Dear Mari

regarding the antihistamine, it might be market driven. My pharmacy told me i bought the last of theirs - that was 6 months ago and it hadn't come in again, but apparently nobody else had requested it because they had not followed up on availability either. So my impression is they didn't sell much of it.

Most people have long switched to 2nd generation antihistamines with a longer half life and more "convenient" 2ce daily dosing. The extended release products of the old antihistamines have a better chance of competing with those. Fwiw, I've tried 3 of the 2nd generation antihists, none worked. I even tried double dosing Zyrtek a few times (after reading that it was done in clinical trials without horrible consequences)... no difference.

I don't think many people use "stronger" doses of chlorpheniramine the way I did. Most people who would need them probably have an asthma dx and separate treatment. In order to avoid poop out, i also prefer a short-acting drug i can use sparingly. Only occasionally do I take stuff continuously for several days. There may be other 1st gen antihistamines still available but - brompheniramine (Dimetapp), which at one time worked for me, is not one of them; Benadryl has unpredictable effects on me - it can make me real sleepy or give me paradoxical agitation with odds of the latter increasing with dosage. I had nasty agitation once and would be afraid to use > 25mg at a time. I'd prefer a shot of adrenaline, quite honestly!



~ waves ~