Quick-acting Allegra: I wish LUPUS drugs worked so quickly! (And a Pillfold review, too!)

Suddenly, one day last month, I woke up with seasonal allergies. I guess that's how it happens, right - you're fine one day, and the next, you're a mess? I woke up and my eyes were itchy and watery, I had nasal congestion, my throat was scratchy, and I was hoarse. And throughout the day, the symptoms grew worse. And they continued the next day, and the day after that. I've seen enough allergy commercials (and felt a tinge of these symptoms before) to know that they were unmistakably indicative of seasonal allergies. I could have been pollen's poster child!

I turned to the seasonal allergy king in our family, my husband, and he offered me an Allegra. I chose to consult my pharmacist first, and she confirmed that Allegra was a good choice, and would be fine in conjunction with my other medication. (The only "allergy" medication I've taken in the past was  Zyrtec, but that was for angioedema, or random swelling.) I took one Allegra at bedtime as the pharmacist suggested, and the next morning I woke up clear-headed and 100% cured. I couldn't believe it! I've continued to take my Allegra as directed, and my allergy symptoms have remained at bay since that very day - and it's been almost a month. I'm thrilled, and with no obvious side-effects at all.

The only lupus medication that seems to work as quickly is our beloved Prednisone, but we all know the side-effects that come along with those little pills. Steroids can be so troublesome, but they do deliver a fast result, albeit a short-lived one. You can read about all of my past prednisone posts here. There are plenty of them!

I ran across a great post about Medrol (which is also a corticosteroid like prednisone) on another blog recently, and thought I'd share. Here's a link to Dauntless Dames' take on those little white pills.

I found this site because the blogger featured a review of a Pillfold a few posts before her prednisone piece. Check out why she loves her new Pillfold here...those are her words, not mine! I'm so glad she's happy, and I appreciate her post!

Comments

Cari Lea said…
I am so glad it gave you relief! You take every win you can!
I have terrible allergies but also react miserably to Allegra (apparently my body sees a pill that could be really helpful & decides a migraine of epic proportions is in order)! If anyone else has that problem, Zyrtec doesn't have that same effect on me & can help some.
Eileen said…
I've just posted this in reply over there - but I thought you might be interested too:

Now that's interesting because I have had prednisolone both ordinary white tabs and the enteric coated version in the UK as well as being switched to Medrol because I moved to Italy where prednisolone isn't available. I didn't have much trouble except rearrangement of weight to my waist until I started Medrol. Then it was leg muscle wasting - and rearrangement of hair growth! I mentioned it to the rheumy who dismissed it as nothing. It wasn't a big deal that day - but a couple of months later it was. I've been white haired for 20 years (I gave up colouring it at 40) but suddenly I had a good going very dark beard.

Mercifully my GP was knowledgeable enough to realise there was something wierd - because apart from any other consideration I needed 20mg/day of the Medrol where I'd been fine on 9 mg of prednisolone and it only gave me any daytime relief if I took it at 11pm. If I took it in the morning it took until 3pm to have any effect at all. She gave me Lodotra, a special delayed release format of prednisone used in rheumatology. I have polymyalgia rheumatica so there aren't any options - the only thing found to control the symptoms so far is pred, hopefully at below 10mg/day, but some of us struggle even there.

Though there are lots of days I could use the manic side effects!!!!
Guess what is THE ABSOLUTE BEST?!?!?!?? 3,000 mg of Solu-Medrol (albeit over three days). Every night for three nights the nurse would hook up the IV and drain 1,000 mg of Solu-Medrol into my body. My 24 hour urine went from >7g of protein down to 3.1g of protein and the "steroid glow" lasted for weeks and weeks and weeks but the long-term side effects were minimal.

It's just unfortunate that lupus medications either have horrid side-effects (like prednisone) or they don't really work that well (like everything else...). I loved your Allegra lament! :-)
Sara Gorman said…
Wow - does that solumedrol work wonders or what!?!? I had it in the hospital too...i felt like a million dollars, and it makes you kind of forget why you've been admitted. But, as you point out, the side-effects can be tough. Thanks for commenting - glad you can relate!

Popular Posts