Allergies
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Allergies

› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Allergies

  • Post
    • May 19, 2017 at 3:37 pm
    jennunicorn
    Participant

    I need some advice about some allergy medications,,,

    When I started this whole immunotherapy journey, I didn't have "seasonal allergies" or any kind of allergy. But right after my first infusion ever of Ipi.. in December 2015.. my nose was all runny and plugged up for a day. This happened after every infusion, and now a year and a half later and on Nivo, my newfound allergies have become difficult to control. I was taking Claritin every morning and that was helping a lot. I recently switched to Zyrtec because it seemed the Claritin stopped doing its job. But, I'm continuing to have at least 2 days a week of full on allergy attacks.. going through 2 boxes of tissue in a day!

    So, if anyone else who has dealt with major "seasonal" allergies has any recommendations for OTC meds to try or if I should see an allergy specialist.. please let me know.. I'm getting reaaaaallllllyyyy tired of blowing my nose!

    Thanks guys 🙂

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  • Replies
      • May 19, 2017 at 5:37 pm
      Jamie1960
      Participant

      Try the Claritin D 24 hour (generic is fine); taken daily, it's really worked for me and may for you as well.

        • May 19, 2017 at 6:01 pm
        TP35
        Participant
        How about bilastine? It is a second generation antihistamine drug.
        • May 19, 2017 at 10:48 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Unfortunately that is not approved in the U.S., so I can't try it 

        • May 19, 2017 at 10:47 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        That is what I was taking for about a year and it worked great, but recently doesn't want to work every day which is why I tried Zyrtec.. but seems to be about the same results.. some days I'm ok and others I'm face deep in tissues. Picked up some nasal spray today, hoping that along with Claritin or Zyrtec will do the trick.

      • May 19, 2017 at 6:45 pm
      Scooby123
      Participant

      Hi Jenn,

      since ippi I have had blocked nose constant, been worse last six months. I swim and that also makes it worse too. I did eventually go to my GP gave me a nose spray and said it would take 3 months to start working. Seems to be working at present. If you go to your chemist see if they do a sea salt natural spray for allergies that's a good one for what you are dealing with right now .

      Scooby

        • May 19, 2017 at 10:45 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Just picked up a nasal spray today, I am hoping it will help, thank you!

        • May 19, 2017 at 11:40 pm
        DocPain
        Participant

        I've had ongoing seasonal allergies for years now. They can leave you absolute miserable. I gave myself high blood pressure using way too much extra strength Mucinex D. I've had two ipi/novo treatments with a third scheduled next week. In the last two years I have had incredible response using a Neti pot every morning. Now, I use Flonase when needed and a general allergy pill when juniper is high. It flushes out the sinuses with a saline packet and distilled water. It DOES take getting used to, but I love it.

        • May 20, 2017 at 12:09 am
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        I've been curious about the Neti pot, I may give that a go. I'm game to try anything at this point.

        • May 20, 2017 at 1:23 am
        momof4boys
        Participant
        My son has severe allergies and actually takes immunotherapy for it. But i can tell you he takes singulair, claritin and flonase daily. The netipot type things are highly recommended by allergists but follow directions. The only other thing is maybe benadryl at night. Hope something helps!
        • May 20, 2017 at 2:43 am
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Thank you!

      • May 20, 2017 at 12:23 pm
      UBContributor
      Participant

      I would also consider that fact that usually with age the allergy gets worse and more frequent, so may not be necessarily connected with cancer treatments.  

      • May 21, 2017 at 12:18 am
      betsyl
      Participant

      Hi Jenn,

      I have a fancy hepa filter air cleaner I can give you. It needs some new replacement filters, but otherwise it's almost new. It worked really well for me when I had pets, but I don't have pets anymore.

      Happy for it to have a good home. If I remember correctly, I believe we both live in the Bay Area, so we should be able to arrange a handoff. Let me know if you're interested or would like more information about the filter.

      -Betsy

        • May 21, 2017 at 7:30 pm
        jennunicorn
        Participant

        Thank you so much Betsy, that would be wonderful!

        You can email me at jennroutt@ gmail.com and we can arrange something 🙂

      • May 22, 2017 at 3:42 am
      Aloha14
      Participant

      I use Allegra D 24, it's been OTC for awhile now but I have a prescription so I can get 30 pills all at once each month. The decongestant ingredient is restricted and the over the counter boxes only come with a maximum of 20 pills and you can't purchase more than one at a time plus the pharmcy takes down your ID & DL info. I also use nasal sprays, Astepro and Veramyst which are prescription but work well. Right now seems like the worst for seasonal allergies so I'm staying inside especially on windy days.

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