Allergy season is back
I’d had a few sniffles a month or so ago, but something grassy has obviously just come into flower; and with a vengeance. Sniffling, sneezing, itchy eyes, the lot.
For future reference: Piriton (UK) = chlorpheniramine maleate 4mg = Chlor-Trimeton (US). And if you hit a big enough store, it’s also the Longs generic 4-hour allergy tablets: a third cheaper than the name-brand equivalent, and they also come in a 100-tablet package which works out cheaper still.
Chlorpheniramine’s an old-fashioned antihistamine, but it’s cheap and it works well for me; it would seem that along with the hayfever, I also inherited a good resistance to chlorphen’s drowsiness side-effect.
But it’s not easy to find over here: the allergy-medicine market seems to be dominated by the 24-hour products (Allegra, Claritin etc). Ive never quite seen the point in these. I’m allergic to some pollens and only suffer allergy symptoms when I’m exposed to them — I’m fine indoors and in the car — so why do I need 24-hour relief? I’d rather pop a pill for quick relief when the symptoms strike; my suspicion is that the manufacturers of the 24-hour products would rather you pop one a day right through the summer whether you need it or not.
Maybe it’s just me, but when someone tells me “it’s convenient” my reaction is usually “for who?”
For future reference: Piriton (UK) = chlorpheniramine maleate 4mg = Chlor-Trimeton (US). And if you hit a big enough store, it’s also the Longs generic 4-hour allergy tablets: a third cheaper than the name-brand equivalent, and they also come in a 100-tablet package which works out cheaper still.
Chlorpheniramine’s an old-fashioned antihistamine, but it’s cheap and it works well for me; it would seem that along with the hayfever, I also inherited a good resistance to chlorphen’s drowsiness side-effect.
But it’s not easy to find over here: the allergy-medicine market seems to be dominated by the 24-hour products (Allegra, Claritin etc). Ive never quite seen the point in these. I’m allergic to some pollens and only suffer allergy symptoms when I’m exposed to them — I’m fine indoors and in the car — so why do I need 24-hour relief? I’d rather pop a pill for quick relief when the symptoms strike; my suspicion is that the manufacturers of the 24-hour products would rather you pop one a day right through the summer whether you need it or not.
Maybe it’s just me, but when someone tells me “it’s convenient” my reaction is usually “for who?”
That said, my triggers seem to be very generic - I used to live near a lot of pine forests, and realised after I moved away that one of my biggest triggers is *gasp* pine forests. It's not just contact though - I drive past one in a car, I've got hayfever for.. well, much longer than 4 hours.