready and then get a good solid 6-7 hours, which at my age is pretty normal, then wake up clear headed.

Given that it is cheap and has been in very wide use for many years with no hint of safety problems why is it off formulary for the NHS?

ANYTHING that has a whiff of 'addictive' is off the list for the UK. Anything. At all. Doesn't matter if it works on not (they'll tell you it doesn't, you need 'psychological support'; they do this for a number of other conditions, it's mind-blowingly frustrating and one of the things that makes me want to emigrate even though I am British, especially because you usually have to buy in the 'psychological support' as their wait lists are so long). They'll offer you anti-depressants at the drop of a hat, though, but only if you're an adult. If you're a 'child', even a teenager the size of an adult, forget it. You're best seeking private consultant care because the NHS is absolutely not fit for purpose when it comes to child and adolescent mental health and actually downright dangerous to many.

I was told by the gp to take a piriton every night to help sleep. Works like a charm and I haven't built up a tolerance to it at all.