So I'm very allergic to cats.... the girl I'm talking to has cats and my sister has some and I have to visit her soon. What is an effective allergy medecine to keep me from sneezing and wheezing?

9/24/2006 9:17:59 PM

no.

9/24/2006 9:18:23 PM

anyone?

9/24/2006 9:53:12 PM

claritin and over the counters are meh. they help a litle but they give you headaches and sore throat. some prescription medicine i have works great for the cat allergies but makes my pee stink dries out my mouth gives me sore throat. so i end up with a net loss and just take the allergies like a man

9/24/2006 10:00:49 PM

pee stink dries out your mouth?

it sounds like you have bigger problems than cat allergies

9/24/2006 10:06:04 PM

is flonase the one advertised on tv for indoor outdoor and pet allergies?

i'd say go to the doc and get a more powerful medication to battle the allergies than you can get over the counter

9/24/2006 10:18:08 PM

allergy shots

thats what im gonna do if/when i get a dog

9/24/2006 10:36:35 PM

i used to have HORRIBLE allergies to dogs and mostly cats

i'm now on clarinex (prescription), singular & rhinocort (a nasal spray) daily and it helps sooooo much...completely different. i can even pet cats and not have problems

just go to an allergist and they can tell you the best treatment

9/24/2006 10:39:38 PM

i was saying the prescription medicine does that to me. the side effects are worse than the cat allergies.

9/24/2006 11:29:47 PM

zyrtec is good when paired with a nasal spray also. you have to build it up in your body though so if you are going to take it you need to start taking it a few days before you get to where your allergies are going to mess up. i am very allergic to cats and along with my shots and those two things i was able to stay around cats in a house with minimal allergic consequences.

9/25/2006 8:29:49 AM

benadryl's always worked well for me.

or the equate generic kind...

[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 8:46 AM. Reason : ]

9/25/2006 8:46:30 AM

Claritin rocks the house. Thats pretty much all you need. or get a prescription for Allegra.

9/25/2006 9:36:46 AM

Another vote for Claritin, but the name brand stuff is expensive (~$.80-$1/pill.) You can get 300 pills of the Sam's Club version for $9 or something.

[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 10:02 AM. Reason : s]

9/25/2006 10:01:56 AM

^agreed - I was amazed at how cheap the Sam's brand (Member's Mark?) was compared to other generics. Before you go and spend $$$ on seeing an allergist, try some generic Claritin (or Claritin-D, which is slightly more expensive). If that doesn't work, I'd go the route of the allergist.

9/25/2006 10:44:15 AM

they have hypoallergenic cats now http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5375900.stm

9/25/2006 10:47:00 AM

for $texas to the Nth

9/25/2006 12:28:01 PM

You need Zyrtec. It's the only thing I know of that works on cat allergies.

9/25/2006 12:34:50 PM

zytec works for just about nobody. and probably youre getting a placebo effect.

9/25/2006 12:35:41 PM

Loratadine (generic claritin) works for me, but not my boyfriend. Good thing we have an outside cat.

9/25/2006 12:46:07 PM

Whatever you take (i personally recommend Claritin or Claritin-D), start taking it a few days before you know you're gonna be around the cats. Anti-histamines are competitive inhibitors, so they have to have a head start to knock out the allergic reaction

9/25/2006 1:03:30 PM

Absolutely NOTHING works for me and if it does work it makes me far more miserable in other ways.

I'd say allergy shots are your best bet.

9/25/2006 1:07:47 PM

Quote :

"zytec works for just about nobody. and probably youre getting a placebo effect."

wtf? It's night and day, not placebo.

9/25/2006 1:10:59 PM

i've left chicks' houses at 5 am just because their fucking cat's hair/dander fucks up my sinuses

9/25/2006 1:13:50 PM

^^ how would you KNOW

9/25/2006 1:35:20 PM

I'm allergic to cats and my boyfriend and all my friends have cats. Basically I just take benadryl with me incase it gets bad, otherwise I suck it up. Cats who shed really bad affect me, cats who don't I don't seem to have a problem with.

Claritin helped me with outdoor sinusy type allergies, I don't take it/don't really think it works for pets. In that vein, if you take regular claritin you can still take a decongestant like sudafed or something if you need it. If you take claritin-d you CANNOT take anything else.

[Edited on September 25, 2006 at 3:53 PM. Reason : merf]

9/25/2006 3:50:03 PM

wow 4,000 for a cat

9/25/2006 4:03:53 PM