Allergy Season and Claritin-D

I’ve graduated: to Claritin-D! My sneezing, runny nose, itchy watery eyes were no longer suppressed or eliminated by the regular Claritin, so I bit the bullet, while finally admitting to myself that I now really have allergies, and went for the big medication guns. And what a lovely “welcome-to-the-club” I had at Walgreens. After the finger printing, and the blood test to make sure I wasn’t on meth which (I now understand) indicates that I was going to use my purchase to make meth and, finally, my FBI background check (I do have one--see why here *), I was allowed to buy ten Extended Release Claritin-D 24 Hour Non Drowsy Tablets.

It’s been 12 hours since I started on the Claritin-D and I feel great again.  Yea.  But I couldn’t help wondering what this stuff was doing to my body and what were the side effects so I went to drugs.com.

What I found out was that Claritin-D has the same statistics of slight side effects as the regular Claritin but some people feel a little “speedier” with the “D.”  I like to think of myself as leaning towards Eastern Medicine, Holistics, and preventative health, but these allergies were to new to me this past spring and I tried everything under the sun to get through May and June until I did the Claritin test. The test goes like this: If it’s spring or fall, and everyone who has allergies is complaining about them--and you’ve never had allergies--and you think you may have strep, a cold, or a flu that won’t go away= try a Claritin.  If your symptoms go away within 12 hrs, you have allergies and welcome to my world.

Of course, I’m going to say “consult your doctor” here. And mine said that prolonged suffering from allergies is worse than taking a medication that suppresses the irritating runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing etc.--so long as the medication is not taxing your liver nor creating other maladies.  Irritation to the body, over long periods of time, can be damaging to organs and create long-term problems.

So yes, I’m endorsing Claritin. It has worked for me. But, more importantly, I want ya’ll to wake up and be able to smell the coffee. Before 2011, I had never had allergies. And this year has been the worst for everyone in the Midwest.  You may have allergies and might be mistaking them for a long cold.

Oh yeah, I was just joking about going through such security at Walgreens.  But you can only buy, like, 10 Claritin-D per month without a doctor prescription. Yes, they do make meth out of the stuff--as described in my second novel due out this November on eBooks.

This is part 2 of my allergy Blog.  Click here for part one.

 jon-david is a Chicago writer and hairdresser. Buy his book *Mafia Hairdresser, or he’ll cut you: at Joseph Michael’s Salon & Spa.