Talking Allergies

Just to let you know katec, that you don't have to visit your allergist every week for the shots - your family physician administers them. Our family doctor takes us right into his office - in other words, we aren't hanging around the waiting room like we are during a regular appt. - and he gives the shots between his regular patients. It takes about one minute of his time, so we're usually in and right back out.

I agree that it's important to have an allergist you are compatible with, but I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to see him for the weekly shots.

Carolyn

I've just been asking myself this same question, now that I've made the "Singulair might be helping with seasonal allergies" link. No one has told us not to let Xavier have both, but I'm going to call my pharmacist to double-check. I'll report back what I find out.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

My allergist has advised me to keep my son on both singular adn reactine at the same time. They apparently work differently so it is not like taking two anithistamines at once. I would like to try and reduce the amount of medications my son is on but for now he has advised me to stay on both. By the way my husband is a pharmacist adn he feels comfortable with this arrangement.
Good Luck
stephanie

Thanks Stephanie. Our pharmacist said the same thing about using reactine and singular. I always like to double check things. Our daughter had a major tantrum yesterday unlike anything I have ever seen from her. She was screaming, banging furniture against the wall and hitting me. It was so upsetting. She is not like this... I sent my 2 year old to the neighbour across the street so that I could deal with her.

Our problem is figuring out the cause since we have started 2 new medications this week. Singular lists tantrums as a possible side effect but shortly before the tantrum I gave her the new eye drops. (She had the drops - had a short nap - woke up upset and the tantrum developed from there). Unfortunately our doctor didn't give us patanol - he wasn't familar with it. He gave us another drop which is usually used on adults. We stopped the drop completely and will continue with the singular and see what happens.

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13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
10 year old son - no allergies

I am sorry to hear about the tantrum, some days being a mom is definately easier thatn others. I had not read about the tantrums. My Dr. did tell us that other parents had reported to him that their children had gotten a little hyper from it and try giving it in the morning rather than before bed. My son Josh has reallly tolerated well. I have to say it could be coincedntal but he is sleeping through the night fairly regularly now for the first time in two years, his skin is better than ever, adn his night time cough is gone.
I wish you good luck
Stephanie

We haven't had a problem with my youngest and Singulair, but I have heard a number of parents (on another forum) say that Singulair turned their kids into little monsters.

Good idea to just remove one med and see if that helps.

(By the way, my pharmacist also said there should be no problem mixing Reactine with Singulair. My youngest was acting totally exhausted the other day and I started to worry, but it seems to have left him, so I guess it was a fluke.)

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

Seasonal allergy season is really lasting a long time this year for my daughter. She still has a stuffy nose and itchy eyes at times. She has been bothered with various seasonal pollens and molds now since May. Actually parts of July - August were not too bad. We stopped using Singular in the spring - it was causing sleep and behaviour problems. She has not been tested for specific environmental allergies yet but I think we are going to investigate this at our next allergist appointment which is soon.

We try to avoid pollens and reduce exposure as much as possible but it seems that we will need to look at more meds to help her. Is there any other medication that young children can use to give relief from seasonal allergies? Is there a problem with using Reactine for long periods of time? Is nasonex possible? Can it be used in combination with puffers? We will definitely discuss all options with our doctor. I just thought we might investigate other options prior to the appointment.
THanks,
Kate

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13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
10 year old son - no allergies

My sons' are both on Nasonex, which we've found has really helped with the nasal congestion. They still get runny noses, but not dripping like a tap or plugged up solid like they used to get. They also each use flovent daily and salbutamol as needed for their asthma.
I was also really concerned about over using Reactine and asked my pediatrician about it. She said it was completely safe to use for extended periods of time, and I did some of my own research on the net which seemed to back that up.
Hope she feels better soon.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

Just a quick update. This season our daughter is doing much better. This time last year she was suffering with her allergies. She was unable to sleep, her eyes were so puffy and her nose was constantly running and sore. She is now on nasonex and patinol for her eyes and it has made a world of difference. Birch is very high right now and she is coping quite well. We keep her inside in the mornings when pollen is highest and then play outside for an hour or two in the afternoon. She will be 6 in July so this spring I went ahead and started her on the 6 year old dose of Reactine. We are hoping that everything will continue to work well to allow her to enjoy the spring weather.

Oh... and she started sleeping better once we started nasonex and reactine this spring also. All winter she was up once - twice a night. Obviously something was bothering her during the winter too. We have even reduced her puffer meds recently too.

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13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
10 year old son - no allergies

That's great news, Kate! My youngest has been having problems too and he is on Nasonex and Reactine (as well as his asthma meds) as well. It seems to help.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

I thought I'd share our update as well. Last year my youngest had major seasonal allergy problems. She couldn't even play outside without needing antihistamines (itchy skin, eczema, mucousy). This year we have had ZERO seasonal symptoms...and have used ZERO medications...and she has been playing outside for hours a day almost everyday ! I also know our area has been hit with mold and pollen because of the weather network pollen report...and my friend is terribly sick with seasonal allergies. I am quite surprised our season is going so well.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

Have you made any other changes Saskmommy? That is amazing news. I wish we did not have to use so much medication right now but it is making such a difference. Without it she would be miserable. I can see the change in her when the meds are wearing off. I know that once birch is low again we can start to reduce amounts.

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13 year old daughter -- lives with life-threatening allergies to milk, tree nuts and peanuts; seasonal allergies (birch, maple, ragweed); pet allergies; asthma; and eczema
10 year old son - no allergies

We too have just started using singulair for our older son for his environmental allergies. He does not have asthma but is truly bothered by the pollens.

Last year we were using anti-histamines and then added Nasonex. The Nasonex made a huge difference.

Our allergist said we could probably use only one, Nasonex or Singulair. We continued to use the Nasonex for an extra week to reduce the swelling in his nose and now he is using only Singulair and doing amazingly well.

Denise

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Oldest son 9: allergic to fish and shellfish, pollens, pets, mould and dustmites
Youngest son, 5: allergic to peanuts, nuts, dairy, eggs, sesame, kiwi, asthma, pollens, pets, mould and dustmites

Last summer I had read a book on allergies from a nutritional healing point of view ( I know that's kind of taboo around here). I've tried to incorporate nutrition based-allergy relief that I learned in the book...primarily vitamin C in the form of fruits and veggies (but other stuff as well)...and limiting exposure to chemicals (cleaners, body products, use of organic produce). My youngest has eaten at least 3 servings of raw fruit and 2-3 cooked or raw veggies a day, every day since last summer. She's always been big on fruits and veggies, but never that much.



That is a quote I found online quickly by searching "vitamin C, allergies", it's what I read in my book, and why we've been fruit/veggie crazy for the last 10 months.

Her constant eczema cleared over the winter...and now with our lack of seasonal symptoms I'm beginning to wonder if it really did help...or if it's just a strange coincidence. It just seems so weird to see her playing outside and not suffering, especially after re-reading some of my own posts from last year.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.