Nothing's working

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bleigh

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I am finding myself in a situation that is becoming very exhausting. I have always suffered from allergies, but have always had something for relief. For the last several weeks I have started having attacks anywhere from 3 - 5am. EVERY DAY. My Zyrtec, which has always been able to stop any attack and keep them at bay, has all of a sudden quit working. I also use OTC NasalCrom and it's become not effective. Last night around 11pm I gave Astelin a try and I still woke up just after 3am with an attack. I'm feeling this is getting ridiculous as nothing seems to be stopping these attacks. Also getting tired of going through at least 1 box and half a roll of toilet paper a day.

I have a daughter with asthma so I have to keep my house pretty dust free. Yesterday I went overboard in my bedroom (it's now as sterile as it can be). I have a huge antique rug that I moved out, vacuumed my mattress and box spring (which are in allergen protectors as are my pillows), washed my bed and linens in hot water, washed my ceiling fan, vacuumed everything else in the room and mopped the floors (thankfully the house is wood). I have a Dyson that I use to vacuum furniture, the couple of rugs I have and for dusting. I just changed my allergen rated air filter a couple days ago...
I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!! Even with all that work yesterday I still ended up with an attack this morning. I have got to get a good nights sleep.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am thinking about allergy shots but can't until I'm completely off one of my meRAB. I hate trying new meRAB as I'm very sensitive...trying Astelin last night and just now was gut wrenching. I guess I could go back to a steroid spray which may make the most sense. I don't have an air purifier and wonder if it could help...anybody have any luck with these. Anybody have their trusty allergy med quit working for them like my Zyrtec did?

Thanks for any advice...
 
bleigh - What exactly is keeping you up at night? I know you don't like to try new meRAB, but I was put on a new allergy med that the PA said was an older med, but a pulmonary doc had prescribed it for her because she had developed a cough that wouldn't go away and he said it would take care of the cough. It worked for the PA and when she prescribed it for me it works wonders for me as well!!! The name on my pill bottle is R-TANNA. I don't think that's the full name, but might be enough to help you find it. The only down side is that you have to take it twice a day, but I like it so well that it doesn't matter. I do use a steroid nasal spray (Nasacort) and if I don't use that before bed I'll wake up in the morning completely congested.

If I had done that kind of cleaning in one day, I'd have been a mess too! Hopefully today will be better for you.

I live in Indiana and I don't know what is going on, but my asthma has been irritable this week. I've had to use my rescue inhaler three days in a row, and that is very unusual for me. I considered calling my allergy doc. I did take allergy shots and they helped me tremendously! They were a pain in more ways than one, but overall they were worth it.

Best wishes for finding something that works again!
Stonepile
 
A very simple thing to try is a benedryl at bedtime. I take one every night and sleep so much better from a rest standpoint and from no clogged sinuses, too. It's the PM component in Tylenol PM and the generic is very inexpensive - $4 for 100.
 
Finally got a full nights sleep in almost a month!! Closed all doors to bedroom and ran the air purifier all afternoon and night. Amazing how much better I feel this morning after getting enough sleep.
 
I don't like taking Benadryl b/c I have two little ones, one with asthma, and need to be able to get up if they need me. Benadryl is awesome, but it knocks me out for hours. My sister takes it at bedtime but she can wake up if needed....I just sleep right through anything while taking it so it won't work for me right now.

I have a few ideas what I'm allergic to, but no testing. Actually just came back from the allergist and have my testing scheduled for the 27th. My baby will start her shots that day as well. In the meantime I bought an air purifier by Honeywell and have had it running for a couple of hours in my bedroom. I've been able to lie down for a rest without much symptoms for the first time all day. Hopefully this is a good sign it's working.

Didn't get my steroid spray today...have to be off all those meRAB for a week -10 days before testing anyway. I'm praying this air purifier will do enough to keep my allergies down through the night. Just sick of living my whole life with these miserable allergies and even more sick that my beloved Zyrtec gave out on me (that was some good stuff). Oh, well...if this is the least of my problems...

Thanks for the input!!
 
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