on medication

Yesterday Youngest and I threw in the towel - we buckled under, we gave in and took allergy medicine.
He's been sniffy for days and has to wash his eyes open in the morning.
His medical history would point toward him having an asthma attack under these circumstances, but he's decided he doesn't HAVE asthma anymore and, for the moment, that seems to be holding true.
I, on the other hand, have been scratching the roof of my mouth with my tongue (oh, just TRY TO IMAGINE IT) for two solid weeks and have wrecked such havoc that I'm finding solid food difficult to manage.
SO, my point is: we each took a Claritin in the morning.

I'm not good about medication. I tend to whinge and whine about the side effects and I often feel they outweigh the benefits. As a result, I have never taken this particular pill.
In the meantime, Youngest has been medicated his whole short life. And I mention this because I have never taken HALF the medications that Youngest has been on and have no clue how they've made him feel all these years and it gives me pause.

All these years of inhalers and steroids and treatments and I've never tried any of them - not that I would. BUT yesterday we each took the same medication. He took a nap and I spaced out for a few hours. He read a book and I met with the insurance agent (DON'T GET ME STARTED) and then we met on the patio.

How do you feel, I asked tentatively, I feel like my brain is a tiny marble rolling around in my empty skull, I continued.
I feel like I'm having an anxiety attack, said he, and I don't think I want to take this medicine ever again. My body feels hollow and I feel lost. (We know who is more articulate, don't we?)
FROM A STUPID ALLERGY PILL.
I cannot begin to imagine how he feels when he is on 35 mg of Prednisone.

I could really rant about this - how many medications do we give our children without really knowing how they make them feel?
Of course I can justify my decisions to medicate him all this time. Or not.
I'm going to shut up instead.

If anyone would like some Claritin I can mail it out tomorrow.

Comments

Anonymous said…
My son, who also has asthma, but is no longer on medication, is prescribed Zyrtec (10 mg) by his doctor. I was also prescribed 10 mg of Zyrtec by *my* doctor a few years ago. I weigh THREE times as much as my 8-yr-old, and it made me feel weird and groggy. So...I give my son 1/2 a Zyrtec, only as needed, and I'm afraid to confess as much to his doctor. I give/take as few meds as necessary.

Hope you feel better soon. I, too, am cursed w/ allergies and just use a neti pot. It helps.
islaygirl said…
i think every single person reacts differently to medication, and with my experience walking through the fields of landmines they call antidepressants, it seems obvious to me that just as much as that kind of drug has to be individually tailored, so should any other medication.

which is to say, i agree with what you're saying.
jordi said…
I take an aspirin. One. That's it generally. If aspirin doesn't cure it I suffer through it. I learned the hard way. A dentist gave me Tylenol 3 with codine. The directions said one or two. I took one and slept for 8 hours. I could have LICKED the pill and slept.
I can take Allegra, however. Somehow that works like nothing else. Claritin..furgedaboutit. It makes me furry all over.
Anonymous said…
I had to medicate my youngest as a baby, and it freaked me out so much I avoided any meds for him until he was old enough to make the decision himself.
Badger said…
Claritin gives me heart palpitations. Just like EVERYTHING ELSE.

OMG, my word verification is "pschbekd". I'm going to pronounce that "psych-baked".
alice c said…
Oh dear - Claritin doesn't have this effect on me - it just sorts out my allergic reaction.

Does this mean my brain is already the size of a marble?
Amy A. said…
I get a queasy stomach with vitamins. I hate to swallow pills. I did take 4 days worth of claritin this spring, but I was feeling so terrible, I don't think I felt how bad the medication made me feel.

Hollow and lost are not good things to feel. I hope Youngest finds something better and feels filled and found soon.
Frankie said…
I totally understand how you feel. I have terrible allergies, especially in the summer, but I refuse to take a regular pill. They make me way too drowsy, even when they are supposed to be non-drowsy. I took a non-drowsy Benedryl once and passed out in my underwear on my bed. I was in the middle of changing clothes after work and poof the next thing I remember is waking up. I slept for about an hour but that was crazy! Now I just take something when I am really bad. But usually washing my face with cold water helps my itchy eyes.
Heather said…
oh god. that is my worst childhood memory ... the itchy throat. unmedicated.
as a result I medicate my Youngest for hay fever because I only know what being unmediated feels like ~ not fun either way.
Anonymous said…
allergies,asthma,respiratory problems are subjects i am very well aquainted with. my oldest(17)is like your youngest.she is allergic to so many things that she pretty much needs antihistamines year round(she's also had 6 years of allergy shots).claritin worked great at 1st , then we switched to clarinex. when that became ineffective she went on zyrtec which was great for 3 years. when it became otc instead of presrip she absolutely could not tolerate it. it made her so ill i thought she had a mysterious illness and took her to the doc. pounding headaches ,extreme fatigue to the point she could not think in school and was falling asleep in class. we finally realized it was the otc zyrtec. now she's back on claritin which does not give her the same relief , but it's better than nothing for her. she made it thru tree pollen season with only 2 asthma episodes. on the other hand, my youngest(13) can tolerate zyrtec with no problems. go figure.
mom2
Sarah said…
Claritin can be speedy. Claritin D? Works beautifully so I take it but then again, I haven't slept since. Whoa Nellie, the excess energy! No wonder the state keeps a record of people who buy it.

I have a kid on very necessary prescription meds and know all too well that kids and teens generally react differently from adults to adult meds.

Yeah, I know that was an oddly worded sentence. It's the Claritin D talking.
Annagrace said…
I know the mouth/throat thing all too well. And the eye thing. It gets me in pretty much every important place on my head/face. As for Prednisone, I know a bit about that from watching my brother over the years--NOT fun, but often necessary. Good 'ol steroids.
Anonymous said…
No fun to have a narble brain, let alone to feel lost or hollow.

Get well soon, blackbird and fam (she said as she hacked up her own phlegm and blew her own nose).

jbhat
Fannie said…
My oldest takes....nothing. My youngest (for the six weeks in spring that for her are a living HELL) takes Singulair, Clairinex and Rhinocort AT THE SAME TIME. Then goes 46 weeks taking...nothing. Sheesh.
Miz S said…
You're a sensitive little thing, aren't you?
Anonymous said…
And here I thought I was the only person on the planet who attempted to scratch the top of her mouth and throat with her tongue when her allergies were acting up. You have my sympathies.
Caron said…
Delurking to share what has been a life saver for me the past few summers. I tried something called D-hist from my chiropractors office. once it's built up in my system, I only need 1, sometimes 2 pills a day. And no swinging pendulum of side effects. God help me if my system gets tired of this one. I've tried 'em all.

This is always a lovely place to visit.
Yuck, that itchy roof of mouth? That's what happens when I eat bananas. I'm slightly allergic.

Prednisone makes me feel like a speed addict. My doc gets mad because she writes the prescription, I ignore it, then when I go in with pneumonia I have to sheepishly admit that I didn't take the Prednisone.
Anonymous said…
I take mine at night before bed, either claritin or zyrtec, so sleep through any side effects. You might give that a try. They're supposed to be 24-hour pills...
Anonymous said…
Claritin is not at all helpful with my younger girl's allergies, so we switched to something else. Luckily, the side effects have been minimal. But I understand your hesitation about meds completely. Because of various medical issues, we haven't had the younger girl put on ADHD meds and our intuition turned out to be correct, thank goodness, and she's doing just fine.
Unknown said…
I take Allegra when I need to (getting allergy shots now so I don't need it as much) and never had any problems. Before that, I used to take Tylenol Allergy Sinus and it would make me feel loopy. Then it put me to sleep for about 2 hours and I'd wake up with no allergies.
KPB said…
Lordy be.

I too am in the grip of an insufferable sinus infection that has given me a headache since last Friday and today had me laid so low I have slept most of the day away, so doped on codeine am I.

Suckage.
Jennifer said…
Oh no thanks.. I feel the same as him when I take that stuff. I'll stick with my trusty Advil Cold and Sinus. Works better then any allergy medicine I've ever tried.... and I've tried them all!
Anonymous said…
Unmedicated, the spring allergies make me feel (besides the itching throat, lips, eyes, and the sneezing) like I'm under water for two months. Allegra and Claritin made me feel like I had to crawl out of my own skin - unbearable. Now I take a half Benadryl at bedtime when it doesn't matter if it makes me sleepy - that seems to knock down the allergy enough so it's sort of OK in the daytime. When the pollen ramps up, I just lick the outside of a children's grape chewable Claritin, and that seems to be enough!
Mary K. in Rockport
P.S. I am addicted to reading your blog daily - thanks!
Ali said…
Me too, me too. But you know the worst thing - Clarityn is the best one I've tried. The others make me so drowsy I am afraid to drive the car.

Sodding hayfever.
Kathy Rogers said…
Claritin saved me. I take it almost all the time.

Zyrtec, on the other hand, is the devil.
Caterina said…
I have nothing to offer. No meds, no side effects, no allergies.

My husband however has got it all.