Am I going to kill myself by doing this?

[CourtneyLovely]

My MIL is horrified that I'm taking 2 or 3 1-a-day antihistamine tablets atm. I'm taking one when I wake up and then often another at teatime and a third at bedtime. I'm still suffering badly with hayfever symptoms but they damp down for a few hours after I've taken a tablet.

Is MIL right? Am I going to die?

sorry I'm on mils side. that sounds dangerous!

What are the active ingredients?

You need to get to your GP and get a stronger antihistamine.

www.medicinejournal.co.uk/article/S1357-3039(11)00338-0/abstract

Are you this capricious with other medicine dosages?! Seriously. You're being very stupid.

Have you tried Piriton? One tablet every 4 hours works better for me than the one a day stuff.

But they’re not working so why are you taking them?

you will probably not kill yourself, but if your symptoms are so severe I would suggest a gp visit.

the meantime try to eliminate pollen/allergens from the home.

• hoover every day (incl matress), followed by damp dusting
• boilwash bedding and covers
• if you have pets do not ley them near bedrooms and consider moving rabbits, hamsters etc outside
• consider getting an air purifier
• bath/shower before bedtime incl washing hair
• don't go into bedroom with clothes worn outside or around pets

goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/short-and-long-term-effects-abusing-antihistamines

Go see your doctor and get something that works.

You'll be fine I'd say, don't think there's a whole lot that can do you much harm, and so long as no side effects. I keep on top of hayfever by taking 1 certirizine a day from about May before season starts. When it's bad like now I add on Loratadine too as another anti-histamine, but works on a slightly different way. I double both those up so take 1 if each morning and eve. Oh, and Beconaise nasal spray too! Used to suffer really badly, but this all seems to keep it pretty well under check, and no ill effects!

It depends very much on which antihistamine it is...

I once asked about a different active ingredient based antihistamine as taking one of them wasn't covering me.

They told me not to do that. That I should go for treating the symptoms separately instead. So I have eye drops for itchy eyes to keep on top of it as well as my one a day tablet.

Occasionally I bring forward the next dose by a few hours if I'm really suffering.

There are prescription only strength anti histamines so you definitely need to go to the GP.

Well, you probably won't die, but some antihistamines can affect your heart rhythm and that sort of thing.

You could speak to a pharmacist about what might work better for you if you can't see a GP.

Provided you don't have an incompatible pre-existing medical condition you'll probably be okay. But you'd be better taking different types eg cetirizine in the morning and loratadine in the afternoon and evening.

My DD had very bad and was spending time in the countryside surrounded by grass and fields. Doc doubled cetirizine, also prescribed loratadine and fexofenadine. Next step would have been stomach acid blockers.

Next season take cetirizine from april along with a steroid nose spray to desensitize your nose before the allergens start,

You could try a hepa air purifier.

Yes to the eye drops

Fexofenadine is the one I had from the hospital clinic and the extra strength of 180 rather than 120, also taken with 2 piriton at night and up to 4 per day if required.

I’m with mil this sounds dangerous

There has been a study showing a correlation between 3 years continuous use of piriton ( just 1 dose a day) and a significantly higher incidence of dementia. There are a lot of things we don't know about long term use of drugs and taking them at higher than normal doses may just not have been studied very much.

I'm screwed then took piriton for years and whilst pregnant

The allergy specialist (immunologist??) I saw prescribed me 4 x loratidine a day. I swip swap between that and fexofenadine. I wouldn't do it without being prescribed it though.

The allergist I was referred to told me I could take up to three cetirizine a day. Personally I rarely even take two but sometimes I really need to if I want to function! Nasal spray also helpful though and might replace one or two tablets?

Seeing as it blocks the receptors, surely the rest is just excreted? I wouldn’t worry.

They’re not f&@king sweeties. Do you think the maximum dose on the box is just put there as a joke? Honestly, that is just idiotic behaviour for a grown adult.

You’ll need to use something like piriton, which can be taken several times a day. It can be sedating though.

The max dose of certirizine for example isn’t based on what’s dangerous or not, it’s based on what doses were trialled before it was licensed.

FWIW the antihistamines the GP can prescribe are not stronger, they just have a better side effect profile, potentially.