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Allergy season has ramped up with astonishing speed over the past week, excessively hot as it has been. The past two years I was taking nasal steroids to deal with the headaches, scratchy throat and general irritability. But I decided in the fall to wean myself off them, since I had also begun taking inhaled steroids for my asthma. I'd noticed diminishment of the antihistamine effect over time and was increasingly plagued by nosebleeds.
I haven't regretted that decision until now. I definitely need the steroids for my asthma, but can presumably get by with my other allergy symptoms by taking antihistamines as needed. The problem with that approach, however, is that antihistamines often make me unpleasant to be around, shortening my fuse and draining my voice of all warmth, and also tend to make me both tired and wired. I dozed off yesterday after taking Benadryl, long before my usual bedtime, but then woke up around midnight and couldn't get to sleep.
Because I'd heard good things about Zyrtec, I decided to give it a go tonight. The idea of taking a single pill for a whole day's improvement appealed to me. And I liked the fact that it wasn't supposed to make you too drowsy. Well, friends, it's 3am here and I am most assuredly not drowsy. Unfortunately, I also have the urge to putter and the sense that I should have a beer or two to take the edge off. To say that I'm responding to the drug as if it were a stimulant would be a gross understatement.
