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Zyrtec vs Xyzal
I have had hives since July this year. I had them about 7 years ago, they lasted about a year. I'm taking Zyrtec (once a day), Zantac (2 / day), Doxepin (150 mg @ bedtime), and Benadryl as needed. I had been on prednisone on and off since July but my doctor has taken me off of it (for obvious reasons). Unfortunately nothing I've taken other than prednisone has worked. My hives are particularly associated with pressure (underwear) - Since September i have worn a tank top under my clothes due to hives associated with wearing a bra. Since there are times that my clothing requires wearing a bra (like yesterday) and sure enough, hives were back by last night. Very, very itchy.... i drank a ton of Benadryl (the liquid version since that works more quickly than pills). I am ready to ask my doctor about other options - Xyzal, Atarax (I do have a quickly dimishing number of these pills from when I had to go to the emergency room), and perhaps dapsone. Does anyone have experience with these drugs? Right now, i'm sitting here feeling so itchy (better than last night, but not good) and discouraged. I would appreciate others experience. Thanks!
Hi everyone,
I'm new to hives. I've had a limited case on my hands (fingers) since end of June after putting on a latex glove accidentally (it's now the end of Nov.). In mid-Oct. the thing spread to my arms. I tried Xyzal (allergist's recommendation) and it spread further. They had me try Allegra, it made it worse. The only thing that seems to calm the hives down is Benadryl and prednisone. I also use a steroid cream (for 10days). I'm into about 5 weeks of this. Exercise (I do ballroom) makes the cycle starts all over again, so I'm really afraid my greatest pleasure in life is about to end.
I just gave 4 vials of blood today to get thyroid, liver, etc. checked. BTW, to the gal in San Francisco who moved to the Central Valley, it's the fertilizers, etc. in the air that's making you crazy. I moved to an ag town from the SF Bay Area and got adult onset asthma within a year. All the allergist said to me was, "Welcome to ___ (name of the town). Agh. We turn over 3 crops a year and I do notice my asthma is bad when they are tilling the soil or spraying the crops.
Has anyone else had a bad reaction to Xyzal? My doctor is really pushing it, so I'm suspecting kickbacks from the manufacturer.
I'm new to hives. I've had a limited case on my hands (fingers) since end of June after putting on a latex glove accidentally (it's now the end of Nov.). In mid-Oct. the thing spread to my arms. I tried Xyzal (allergist's recommendation) and it spread further. They had me try Allegra, it made it worse. The only thing that seems to calm the hives down is Benadryl and prednisone. I also use a steroid cream (for 10days). I'm into about 5 weeks of this. Exercise (I do ballroom) makes the cycle starts all over again, so I'm really afraid my greatest pleasure in life is about to end.
I just gave 4 vials of blood today to get thyroid, liver, etc. checked. BTW, to the gal in San Francisco who moved to the Central Valley, it's the fertilizers, etc. in the air that's making you crazy. I moved to an ag town from the SF Bay Area and got adult onset asthma within a year. All the allergist said to me was, "Welcome to ___ (name of the town). Agh. We turn over 3 crops a year and I do notice my asthma is bad when they are tilling the soil or spraying the crops.
Has anyone else had a bad reaction to Xyzal? My doctor is really pushing it, so I'm suspecting kickbacks from the manufacturer.
I never heard of Xyzal, but I can comment on the medications that people are taking for the GERD. The comments about food allergies are right on the money. One thing that no one ever mentions about these acid reducers and proton pump inhibitors is that they actually make the problem with GERD worse. A friend of mine with similar problems to mine was using the same proton inhibitor at the same dosage that I was on for two years. She told me that it ended up destroying the linings of her stomach and small intestine. She has to get vitamin B shots weekly for the rest of her life now. As soon as she told me that, I stopped taking the stuff altogether. Besides, it was starting to make me feel nauseous all the time.
After that another friend of mine told me about the connection to food allergies. Ah ha! When I started the basic food elimination diet, I didn't even know that's what I was doing. I was just removing things that I knew I was having a reaction to. Some time later, my chiropractor told me about a naturopath who works with low-income people on a sliding fee schedule. Most insurance carriers won't cover naturopathic doctor visits. I'm fortunate that mine will even cover chiropractic. It was when I first started seeing the naturopath that I even heard about the elimination diet. She told me that I had already instinctively eliminated everything on the basic elimination diet. So, I had already figured out that I was sensitive or allergic to all the big items on the basic elimination diet.
The friend who mentioned food allergies being connected to GERD said she had accidentally discovered the connection when she took Benadryl because her sinus allergies were bothering her. Her GERD was bothering her, too. A few minutes after she took the Benadryl, the burning stopped bothering her so much, and she was able to get some sleep that night. After that, she did more investigating and found out that she had a ton of food allergies.
So, when she told me this, I discovered that all of this was the same for me. Now that I'm avoiding the foods that are the biggest problem for me, I don't have nearly as much of the burning from the GERD. The bonus is that by avoiding the food allergies, I lost a huge amount of weight and my total cholesterol went down. I'm no longer pre-diabetic and my fasting blood sugar is where it's supposed to be.
I still have problems with other allergies, which is why I joined this forum, and other health concerns, but this big problem has finally been whittled down to size and is much more manageable.
Another bonus that may be of interest to other women is that after I cut out dairy and gluten, as I've discovered lactose and gluten intolerances, I don't have as many problems with my periods as I used to and I no longer get the giant blood clots.
My diet is pretty limited, but it's better than suffering so many side effects from food allergies. I eat only high quality natural foods now, too. The list of allergies is pretty extensive. I no longer drink coffee or real tea or any kind of soda. Drinking large amounts of soda is a big part of many peoples' lives, but it really only damages peoples' health in so many ways. High quality filtered water is much better for people.
Like everyone else, I've experienced unexplained hives and eczema. I never did find out why this happens to me either. I am definitely allergic to rubber/latex. It takes so long for these things to go away and stop bothering me. I've got some kind of rash on my back and arms right now that really feels like it's burning. If I wasted my time seeing a doctor, the doctor wouldn't know what to do for this either, except prescribe steroid creams and ointments and expect me to use this stuff over large portions of my body.
But, I don't get this as often as I used to since I started using natural, plant-based dish liquids and laundry powders. I was getting such terrible eczema on my hands that people were avoiding any contact with me. As if I wanted to have anyone touch an already sensitive part of my skin in the first place! I've had eczema that started out as one giant blister that eventually opened up on it's own and just kept spreading. I tried everything I could think of at the time. The ointments prescribed to me didn't seem to help at all. Then, as mysteriously as it appeared, it disappeared, but not until I had suffered with it for months.
I still have these unexplained hives, like everyone here. I don't know what I can offer for the hives, since I haven't been getting anywhere with them either. But, I thought it was really important to tell people how dangerous those medications for GERD are, and that there is a way to reduce the burning and suffering. We're better off not using those medications, including the chewable tablets. The body can't really use that form of calcium, and the things are full of many artificial ingredients and mineral oils. DGL is a reasonable alternative, if you don't find yourself sensitive to licorice root, like I am. So, that stuff didn't help me at all. It might work for other people, though.
After that another friend of mine told me about the connection to food allergies. Ah ha! When I started the basic food elimination diet, I didn't even know that's what I was doing. I was just removing things that I knew I was having a reaction to. Some time later, my chiropractor told me about a naturopath who works with low-income people on a sliding fee schedule. Most insurance carriers won't cover naturopathic doctor visits. I'm fortunate that mine will even cover chiropractic. It was when I first started seeing the naturopath that I even heard about the elimination diet. She told me that I had already instinctively eliminated everything on the basic elimination diet. So, I had already figured out that I was sensitive or allergic to all the big items on the basic elimination diet.
The friend who mentioned food allergies being connected to GERD said she had accidentally discovered the connection when she took Benadryl because her sinus allergies were bothering her. Her GERD was bothering her, too. A few minutes after she took the Benadryl, the burning stopped bothering her so much, and she was able to get some sleep that night. After that, she did more investigating and found out that she had a ton of food allergies.
So, when she told me this, I discovered that all of this was the same for me. Now that I'm avoiding the foods that are the biggest problem for me, I don't have nearly as much of the burning from the GERD. The bonus is that by avoiding the food allergies, I lost a huge amount of weight and my total cholesterol went down. I'm no longer pre-diabetic and my fasting blood sugar is where it's supposed to be.
I still have problems with other allergies, which is why I joined this forum, and other health concerns, but this big problem has finally been whittled down to size and is much more manageable.
Another bonus that may be of interest to other women is that after I cut out dairy and gluten, as I've discovered lactose and gluten intolerances, I don't have as many problems with my periods as I used to and I no longer get the giant blood clots.
My diet is pretty limited, but it's better than suffering so many side effects from food allergies. I eat only high quality natural foods now, too. The list of allergies is pretty extensive. I no longer drink coffee or real tea or any kind of soda. Drinking large amounts of soda is a big part of many peoples' lives, but it really only damages peoples' health in so many ways. High quality filtered water is much better for people.
Like everyone else, I've experienced unexplained hives and eczema. I never did find out why this happens to me either. I am definitely allergic to rubber/latex. It takes so long for these things to go away and stop bothering me. I've got some kind of rash on my back and arms right now that really feels like it's burning. If I wasted my time seeing a doctor, the doctor wouldn't know what to do for this either, except prescribe steroid creams and ointments and expect me to use this stuff over large portions of my body.
But, I don't get this as often as I used to since I started using natural, plant-based dish liquids and laundry powders. I was getting such terrible eczema on my hands that people were avoiding any contact with me. As if I wanted to have anyone touch an already sensitive part of my skin in the first place! I've had eczema that started out as one giant blister that eventually opened up on it's own and just kept spreading. I tried everything I could think of at the time. The ointments prescribed to me didn't seem to help at all. Then, as mysteriously as it appeared, it disappeared, but not until I had suffered with it for months.
I still have these unexplained hives, like everyone here. I don't know what I can offer for the hives, since I haven't been getting anywhere with them either. But, I thought it was really important to tell people how dangerous those medications for GERD are, and that there is a way to reduce the burning and suffering. We're better off not using those medications, including the chewable tablets. The body can't really use that form of calcium, and the things are full of many artificial ingredients and mineral oils. DGL is a reasonable alternative, if you don't find yourself sensitive to licorice root, like I am. So, that stuff didn't help me at all. It might work for other people, though.
I can relate to the environmental allergies, since I have MCS, too. You mentioned Patanase. I never heard of this one. My allergist started me with Nasonex, which is unscented. It is only about 50% effective for me. Have you experienced any sedating effects with Patanase? Is Patanase another steroid medication? Does it help get rid of the sinus headaches caused by the sinus allergies? I'm not able to take ANY pain medications whatsoever. I can't take NSAIDs due to a kidney issue I didn't know I had, and I'm allergic to everything else. If I am anywhere near a hospital where I'm being treated for anything, I always have to remind everyone on the staff that I'm ALLERGIC to Tylenol, eventhough I already wrote down what all my medication allergies are.
A number of years ago, I had a terrible reaction to rubber gloves myself. I got a lot worse than itchy and scaly hives. The allergic response actually caused all the skin on the backs of my hands to disintegrate, so I had a giant open raw sore on the back of each hand. I thought it was bacterial, but the doctor knew it was an allergy. I was fortunate that it didn't become infected, since I had no outer skin on my hands at all. I never tried to get another dishwashing job after that. Now, I avoid ALL rubber/latex products, even if they aren't meant to come into contact with my skin, because the off-gassing will make me sick, too.
A number of years ago, I had a terrible reaction to rubber gloves myself. I got a lot worse than itchy and scaly hives. The allergic response actually caused all the skin on the backs of my hands to disintegrate, so I had a giant open raw sore on the back of each hand. I thought it was bacterial, but the doctor knew it was an allergy. I was fortunate that it didn't become infected, since I had no outer skin on my hands at all. I never tried to get another dishwashing job after that. Now, I avoid ALL rubber/latex products, even if they aren't meant to come into contact with my skin, because the off-gassing will make me sick, too.
I have had hives for years off and on and for a year non-stop. I have lots of allergies and have been treated for them for 40 years. A few years ago I was going through menopause and was put on a maintenance dose of antibiotics to be taken at different times during the month. I became allergic to everything I took and my hives got extremely worse. I was like the person above that could write letters on her body. Everything I touched seemed to give me hives. Pressure, heat, cold, etc. I was taking estradiol, and fosamax as well. OTC antihistamines cause me to have irregular heartbeats and I get totally wired so Benadryl was not an option for me. I took Zyrtec but got very little relief. Claritin didn't help. I used Benedryl gel like water and my hives were so much worse at night. I ran out of my estradiol one time and noticed my hives got better. I quit taking them as well as the fosamax and my hives improved. My dermatologist diagnosed my problem as an immunity problem and gave me xyzal. I know you stated the pharmacist said they were the same thing, but they definitely are not. Ask your dermatologist to explain the difference. Even tho I have to pay $100 a month for them cause HealthNet HMO will not cover them, (they only cover generic - what a rip!) it is totally worth the relief of not having the torment of itching and hives from head to toe every day! You can go online and compare the ingredients of both drugs and note they are not the same. The zyrtec didn't help me much but the xyzal is a godsend.
I know some people dont realize that one thing is causing the hives and they may blame something else. I came down with horrible hives, plus about 20 other symptoms, out of NO where a year ago. I thought it was my clothes, maybe laundry. Then I thought it was my house, then back to clothes. Everytime I put on a clean outfit within 30 minutes I would start to get sick again. Then I realized eveytime I put on clean clothes I was going out...and usually going out to eat. I finally figured out after 100s of tests that I am now, at 25, allergic to potatoes and tomatoes and a few other things.
So even though you think its the pressure from clothes KEEP SEARCHING. I know it gets hard but I thought it was pressure too!! I swore it was my bra and jeans...both are tight, but it was the food.
So even though you think its the pressure from clothes KEEP SEARCHING. I know it gets hard but I thought it was pressure too!! I swore it was my bra and jeans...both are tight, but it was the food.
i need help!! i am new to hives and been having it for more than a month now!! i went to a doctor but didnt get a allergy test, the doctor gived to a steriod to take, now i just finish the medision!! and it start again!!! i been taking zyrtecs too, but dont know if thats good for me, because i have to take about 2 to 4 a day, to work!! i cant find out what cause it, and i am scaried its going to continue!!! which should i do? can u guys please help me !!!
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