I recently had a straseries of events that led me to believeI have some type of allergy . It started with severe anal itching,which I thought was from hemmorhoids, but the only thing that relieved it was benadryl. I got some hydrocortisone foam from the doctor and it finally cleared up. Shortly after this I began itching all over. At first I didn't think it was an allergy, I had begun using a colon cleansing product from a health food store, so I thought I was sensitive to something in it. When it didn't improve after I discontinued the supplements ( and I was going crazy from the itch ) I tried a 24 hour allergy medicine . It began to help immediately . After a several days I forgot to take it one day and decided to see what happened if I continued to stay off it . The itching came back slowly ( you know, you're not sure if you're just being paranoid ) . I decided to start them back and THAT's when it hit me: my stomach / whole digestive system had felt better than ever when I was taking them and immediately got worse when I stopped . I have been suffering for years with pain,bloating, diarrhea, constipation and tried everything, had tests for everything else , but never thought I had a true allergy. I have read here that they can get worse over time so I wonder if that's what's happening. I plan to see my Dr in April and see what tests he can do and who he recommends me to see next. In the meantime, I wondered if it is safe for me to take generic Claritin until then?