pThis is just something I have been wondering about and I know that I certainly should ask my son's allergist. However, I also greatly respect the input I get from everyone here./p
pMy son takes a daily antihistamine, Claritin to control his environmental allergies. Do you think it is at all possible that his taking of this daily antihistamine helps to minimize contact reactions?/p
pI do know that him taking his Claritin the day of his last reaction did NOT in any way stop him from going into full anaphylactic shock./p
pBut, as he has moved throughout his school, only his classroom which is "peanut free", and had no contact reactions, I am wondering if this is simply a coincidence or if it is because he is taking a daily antihistamine (even though it is not the antihistamine we use for a PA reaction)./p
pDoes anyone have any thoughts on this? Again, I recognize that I should speak with his allergist about this, but I also greatly value all of the information I receive here./p
pMany thanks and best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]/p
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Do You Think Taking A Daily Antihistamine Might Help Minimize Contact Reactions?
Posted on: Sat, 03/17/2001 - 4:30pm
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YES! YES! YES! Can you tell I'm really sure about this LOL?? I started teaching 2 year olds recently. On days that I forget to take my antihistamine (Allegra right now but looking to switch back to Zyrtec) I get so bad during lunch and it lasts the rest of the day. My eyes water, my nose runs, I sneeze constantly, my throat/back of nose itches miserably, my hands get blisters, and my body especially head/face/ears itches really bad. Of course it depends on how many kids bring pb that day. On days I take my antihistamine I occasionally get a bit of a stuffy nose.
Rebekah
Cindy,
I think this falls under the "Does Benadryl mask symptoms" discussion. My final thought on that is Benadryl will not mask symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction, but it will 'take care of' all the little reactions that could let you know an anaphylactic reaction could be coming, ie. hives, itchy runny nose, 'funny little cough', etc.
I get the feeling our son will need to take something every day when he starts public school to help minimize the contact reactions. I'm not thrilled about that for a couple reasons - 1.) I don't like the thought of him trying to function at school(all the brain work) while on medication, and 2.) I'm not sure that I don't want to know if he's actually reacting every day or not. Meaning, if he's going to have contact reactions every day, then maybe we need to change the set up, amend our 504, or just remove him from school altogether.
This is still one of those subjects we go back and forth over. I hope my rambling made sense to someone... Have a great day!
I take allegra every day and my son takes zyrtec, he used to take claritin. I really think it helps us. When I had to stop for five days for allergy tests I ended up in the er on a neb and they had to give me benedryl, however my tests still came back as having all allergies so it did not mask them. The test was the next day so benedryl was out of system.
I think this has helped my son too. He takes Zyrtec daily and I know when my son misses it occasionally he is miserable with his environmental allergies. I do think this also helps with food allergy reactions. One time he seemed to have a slight reaction to tortilla chips (no warning on the label and I was never able to find out if it did contain something). It only involved severe coughing, watery eyes, and stomach ache. When he reacted to the Swiss Miss pudding it was very minor also (compared to his prior reactions). He only had a red rash wherever the pudding was on his face. I will ask my allergist about this too when I go in April.
My son was taking daily Claritin for his multiple food allergies but doctor switched him back to Zyrtec (the Zyrtec didn't seem to help when he was younger and the Claritin did-but the doctor prefers Zyrtec so he switched him back to it and it seems to be working). In his case it seems to make a difference as far as the frequency of his little unexplainable reactions.
My daughter who is allergic to peanuts doesn't take a daily antihistimine. I'm beginning to wonder if she should because she is starting to have more frequent unexplainable reactions.
Hope this helps!
tkiaml
Thank-you everyone for your wonderful responses. No, Lam, I wasn't trying to have this turn into another Benadryl masking symptoms thread. I believe that is a separate question, although I can see where you are making the connection.
I was simply wondering if my son has not had any contact reactions because he is also taking an antihistamine daily for his environmental allergies.
Was this coincidence or had I been extremely fortunate when he ventured outside of his "peanut free" classroom?
Again, Lam, I am sorry if it seemed as if I was posting the Benadryl ? again and getting into that whole discussion again, but this was certainly not my intention.
It is just that I have read so much about children on this board having reactions at school, contact reactions specifically, and Jesse has never had one. That's why I wondered about the Claritin. Again, it is totally separate and not my intention to raise the Benadryl ? again. I think we pretty well discussed that one to death didn't we?
No, this was totally separate.
I feel okay about my son taking the daily antihistamine and perhaps preventing contact reactions, but only because he needs to take the daily antihistamine regardless. If he wasn't already on one when he entered the school system, then I am sure I would have some concerns that I would want to have addressed before I began to medicate my child.
Rebekah, I read your post almost as soon as you had posted it last night, and I felt that essentially, you gave me the answer! I went to bed with one less question on my mind! I really liked the spirit of the post too. It was very uplifting!
Many thanks and best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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My daughter started school this September and had many weekly contact reactions at school. Since we have started the daily claritin before she goes to school it has minimized the contact reactions to two or three exposures since November. It seems like it is working for us! I believe someone mentioned in the "will benadryl mask an anaphylactic reaction" thread that the antihistamine works to prevent the reaction from happening rather than masking the reaction. I would love to understand this better!
Hi Cindy!
I was one of the ones involved in that other thread also. My husband and I have asked ourselves the same question you have asked, and I think it may have been answered for us the other day.
My son is one that has had several contact reactions. For some reason he always has some type of a reaction at my sister's house (itchy, red eyes and usually some hives). My sister is not the best housekeeper and her children used to be allowed to eat pb anywhere in the house (while my sister was at work and they were being watched by their dad!). Anyway, we figured he was reacting to pb smeared somewhere in the house or on a toy.
Well we recently moved and had to switch pediatricians. When I was going over Evan's medical history with the new DR (peanut allergy, possible seasonal allergies and asthma) the new DR wanted to get him started on Claritin right away before allergy season starts here in IL.
So last week we went to my sister's house for the first time since my son started the Claritin and guess what?? No reaction at all! He didn't even rub his eyes one time and we were there the whole day! Of course it could just be coincidence--I guess we'll never know. But it sure was nice to not have to get up and leave (with my son crying and asking why???) because of a reaction.
As Peanuttrace mentioned, I would love to understand this better. I guess we'll see what happens when he starts going to school everyday. Deanna
Cindy,
I know you, or anyone, would never want to bring up that whole discussion again, intentionally. That's just the first thing that popped into my head. My posts today have not been great. This is one of those days when I should just sit back and read, and not 'get involved'. And don't worry, no offense taken! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Lam, but I ALWAYS want you involved in discussions and actually worry about you when you're not!
I think what I was trying to say, and perhaps didn't even raise the question properly - was where any of our children taking daily antihistamines for other reasons? Yes, my son is? Is it possible that by taking this daily antihistamine for other reasons he was being "saved" from contact reactions?
I just find it mysterious, when I know that he does venture outside of his "peanut free" classroom, first thing in the morning in fact to listen to the school announcements, that he has NEVER had a contact reaction. He also goes to the science room, library, computer room, and gym and has no reactions.
Also, I only feel comfortable with the Claritin perhaps controlling contact reactions with him because he is taking it regardless and also because I have definite proof that it did NOT stop him from experiencing every symptom of anaphylaxis when he was in danger.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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