Zyrtec daily?

Mrs.RCH · October 2011

I started lurking on this board after we received the results of DS's RAST test showing that he was a 3 for peanuts.

While we were at the initial allergist appointment, the doctor said that we should put him on Zyrtec daily for 1 year to decrease his chances of seasonal allergies and asthma. While this doctor was knowledgeable, he was very scattered. DH and I both left feeling like our heads were spinning with information.

We are not sure about putting DS on a medicine every day. Have any of you done this? Have you seen results? Will it help with DS's eczema?

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

luvmagoldn · October 2011

All three of my boys take Zyrtec daily - two have food allergies and one has seasonal allergies. It definitely helps them. But we didn't start the maintenance dosing until they had a few bouts of wheezing after upper respiratory viruses and such.

terpsfan · October 2011

My 4 yo takes a 1tsp of Zyrtec daily...has helped immensely with the eczema, like a night and day difference. She used to have patches on her face all the time and now we are just down to random patches around her knees and elbows that we treat with atopiclair.

LSU628 · October 2011

We do it every day as well. We initially started due to eczema and food allergies. We continued for seasonal allergies. I stop it from time to time, but as soon as the eczema or congestion come back, we start it up again. DD has been having a really rough time lately with all the seasonal pollen so we are up to 1/2 tsp 2xs per day.

magdusia · October 2011

i honestly have never heard of this. But surprised how many of you do it already.

I don't know how i feel about putting my child on a daily pill for a year. I don't believe it will increase his chances of outgrowing it. I feel like medicating him for a year would be much worse than a big of benadryl when you see a reaction. but this is just IMO!

kms34 · October 2011

magdusia:

i honestly have never heard of this. But surprised how many of you do it already.

I don't know how i feel about putting my child on a daily pill for a year. I don't believe it will increase his chances of outgrowing it. I feel like medicating him for a year would be much worse than a big of benadryl when you see a reaction. but this is just IMO!

This is my opinion as well. It was recommended by our pedi that we start DS on daily zyrtec around 15 months. He had exhibited a few signs of allergies and had tested positive at that point for dairy, peanuts and we suspected eggs.

Yes, he has occasional seasonal allergies but nothing worth medicating year round for. I'd rather treat him as needed. He rarely has food reactions anymore so that basis doesn't sit well with me either. I'd much rather have to give him Benadryl once a month or every 2 months than daily Zyrtec.

If he had serious seasonal allergies, eczema, etc I would reconsider but it's just not for us.

Mrs.RCH · October 2011

kms34:
magdusia:

i honestly have never heard of this. But surprised how many of you do it already.

I don't know how i feel about putting my child on a daily pill for a year. I don't believe it will increase his chances of outgrowing it. I feel like medicating him for a year would be much worse than a big of benadryl when you see a reaction. but this is just IMO!

This is my opinion as well. It was recommended by our pedi that we start DS on daily zyrtec around 15 months. He had exhibited a few signs of allergies and had tested positive at that point for dairy, peanuts and we suspected eggs.

Yes, he has occasional seasonal allergies but nothing worth medicating year round for. I'd rather treat him as needed. He rarely has food reactions anymore so that basis doesn't sit well with me either. I'd much rather have to give him Benadryl once a month or every 2 months than daily Zyrtec.

If he had serious seasonal allergies, eczema, etc I would reconsider but it's just not for us.

This is exactly how we feel. He doesn't show any signs of seasonal allergies, yet. He is having a major flair up of eczema but hopefully we can find some kind of cream that that will work.

terpsfan · October 2011

magdusia:
i honestly have never heard of this. But surprised how many of you do it already.
I don't know how i feel about putting my child on a daily pill for a year. I don't believe it will increase his chances of outgrowing it. I feel like medicating him for a year would be much worse than a big of benadryl when you see a reaction. but this is just IMO!

I don't expect my child to "outgrow" her seasonal/environmental allergies which is what we believe is the cause of much of her eczema and other respiratory issues. Before starting the daily dose of kids zyrtec we would essentially be covering her with various steroid creams and battling staph infections from places where she itched so much she drew blood. I'd rather give her a daily dose of the harmless allergy medication (and according to our allergist she could take multiple doses of zytrec a day..he specifically said "you cannot OD on zyrtec") than cover her skin with high potent steriod creams and be dealing with staph and MRSA. It works for us.

I know adults (my DH included) that take a claritin a day...I guess where we are there is a really short window of time in the year where you really don't have allergies to battle (dead of winter but then you are also cooped up inside and dealing with dust, mold, animal hair, etc).

g_belle · October 2011

We do Claritin daily (had bad side effects with Zyrtec) but we only started it due to other issues (seasonal allergies were causing lots of drainage and asthma issues etc.). We've tried weaning off of it several times and we'll probably try again once we get a good frost to kill off the pollen. I hate doing daily maintence meds- but at this point the daily meds are better than an asthma attack.

For the OP- we've had quite a few eczema posts on the board below- you can probably find a ton of advice if you scroll though (or start a new thread- i'm sure all of the eczema mommies will be happy to share again). It seems like each kiddo responds differently to all of the lotions and potions out there- just keep trying things until you find what works. It took us a long time to figure out our best course of action and we still have flare ups.

Court0026 · October 2011

DS is on and off of Zyrtec. I am not comfortable with the idea of giving it to him unless I think he truly needs it. He has seasonal allergies that trigger his asthma issues and it gets kind of out of control...he was on it most of the summer and we are stopping it this week or next. We'll see how it goes...

orchid8407 · October 2011

We give our 17 month old DD a nightly dose of Zyrtec. I don't like it

However, it's to help with the itching of eczema, plus it's 24 hour so it will help to protect her if she comes in contact with something she is allergic to. That's what DH is adament about. Since she goes to daycare, then I would rather have it in her system to help for the food allergies.

I completely understand how you feel. I am on the fence as well, but I do it.

luvmagoldn · October 2011

Zyrtec is a maintenance medication which means you need to take it daily to keep the appropriate levels in your system. It is not meant for immediate symptom relief like Benadryl. According to our doc if you don't take it all the time you really shouldn't take it at all.

Jessica-Kay · October 2011

Mine isn't on Zyrtec, but Singular and Claritin every day. He is allergic to milk. Last winter was a night mear, this year will be the big test, since we are using all the preventives. So far this year with the weather changing back and forth (hot, cold, hot) he is handling it very well with his asthma, very few flare ups.

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