allergies - seaonal - medication?

[earnestfamily7]

I read several posts/thread that mention allergies may play a role in PANDAS symptoms exaperations.... my son take Claratin and singulair during 'allergy season' spring - fall (we normally stop when hay fever is done around oct.) should I keep him on these meds all the time? Anyone have experience or insight on this?

[thereishope]

I've heard a few people mention that their kids did not respond well to Singulair. As for Claritin, I've heard mixed reviews. My experience with it, it worked at first but by day 10 he was horribly hyper and OCD started to pop up agian on day 11. I switched to dye free Benadryl and it works for him.

 

Last spring, my son's allergies triggered a big setback while he was in the beginning stages in recovery from a strep triggered exacerbation. Once I got his allergies under control, he was doing much better in his PANDAS symptoms as well.

[motherofamichael]

Allergies are a definite trigger for my son. We've had most success with zyrtec - dye free pills - (I buy store-brand) I give it at night as it can make him a bit drowsy. It lasts for 24 hours but he seems fine when he wakes up in the morning. Claritin makes my son hyper. We do zyrtec year round, but my son has severe mold and dust mite allergies as well.

[bubbasmom]

We are just this week beginning to think about the idea of allergies. Have not yet tested, only putting 2 and 2 together. My son has only had two 'professionally diagnosed" episodes with PANDAS. However, we are beginning to look at the big picture and realize that both diagnosed episodes are just after Labor Day. And many times around that same time frame we have been in the doctor's office with what is sometimes strep, sometimes not.

So we will definitely be thinking differently this spring and next fall about allergy related exerabations.

 

I read several posts/thread that mention allergies may play a role in PANDAS symptoms exaperations.... my son take Claratin and singulair during 'allergy season' spring - fall (we normally stop when hay fever is done around oct.) should I keep him on these meds all the time? Anyone have experience or insight on this?

[Suzan]

For an oral allergy pill, Zyrtec has been the best for us with Benadryl at night. But what has helped the most is the nasal steriod sprays. Flonase gave my dd8 a bloody nose though so we are trying a different brand (sorry if you already read that in the other post and I'm just repeating myself!). After 2 days on the new spray, I am hopeful that calming down dd's allergies will actually help her feel better. She has had a tough month. She is allergic to everything, seasonal stuff but also dust, cats and dogs.....

 

Seeing an allergist/immunologist was good for us to get the skin allergy testing. Only thing I'd caution on is trying to find one who knows about, or who is willing to do everything they can to learn about, PANDAS since our kids systems are so sensitive, things like allergy shots should not be taken lightly and the pros/cons seriously weighed. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on our progress with allergy shots next week.

 

 

Susan

[thereishope]

Maybe I should add my son has not undergone allergy testing. It was mentioned as a possibility at his last ped appt. Right now, I chart his allergies on my calendar so I know if his behvaiors start to resurface, look at the calendar and see if there is a correlation. Last spring, his behvaiors worsened a week before there was any physical sign of allergies. There was so much worry why he was back to having meltdowns , sky rocketing anxiety, OCD, etc. then one day I relaized how bloodshot his eyes were. They were the worst I ever saw. I defintiely noticed (since I was making an effort to) that when the redness in the yes went down, his behaviors calmed down. Benadryl actually only makes my son drowsy the first day, then it doesn't seem to affect him.

 

 

The ped did say he is seeing an increase in allergies this season compared to other years and dust mites I guess are really bad right now.