Hayfever Help: tablets and drowsiness - dementia link?

[KhristoffersonFox]

I know there are bigger problems in the world but does anyone have any tips for not feeling drowsy when on hayfever medication. Or surviving without the medication. I took my first pill of the year last night (loratadine) and have felt 'not with it' all day. Not that bad just a bit sluggish and I am already dreaming of going to bed.

I've been good this year at getting myself to the gym etc and I really don't want to lose my momentum, but today felt much harder than usual!

Please send all of your hayfever tips.

As an aside, I was shocked to hear on the radio today that some pills have been linked to dementia but now I am googling it and the link is unclear. If anyone has thoughts on this too then please shout. A pretty old article example here: Do hay fever tablets shrink your brain? | Drugs | The Guardian

Regular non-anticholinergic hayfever medications such as fexofenadine, ceterizine and loratadine don't seem to have the risks associated with dementia like anticholinergic medications like promethazine and diphenhydramine (Nytol) do.

Ceterizine and loratadine can sometimes make sone people feel a bit out of it, but they' don't seem to be linked to dementia. This research has been out for quite some time now, I wouldn't really say that it's "new".

Ceterizine and loratadine both make me really drowsy, especially ceterizine. I switched to fexofenadine a couple of years ago and I'm fine with that. It works much better too. It's a bit more expensive but supermarkets do cheaper own brand versions.

Thanks @MoonlightMemories
Yes, after looking into it today I can see it isn't 'new' research but it was new to me!

thanks @ignatiusjreilly I have never tried fexofenadine I don't think - I'll give it a shot!

I can't take ceterizine or whatever is in Piriton but I can take the newer one, fexofenadine, I think its even less likely to cause drowsiness and works very well. Another option would be a nasal spray, they can often keep immunity up for a bit after stopping them so you don't have to use them continuously all season.

Fexofenadine is fab, but absolutely nothing is helping me at the moment. I’ve never had hayfever so bad.

Another vote here for fexofenadine. You can buy it online without a prescription.
Try also beclometasone nasal spray (beconase) and you can also get eye drops for itchy eyes.

I also use fexofenadine. You can buy the basic strength but there is a stonger version available on prescription too. I used to take Ceterizine which doesn't make me drowsy but loratadine has no effect on me at all. They are all slightly different so worth trying a different one.

Fexofenadine for me too! Suffered terribly with side effects and drowsiness with the other meds (esp supermarket brand hay fever tabs loratadine I think). Bizarrely also made me feel really ratty and bad tempered!
Supermarket nasal decongestive sprays help.
Aloe Vera tissues, maybe because they are less dusty?
When it has been really bad (pet allergy, tree pollen, grass cutting) I’ve found Superdrug allergy wipes @ 99p really good. I was very sceptical but they are lovely and refreshing and really soothing, you simply wipe across the face, eyes, nose etc. I think it’s supposed to remove the irritant and I did find it effective.

I take cetirizine, 4 a day and am ok on it

I use Loratidine because it doesn’t cause drowsiness for me. Chemist told me it was non drowsy and to avoid Ceterizine as that does cause drowsiness.

I think it depends on the person. I find cetirizine works really well for me for hayfever but leaves me like a zombie!!

Fexofenadene is good for me though.

I take Benadryl (Acrivastine) and it makes me drowsy to begin with, but I do get used to it. I take three every day in hayfever season

Sorry I'm crashing in on this thread, as I've just tried boots hay fever relief tablets for the first time. I've never had hay fever before, but I've been sneezing like mad for a few weeks and can't think what else it might be. Defo not a cold. I think the tablets are helping!

So is there an unusually high level of pollen at the moment?! It's crap weather here in Scotland, so wouldn't have imagined pollen would be high, but then again I don't know much about it!

It'll be different depending on your area, so you need to look it up. It also depends on the person, as you could be allergic to specific plant that I, for example, am not.

Swap around until you find one that doesn't make you drowsy - and avoid Piriton, it's over-priced and not as good as the new ones.

Am currently on 4 cetirizine a day as my urticaria has flared up and no drowsiness, it really varies for person to person.

With pollen, the trick is to load up on anti-histamine before you have started getting symptoms. So if you know it's tree pollen in the spring, get started on February 1st rather than waiting until the flowers are out, or you get surprised by an early spring.

Thanks all - and I will try to start earlier next year @AnnaMagnani - it is tree pollen for me.

None of the meds have ever worked well for me, between not working 100% and making me drowsy. I always carry a facecloth with me and wash my face and run the damp cloth over my hair also to take the pollen out of my eyebrows, eyelashes and hair every couple of hours.

My son had it worse than me, he had a couple of very serious reactions a few years ago and was put on an immunotherapy programme. He takes Grazax under the tongue daily for 3 years. The first year he had to take the antihistamines along with the Grazax, however last season he didn't even need the antihistamines, didn't take a single one. It has been such an amazing improvement and life changing. He couldn't do his sports during hayfever season before with the reactions and ending up in hospital so often for it. He was miserable, now he is flying it.

I went privately myself at the start of this year and started on the Grazax, I can't wait to be free of the antihistamines/sprays/eye drops.

It's not the drugs that make me drowsy but the allergy. I take cetirezine daily and gave done so for 25 years. Sadly, my allergies have gone worse in the last few years. One of the first symptom when it is a particular bad day is the drowsiness. I could sleep all day.

That's 4 times the recommended dose. If you have to take that many, it's clearly not very effective for you. Have you tried anything else?
Recommended doses are given for a reason.

yes, it’s prescribed that way off licence for me for hives. I take it alongside an injection

@Passaggressfedup my allergies became worse post menopause, it’s a thing according to my Dr as our immune systems become less efficient with age.

It's the recommended dose for chronic urticaria

I've been on more than that plus 5 fexofenadine in the past.

yeah I think at one point I was on something ridiculous like the equivalent of 70 x 1 a day tablets!