How do you deal with seasonal allergies in children?

[cinnamon]

I took Quin to the allergist for testing last week, and turns out he has pretty severe allergies to mold, trees, grass, and pollen. (For a kid who would stay outside ALL DAY AND NIGHT if he could. Sheesh.) The doc recommended we try (in this order) OTC loratadine, whatever the generic Zyrtec is, nasal steroid spray, and Singulair. They gave us some samples of Alavert (loratadine), and well- I don't notice a damn bit of difference in Quin's symptoms. :meh: Does it take a while for these medications to work? What the heck is the difference between Alavert, Claratin, and loratadine? I am so confused. :confused:

Has anyone used a nasal steroid for their kids? I'm a little leery of trying that.

Are there any other, non-allopathic things I can do to help his symtoms? He is congested (the mouth breathing is.driving.me.bonkers.), watery eyes, sneezing.

[Peggyann]

I dont' know, but Claritin (loratidine) works wonders for my pollen allergic kids (and myself) without the "fuzzies" (like from benydryl)

~PA~

[mirage1]

I took Quin to the allergist for testing last week, and turns out he has pretty severe allergies to mold, trees, grass, and pollen. (For a kid who would stay outside ALL DAY AND NIGHT if he could. Sheesh.) The doc recommended we try (in this order) OTC loratadine, whatever the generic Zyrtec is, nasal steroid spray, and Singulair. They gave us some samples of Alavert (loratadine), and well- I don't notice a damn bit of difference in Quin's symptoms. :meh: Does it take a while for these medications to work? What the heck is the difference between Alavert, Claratin, and loratadine? I am so confused. :confused:

Has anyone used a nasal steroid for their kids? I'm a little leery of trying that.

Are there any other, non-allopathic things I can do to help his symtoms? He is congested (the mouth breathing is.driving.me.bonkers.), watery eyes, sneezing.I haven't gone this route with Cassie but the steroidal nose spray works wonders for me. Her allergies aren't QUITE that bad, yet.

Loratadine hasn't ever done much of anything for me, either.

[azul99]

The allergist also prescribed Nasonex if the Allegra does not give him relief, but so far the Allegra is doing the job.

Last year at this time he was miserable and it was around then that we made the appointment with the allergist. I really feel for Quin; P. was miserable.

I'm afraid I don't have other suggestions.

[cinnamon]

S, is Allegra a prescription? The product sheet I am reading compares it to other OTCs so I can't really tell. Thanks!

[azul99]

S, is Allegra a prescription? The product sheet I am reading compares it to other OTCs so I can't really tell. Thanks!

Ok, I take that back. Last year he was on Allegra (prescribed by his ped); now he is on Deconsal (prescribed by the allergist). Both are prescription.

Is Q. allergic to dust mites? Both P&W have tested positive for those and we've made great strides towards minimizing the dust in their bedrooms, which seems to have helped.

[cinnamon]

Is Q. allergic to dust mites?

By the grace of God, no. :razzberry: But the allergist recommended going ahead and doing the whole drill (bed/pillow covers, washing bedding in hot water etc) in the hopes that maybe he WON'T develop that allergy.

"Minimizing dust"? What is this of which you speak? :help: :spinning: :bag:

[kokoro]

I am switching D from Allegra to Nasonex because Allergra is systemic. It gets everywhere in his body and still makes him a bit sleepy even though it isn't supposed to do so. Nasonex is not supposed to be absorbed by the body. Another similar product, Rhinocourt, *may* get absorbed. Apparently giving Rhinocourt in the AM would prevent it from affecting growth due to growth hormones being released at night anyway.

So, with some still worry in spite of reading in detail about how Nasonex *isn't* systemically absorbed I am giving it to DS in the AM starting just today for the season. I noticed his symptoms started recently. I"m going to need it soon, too.

[Debra]

I took Quin to the allergist for testing last week, and turns out he has pretty severe allergies to mold, trees, grass, and pollen. (For a kid who would stay outside ALL DAY AND NIGHT if he could. Sheesh.) The doc recommended we try (in this order) OTC loratadine, whatever the generic Zyrtec is, nasal steroid spray, and Singulair. They gave us some samples of Alavert (loratadine), and well- I don't notice a damn bit of difference in Quin's symptoms. :meh: Does it take a while for these medications to work? What the heck is the difference between Alavert, Claratin, and loratadine? I am so confused. :confused:

Has anyone used a nasal steroid for their kids? I'm a little leery of trying that.

Are there any other, non-allopathic things I can do to help his symtoms? He is congested (the mouth breathing is.driving.me.bonkers.), watery eyes, sneezing.

Alex is my seasonal allergy kid. I give him Benadryl at bedtime occasionally if it's really bad. Right now I'm giving him one loratadine (Claritin, but I buy the generic from CVS) a night. It doesn't stop the symptoms completely but it helps a LOT. Basically I don't notice it's helping until I forget to give him one and then he is a big sneezing-dripping mess. :gross:

[Storymama]

I'm sorry that I don't have time to read the whole thread, so forgive me if I'm redundant here :).

- Try a neti pot. Single best way to get rid of A) the pollen in your nose and B) soothe the swollen tissues up there that make you feel stuffy. It also thins the mucus, and really lets it drain properly - for me, this is hugely preventative for sinus infections.

- When allergies are the sneezy/watery eye variety, the regular allergy meds (Claritin, Zyrtec, etc.) tend to do a great job. When stuffiness is involved, you probably need the -D version. If you already have a supply of the allergy meds, get some sudafed - you might have to ask at the pharmacy counter for it, although you don't need an rx - and just give him both meds together. (That's all the Claritin-D etc are.)

- Although this is purely anecdotal, I like guifennissen for gunky stuffiness too. It thins secretions, and lets you get unstuffed really well. It is classically for thinning mucus in gunky lungs (ie, used as a cough syrup component) but it actually works great on all mucus secreting areas. I know some women even use it to ramp up EWCM when they are TTC! You can buy single ingredient guifennisen too.

- In terms of the differences between the meds . . . there is a bit of a continuum in terms of sleepiness, but it's a level that most people adjust to quicky, especially given that hayfever itself makes you dopey, so rx relieved-allergies can be relatively less dopey than untreated, KWIM? Beyond that, IMO the difference is similar to the differences in anti-depressants . . . you just have to try them until one works for *you.*

- Have you tried going dairy free? That level of snorkiness is probably being aggravated by mucus causing foods, too. It may be that he can tolerate it away from allergy season, but on top of hayfever, it's just too much for him to cope with (Forgive me if you already are dairy free, this is all just brainstorm!!) This springs to mind because I have myself just gone dairy free over the past couple weeks, and cannot believe how severely it was compromising me, including being gunky. (Even in my lungs, ugh. Six months lost to fluid in my lungs, which are now magically clear.)

- Do a super thorough cleaning of his sleeping place . . . vac the rugs, vac. his mattress, wipe down surfaces with a (very) weak bleach solution. Buy pillow and mattress allergy covers (they are cheap). Put pillows and favorite sleeping stuffed anythings in the dryer for 20 minutes on high (kills dust mites, and knocks a lot of dust/pollen out of the pillow.) If you can, consider getting a HEPA air filter for his sleeping space too. Even the inexpensive ones do a MUCH better job than no filter at all. Kids tend to like the white noise, too.

Good luck!!

[Vicky]

I took Quin to the allergist for testing last week, and turns out he has pretty severe allergies to mold, trees, grass, and pollen. (For a kid who would stay outside ALL DAY AND NIGHT if he could. Sheesh.) The doc recommended we try (in this order) OTC loratadine, whatever the generic Zyrtec is, nasal steroid spray, and Singulair. They gave us some samples of Alavert (loratadine), and well- I don't notice a damn bit of difference in Quin's symptoms. :meh: Does it take a while for these medications to work? What the heck is the difference between Alavert, Claratin, and loratadine? I am so confused. :confused:

Has anyone used a nasal steroid for their kids? I'm a little leery of trying that.

Are there any other, non-allopathic things I can do to help his symtoms? He is congested (the mouth breathing is.driving.me.bonkers.), watery eyes, sneezing.

Zyrtec, for example, has worked great for both of my kids, but gave my husband excruciating headaches (one of the listed side effects). Allegra was wonderful for both my husband and myself, but our stupid insurance company decided that it would no longer cover it since Claritin went OTC. Claritin is not nearly as effective for either of us.

I haven't gotten Zyrtec since it went OTC because it is just so expensive. George takes Benadryl at night both for allergies and also to help with his sleep problems.

[Lynn]

He took Benadryl daily for one year (spring allergy season Actually) the next he had Claritin 24 hour tabs and he seemed like the world would end if he even missed a tab by a few hours.
He would sneeze non stop and had trouble just being outside let alone playing baseball (which at the time was his passion)
Then when I was always at the chiroprator, I mentioned it to him one day. The chiro said that adjustments could help.
Literally Ben has never needed meds again.

In the Spring, when his allergies start, I have him go to the chiro for an adjustment.
Maybe three weeks later or so, if it starts up again, he goes again to the chiro.
Whenever it acts up, he has an adjustment.
End of story.

So far one adjustment (sort of pre-emptive thinking this year) and no issues yet.
But I was so amazed that last year he got through with maybe 3 adjustments and no meds.
It was amazing to me.

Ben is allergic to Oak pollen and pine. (Our yard has one maple tree and about 45 oak trees and maybe 35 pine trees surrounding us. LOL
I figured he was doomed to serious meds until someday when we move.
We did not know about these allergies before we moved here (maybe they were aquired)

Take care,
Lynn
HSing mom to Ben(5/96), Andre (10/99),
Isaac (4/02), Danielle (1/05)
and someone new in about 7 weeks!