I use the generic Zyrtec. Claritin does nothing for me.
I use the generic Zyrtec. Claritin does nothing for me.
DS1 age 21 years
DS2 age 11 years
I've taken both. Zyrtec works better for me. Claritin does OK for my seasonal allergies for a few days, but after a while it doesn't seem to really be effective. Zyrtec sometimes makes me groggy, but not if I've been taking it for a couple of days.
I have really bad alleriges to pet hair and all of my in-laws have pets. So when we go to any of their houses I take both Zyrtec and Benadryl at the same time. Even with this combination I can only be in a house with pets for a couple of hours before my throat starts to close up and my eyes get all red and itchy.
Gena
DS, age 11 and always amazing
“Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong
Neither Zyrtec nor Claritin work for me--at all! Singulair is the only thing that works. I just mention it in case you try both and neither work, tell your allergist and see if he/she will prescribe something else. My BIL says Allegra is the only thing that works for his allergies.
FWIW, i never had allergies until my 30s. DD has allergies and singulair works for her too (ped said the apple falls near the tree with allergies...)
HTH,
Anne + DD 10-03
And another FYI. While it is more common for Zyrtec to make people groggy, it can give some people insomnia. It does this to my older DD, who takes it in her allergy season.If you're sensitive to meds' side effects, I recommend that you get the 24-hour kind and take it right before bed.
Beth, mom to older DD (8/01) and younger DD (10/06) and always missing Leah (4/22 - 5/1/05)