Hello everyone! I’m so glad I found this awesome resource and community.
After years of having itchy, painful rashes with no answers from doctors, I got diagnosed with cholinergic urticaria a few days ago. I got put on Zyrtec twice daily, on top of the Singulair once daily I already take for seasonal allergies and asthma.
I’ve been so drowsy that in addition to sleeping 8 hours a night, I’ve taken a 4-5 hour nap each afternoon. I guess I can’t be itchy if I’m asleep haha?! My doctor wants me to try this regime for 3-4 weeks, then if it does not work she will refer me to an allergist.
Is the drowsiness likely to improve overtime? She did warn me that I may get drowsy, but I’m not certain if it’s worth toughing out. I work 12 hour overnight shifts as a nurse and due to IBS I am not able to have caffeine without going into a flare.
I tried to have just a half cup of coffee today but all it did was make me feel ill and I still couldn’t keep my eyes open. I’m guessing I do just need to just tough it out for the 3 weeks, and if that’s the case does anyone have any ideas to keep me awake for work without caffeine?
Additionally, one of my main reasons for seeking out a doctor was that my underarms were so painful I could not put deodorant on, even ones that are hypoallergenic and aluminum free. If you get rashes in your underarms, what deodorant have you found that works without causing additional discomfort?
Thank you everyone in advance for your responses. I hope this post made sense, I feel like I’m in a fog from my new medication.
-Emzie
Hivesguy says
Hello, Emzie. Welcome to the forum! Here are a few tips I can offer:
1. Many people experience drowsiness with Zyrtec, Benadryl, and other antihistamines. You will probably adjust to it eventually, but your symptoms may come back once your body adjusts. Since you have to work, you might want to ask your doctor if it is safe for you to switch to Allegra (fexofenadine). Allegra does not cross the blood-brain barrier and cause drowsiness (for most people) like other antihistamines do, and it was the only one that didn’t cause me drowsiness back in the day. 1 tablet of Zyrtec used to knock me out cold.
2. I never experienced the underarm pain that you described, so I’m not sure what you could do in place of deodorant. I guess just go without it, wash regularly, and wear lots of perfume on your clothes?
3. I used to suffer from horrible IBS symptoms also. What solved my problem of cholinergic urticaria and IBS-like symptoms? The allergy elimination diet (cutting foods out of my diet that I had no idea that my body had become intolerant/allergic to) and digestive advantage probiotic (lactose defense kind) were the two biggest factors by far. I’ve talked about those in blog posts, in the YouTube videos I made, and in the book I wrote.
I hope that helps. Hang in there!
Tomas says
Ben (hivesguy).
I think we got different types of medicine, I hear that zyrtec usually helps you there in the United States, and even if one tablet used to knock you out, it’s crazy. When I was taking zyrtec, well I always like to have too much of everything, so I started from 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening, and towards the end I would take 3-4 a day, the same with Kestine, and it still wouldn’t help me from itching, it would only make my mouth dry, so I guess you have better zyrtec there in the USA. Also I have a high tolerance for substances from using drugs, so maybe that took a part in this too.
Emzie, yes, it is possible, that drowsiness will go away after a while, but do not forget that your body gets used to medicine, so after that the symptoms will come back, so I recommend switching between two different anti-histamines every week or two. But anti-histamines aren’t that good, for most people they don’t even help, so I would recommend sweat therapy, like portable sauna or something 😉
Cher says
For deodorant try milk of magnesia.