Talking Allergies

This topic may have been discussed somewhere else but I can't find it. My daughter is suffering this week with seasonal allergies. We switched to Aerius last year and it seemed to work. It is not providing 24 relief however this spring. Her eyes are so itchy and her nose is so sore. We are doing preventative things but has anyone used a different medication to help their child? I will talk to the pharmacist later today also.
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

We now use reactine. I am unsure if my daughter is bothered by food coloring (she does not eat much with colors, but had an allergic reaction to playdoh). We used to use arius, but it was colored so we switched. I seem to find reactine works a bit better, there is also claritin, but my kids are not fond of the taste. Reactine, arius, claritin are all non drowsy once daily meds. However, there is a once daily or twice daily option on some of them to give a half dose twice a day. Perhaps the twice daily strategy might help as well. I'm thinking of trying that next time she is needing meds again, currently she is okay.

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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.

We use Reactine, sometimes the full amount for 24 hours and sometimes the half amount for 12 hours.

Max was also prescribed Nasonex spray by his allergist for allergic rhinitis. I don't know if this will help your daughter though.

Xavier was prescribed Patanol (0.1%) by our allergist for itchy eyes. It's by Alcon and is described as "Olopatadine Hydrochloride Ophthalmic Solution" - the packaging also says "Anti-allergy agent". That might help her eyes.

Have you thought of calling the allergist about this? Maybe mention these products to see if they (or something similar) could help? Obviously it's affecting her quality of life, poor sweetie.

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

Thanks! I talked to the pharmacist tonight. His opinion was that there shouldn't be much difference between Clariton, Reactine or Aeruis but each contains a different anithistamine so I thought that it wouldn't hurt to try something different. I picked up Reactine since it could be given in 2 doses and I know that my husband finds the adult version very effective (when others haven't worked). He is also very bothered by his allergies right now.

We do not have an allergist appointment until the fall but I will try to call to see if I can get in sooner. I am going to make notes this season to try to track when she is bothered most. This might help pinpoint her seasonal allergies easier and help us next year. I will ask about the eye drops - maybe our family doctor could prescribe them. Today was a little better - she was not at school and we played inside most of the day.

She thinks that she has a cold but I tried to explain that the flowering trees are causing her to sneeze. I feel so bad for her - she knows that she is allergic to many foods and now I have to explain to her that she is also allergic to trees, flowers and grass. Being four I can only imagine how confusing this must be to her. Hopefully the reactine will help her out.

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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 was speaking with a friend with an allergic 3-year-old today who seems to have just developed seasonal allergies (along with food allergies) and his eyes were driving him crazy. They were prescribed Patanol, as it turns out, and she says it's wonderful. Xavier hasn't actually had to use his yet - he got them more for dog exposure.

Just thought I'd pass that on.

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

Katec,
My little guy who is almost two years old takes reactine 5ml daily, we recently have added singular and I believe it is making a significant difference for him. he suffers from food and environmental allergies. The allergist told us that singular is used to treat asthma but is also an effective drug for allergies. It works differently than an antihistamine. He has problems with itchy eyes, nose, and general scratching all over.
Good luck.
Stephanie

Our doctor gave us a sample of singular last year but we never tried it. I think by the time we got it, we were past the worst of the season. I discarded the box in the winter since it was past the expiry date. Since that time I think I read that singular contains lactose or some form of milk? I will have to confirm that and maybe check the medicine out again. We started reactine today and she is still experiencing a runny, itchy nose and itchy eyes by mid-morning. She is also in such foul humour as a result!! It might take a few days perhaps for reactine to make a difference. We will wait and see.

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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

Katec
You have me a little bit concerned about the milk in singular. My son is ana to diary, egg, nuts, and fish. He hasn't had a problem with the singular but I would really like to know if it does contain anything I should be worried about. If you find any more info I would love to hear back from you.
Thank you
Stephanie

Here is a link with the ingredients:
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic3/monteluk.htm

The film coated tablet contains lactose, but the chewable and the granules don't seem to. I am very wary of any tablet as they often seem to contain lactose.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

katec,
Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I took a look at the site and it does appear that there is lactose in the tablet but not the chewable which my son is taking. I have to say I am really happy with his response to singular his nose, eyes, and skin have all improved.
Thank you
Stephanie

Thanks for the link Susan and the info Stephanie. I will have to look into singular now. My daughter was outside a little yesterday and by the end of the day her nose was constantly running and her eyes were itcy even on Reactine. I know it might take a few days for the meds to help. She was up every few hours last night upset with her runny nose. I felt very helpless because there was nothing I could do. Today we will stay inside. She loves being outdoors and riding her bike and I hate to keep her inside. I will contact our allergist this week. We checked the pollen readings and birch (which is my husband's main irritant) is very high right now. This must be the problem.

My daughter uses puffers regularly to keep her asthma in check. I wonder if she will need to continue this if she goes on singular.

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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

Hi katec,

My 9-year old daughter also has severe pollen allergies and has been taking allergy shots for them. She just finished her third year of shots (she has 4 weekly shots for trees, then 4 weekly shots for grass, in Feb. and Mar. respectively) and according to her most recent scratch test they are working.

She was a III out of IV for birch and a II for maple - last test she was down to II for birch and I for maple. Still, she needs to take Reactine - and we are finding this year is a real struggle compared to last year. We haven't had rain here in central Ontario for some time now and pollen is everywhere.

I had to write a note to her school asking them to keep her inside all day until the counts go down after she got completely overloaded and had to miss a day of school last week. My daughter has a severe peanut allergy and the immune system is like a cup - when it gets full of pollen it doesn't take much to make it overflow into a potentially severe reaction with even the most casual peanut contact. Environmental allergies and asthma need to be well controlled in a child at risk for anaphylaxis. A good way to check on your child's worst pollen offender is to go to the Weather Network's website and look up the counts in your area with this link: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/featur ... /index.htm

In order to keep ahead of pollen overload, here are our steps:

~ allergy shots
~ daily bath or quick shower to remove pollen from hair and skin
~ all windows closed in house
~ keep outside play to a miniumum until pollen counts decrease
~ Reactine as soon as symptoms start (may take a few days to work)
~ plenty of water and lots of rest

As far as Singulair goes, my daughter doesn't have asthma but my sister does. She was on three different inhalers, using them daily, and found after using Singulair that she only uses her inhalers a couple of times a week, if that.

Good luck!

Carolyn

I confirmed this by phone with the company a few months ago. I had misread the literature that comes with Singulair and sort of freaked out when I thought the chewable pill (which Xavier takes) contained lactose. But it doesn't - it's only the pill that is the higher dose that contains lactose.

I hadn't thought of Singulair helping my youngest out with his seasonal allergies, but it makes sense. Perhaps that's why he's in better shape this year than in the past.

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 think it really depends on the person. Xavier was on Flovent and then switched to Singulair only for awhile -- but he didn't do well and his asthma was not good, so he was switched back to daily Flovent. He still didn't do well (only this time it was more subtle and took us quite awhile to realize that his night waking was caused by his asthma), and finally was put on both Singulair (1 pill daily) and Flovent (2x daily), at which point he FINALLY started sleeping through the night. I had always thougth his asthma was well controlled because we weren't going to the hospital or using his blue puffer all the time - but the night waking was a symptom of poorly controlled asthma, it turns out.

So for us, we've needed both in the end. Although he is soon going for a new test (exhaled Nitric Oxide) that might tell us how well controlled his asthma is and whether his asthma meds can perhaps be reduced. Stay tuned....

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

Karen, we went through the same problem with night wakings. We were not aware that she might be waking with chest tightness or a slight cough because of asthma. At the Allergyexpo we received better info and realized we were overlooking her symptoms.

Today I got a same day appointment with a doctor in the group our GP practises with. He gave me a prescription for singular and an eye drop. We will start the singular later today. I will check with the pharmacist but the doctor said that we could continue to use Reactine with the singular. Does this sound right?

Carolyn, my husband and I were discussing allergy shots just yesterday. The Toronto Star suppliment last week had an article which discussed the benefit of them for young children.

We have a dilemma with our allergy care however. When our daughter was first showing symptoms at 9 months, we asked for a referral to Sick Kids. We have been very happy with the care there. Dr. Gold was the doctor who diagnosed her on our first visit. The difficulty with going to Sick Kids is that we don't always see the same doctor, it takes a long time to get an appointment and the drive into the city is awful. Now that we are dealing with asthma and seasonal allergies we need someone available to us throughout the year and closer to us. We were referred to someone in Oshawa in January but my husband and I did not like his manner and he disputed some of the care and info given to us by Sick Kids. So we do not want to continue with him. I will have to do some investigating to find a local allergist. If anyone can recommend an allergist within an hour or so drive to Cobourg (area would include Peterborough, Lindsay, Belleville and maybe Kingston) I would appreciate it.

Thanks for all of the ideas and information everyone!

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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