I am at my moms on holiday for a month and her cats are trying to kill me with their dander. does anyone take any otc allergy meds that don't cause bg to rise? anything that I shouldn't take because of bg rise?
I think I would prefer to deal with allergies than high bg but im only a coupe of days into this and am starting to imagine my whole months vacay like this.
thanks
I take 10 mg of Reactine (called Zyrtec in the U.S.), which is an OTC antihistamine, pretty much every day. I have seasonal allergies (trees, weeds, grass, etc.) and also year-round allergies (dust, dust mites, mould, dogs, cats, feathers, tobacco,, etc.). So I almost never get a break. I also take allergy eye drops and steroid nasal sprays if my allergies get really unbearable.
I periodically try to stop taking Reactine, because I don't like taking something year-round, and invariably last a few days before I start up again. I just tried stopping a few days ago and this morning I woke up coughing, or coughed so much I woke myself up, which isn't pleasant. So I'll probably start taking it again today.
I don't notice that any of these medications affect my blood sugar. Even if they did, taking them is better than feeling like I have a bad cold 24/7/365!
jen, thanks for the info. yeah, I don't think I can deal with this long term. that's exactly what I feel like, like I have a really bad cold. hopefully they'll start working right away! off to the pharmacy then.
The only thing I have heard not to take if you have diabetes is a decongestant, but I'm not sure why this is the case. (Personally, I don't like decongestants anyway because I had a weird reaction to pseudoephedrine once. If I use them, I use 1/2 to 1/3 the recommended dose.) The eye drops I usually get as a prescription, but I think you can also get OTC versions. The steroid nasal sprays are prescription, as far as I know, and decongestants may be all they have for OTC nasal sprays.
I hope the medication gives you some relief soon!
I take 10mg daily of loratidine, generic Claritin, every day because I’m allergic to my cat. I have no BG issues with it. Jen, I’ve noticed pseudoephedrine triggers my PVCs (weird heart palpitations) so I don’t take that either.
I had a weird reaction to pseudoephedrine years ago where my blood pressure dropped (I measured it) and I got super dizzy and almost passed out after taking an oral antihistamine/decongestant combination. For years I didn't touch it after that. Two years ago I was diagnosed with SVT which is also a heart arrhythmia, so I've been told to be careful about pseudoephedrine because of that now, as well. For all I know, maybe I had the condition years ago and was unaware of it, and maybe that's what caused the weird reaction.
A few months ago I was having unbearable allergies and could not sleep and the clinic was closed. So I took some decongestant nasal spray using only 1/3 the recommended dose. Even at that dose it made a huge difference and didn't seem to have any negative effects. I have used it once or twice since, using no more than 1/2 what is recommended, when I'm desperate and haven't triggered any negative events. But I'm very cautious with it.