Spring has come. Many people start to have allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, hives, and itching. There are many over-the-counter antihistamines for allergy symptom relief. The first generation antihistamines such as Benadryl and chlor-tab are short acting and need to be taken 4-6 times a day. They cause significant side effects such as drowsiness and cognitive impairment. In contrast, the second generation antihistamines such as Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra and xyzal are long acting and the effects of these medications last 24 hours. In addition, they have significantly less side effects. Therefore the second generation antihistamines should be the first choice for allergy relief. Furthermore, there is a significant price difference between the brand-name antihistamines and the generic ones. According to the FDA, A generic medicine works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit as its brand-name version. A generic medicine is the same as a brand-name medicine in dosage, safety, effectiveness, strength, stability, and quality, as well as in the way it is taken and should be used. The generic antihistamines should be chosen as long as they alleviate the allergic symptoms effectively.
Spring has come many people have started to experience allergy symptoms such as watery eyes runny nose sneezing hives and itching there are dozens of over-the-counter antihistamine medications for allergies and some people are not sure which one to choose in this video i will discuss different over-the-counter antihistamine pills for adults first i will briefly
Explain how allergic reactions occur in humans and why antihistamines can alleviate allergic symptoms allergies occur when the human immune system overreacts to an exposed antigen or allergy here are the most common allergens that trigger allergic responses certain food dust pollens animal waste mold insect bites or stings latex certain medications this
Schematic diagram illustrates the mechanism of an allergic response to an antigen when the person is exposed to an antigen for the first time the antigen triggers b cells a type of immune cell to differentiate into plasma cells the plasma cells produce specific ige antibodies which attach to the mast cells when the person encounters the same antigen again
The antigen will bind to and cross link the specific ige antibodies on the surface of mast cells the event triggers the mass cells to release histamines the histamines then bind to the h1 histamine receptors on certain cell surface leading to an allergic reaction the h1 antihistamines can block the binding of the histamine to its receptor and significantly
Reduce the allergic symptoms there are two generations of h1 antihistamines first generation antihistamines are short acting and people may have to take the medication every four to six hours to alleviate allergic symptoms these antihistamines can cross the blood-brain barrier and have anti-cholinergic activity therefore they can cause significant side effects
Such as sedation cognitive impairment etc alcohol should be avoided when taking these medications because it can aggravate these side effects long-term use of first generation antihistamines such as benadryl has been linked to increased risk of dementia this table lists two common first generation antihistamines benadryl and chlorotraumatin or chlorotypes are
The brand name medications methane hydramine and clothing neramine are the generic equivalents for people who are not familiar to the difference between a brand name medicine and a generic one i’d like to clarify with an fda statement according to the fda a generic medicine works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit as its brand name version
A generic medication is the same as the brand name medication in dosage safety effectiveness strength stability and quality as well as in the way it is taken and should be used there is a significant price difference between generic and brand name medications as seen here 100 tablets of brand name bannerville cost 11.94 dollars which is 12 cents a pill 365
Tablets of generic equivalent definite hydrogen costs about eight dollars which is 2.4 cents a pill similarly brand name chlorotypes cause of much more than the generic clothing neramin as compared to first generation antihistamines second generation h1 antihistamines are long-acting they cross the blood-brain barrier minimally cause less sedation and have
Less interaction with other medications here is a list of second-generation h1 antihistamines the efficacy for allergy symptom relief is similar among different medications the second generation electron antihistamines can be taken once a day people should avoid drinking alcohol when taking zyrtec of zeiss oil because alcohol converts in the droziness caused
By these two medications zaizal is recommended to be taken at by time people ages 65 and older should decrease the dose of zyzel and zyrtec by half and people who have kidney impairment should take lower doses of zyzel allegra and zyrtec there is also a significant price difference between the generic and brand name second generation antihistamines for example
90 tablets of their attack costs 39 at 43 cents a pill 500 tablets of generic equivalent security costs about 21 which is 4.2 cents a pill the price difference between the brand name and the generic one is tenfold similarly 90 tablets of claritin cost 32. and 35 cents a pill 400 tablets of generic variety cost about 13 dollars at 3.2 cents a pill the price of
Brand allegra is much higher at 43.3 cents a pill than the generic faxophenidine which costs 19 cents a pill the price difference between zyzel and generic level satirism is less drastic it is 30 cents a pill authors 18.5 cents a pill in summary there are many over-the-counter antihistamines for allergy relief first generation antihistamines such as benadryl
And chlorotypes are short-acting and need to be taken every four to six hours they cause significant side effects such as drowsiness and cognitive impairment in contrast the second generation antihistamines such as zyrtec claritin allegra and vaisal are long-acting and the effects of these medications last 24 hours in addition they have significant less side
Effects therefore the second generation antihistamines should be the first choice for elderly relief it is worth to note that there is a significant price difference between brand name and generic antihistamines so generic antihistamines should be chosen as long as they alleviate allergic symptoms effectively
Transcribed from video
Which Medication Should I Choose for my Allergies? By Dr. Chen’s Medical Videos