Doctor suggested trying 20mg children's zyrtec for child's severe allergies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Does this sound safe. It would be 10mg in morning and 10mg before bed for an 11 year old with severe seasonal allergies and contact dermatitis. Has anyone give this much daily to their child?

I'm not 11 , but sometimes if I am having REALLY bad reaction (my main allergy symptom is a headache that ibuprofen, etc won't get rid of) I will take two doses of Claritin per day. My DH also does this at the start of allergy season, and then tapers off to the once per day dosage. Was this an allergist, or just a pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

OP, why don't you start off twice a day with the 5 mg kids dose and if that doesn't work, go higher. I like Zyrtec over the other ones and I've tried them all. It does not make me tired like many other meds. I think Benadryl is better at night than Zyrtec and I've tried it both ways. I only use as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Zyrtec is fine. Also it was the first by the fda approved for kids. But be careful -- a common side effect is hyperactivity.

Interesting, it makes me sleepy.

[Anonymous]

How large is the child? An 11 yo can be nearly the height/weight of an adult (or sometimes more),

I agree it is not unusual for a doctor to recommend exceeding the package limits (don't do this with Tylenol), but if nervous, ask him/her about giving one type of allergy med in the am and a different one in the pm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zyrtec is fine. Also it was the first by the fda approved for kids. But be careful -- a common side effect is hyperactivity.

Interesting, it makes me sleepy.

Different meds do different things to different people. I take Claritin just fine, but Allegra puts me into a coma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Does this sound safe. It would be 10mg in morning and 10mg before bed for an 11 year old with severe seasonal allergies and contact dermatitis. Has anyone give this much daily to their child?

I'm not 11 , but sometimes if I am having REALLY bad reaction (my main allergy symptom is a headache that ibuprofen, etc won't get rid of) I will take two doses of Claritin per day. My DH also does this at the start of allergy season, and then tapers off to the once per day dosage. Was this an allergist, or just a pediatrician?

OP here. It was the pediatrician who was in a rush and had a lot going on. She's a great pediatrician, but she didn't seem to be paying attention and she usually does. We have a good allergist, but we won't be able to get in for a few months. I didn't feel comfortable calling to speak to the allergist because we haven't seen him in over 3 years. Zyrtec was enough to deal with seasonal and we just avoided all the allergy foods.

[Anonymous]

Instead of doubling on zyrtec, I would add in a nasal spray like flonase that is OTC. If you are already doing that, then add a dose of benadryl at night instead of just more zyrtec. If you read the research, most of it says that increasing the dose of zyrtec does not double the effectiveness. That's why you should add a different med instead of more of the same. This is what all of my allergists have told me. Even when my dd was 6 and having a bad bout, we did allegra with benadryl when she was having bad symptoms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Zyrtec is fine. Also it was the first by the fda approved for kids. But be careful -- a common side effect is hyperactivity.

Interesting, it makes me sleepy.

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