I’m on drugs

I grew up in a household where drug use was discouraged. Drugs have known and unknown side effects and many of the times that we tend to resort to drug use, we don’t need to. I’m not against using drugs, but I do try to minimize my intake of body altering chemicals. It seems that most over-the-counter drugs are aimed at symptoms, so I usually only take them if the symptoms are inteferring with things I want/have to do. A lot of the time headaches can be cured with a nap or just some quiet time. Why take cold medecine when I’m staying at home all day? It doesn’t do anything to help cure the cold.

My one exception is allergy medicine. Every year around this time, I get hit by allergies – runny nose, itchy eyes, and breathing problems. The symptoms are usually so bad that I take medicine whether I’m out and about or at home doing nothing. Two days ago I changed medicines, and I am sooooo happy. I was using what I was used to – Benedryl. It’s been far from 100% effective and the other day, I got tired of having to take it every 4 hours. I went to CVS and checked out my alternatives. Claritin sounded real good – would just have to take it once every 24 hours. I ended up buying a pack of Alavert, which is the same drug as Claritin (loratadine) but cheaper. I am a convert – this stuff really works. It is way better than Benadryl, and it is so much easier taking it once a day. No more constantly checking the time to make sure I take my next pill before the symptoms return. No more waking up with no more medicine in my system and allergy symptoms running rampant.

Did you know the active ingrediant in Benadryl, diphenhydramine, is also the active ingrediant in many sleeping aids? Yes, Benadryl is a sleeping aid. No more taking a sleeping aid every 4 hours throughout my day. I know a bunch of drugs come with warnings of drowsiness, but that is one of the primary uses of Benadryl. Now that I know that I’m wondering why it doesn’t come with a stronger warning. According to wikipedia, loratadine’s side effects are much milder – “dry mouth, headache and gastrointestinal disturbances.”

If you suffer from allergies, I definitely recommend you give loratadine a try.