I recently had a sinus infection that was causing sinus headaches when I woke up along with the usual congestion, etc. When I went to the doctor I was given the antibiotics to clear up the infection and was told to take Claritin as well for the congestion since my allergies were causing that as much as the infection was.

Since I was taking the Claritin 12 hour I was having trouble sleeping but the headaches were gone and I was felling pretty good. It took me a while to figure it out but taking the Claritin0D before going to bed wasn't the smartest thing since I've always had some trouble sleeping and the non-drowsy part obviously was keeping me awake.

I tried taking the regular Claritin (jsut Allergy) 24 hour stuff in the morning and the past 4 days I've had headaches that woke me up in the middle of the night and were really bad by the time I woke up.

What can I take that would help with the headaches without keeping me up all night? I haven't seen a 24-hour Claritin-D yet- I was wondering if that would work if they even make it. ANy suggestions would be great.

Thanks

Take your Claritin-D right before you go to sleep, so that you can fall asleep before the decongestant stimulant effect kicks in. Your issue is not with anti-histamine.. but the decongestant as you have found out. All decongestants have this effect. In addition to the Claritin-D you can try saline nasal rinses minimum of four times a day while congested.. and a nasal oil, Ponaris right before you go to bed. Ponaris is over the counter, but you normally have to request that the pharmacist order it.

If you sinusittus mess has converted into a sinus infection you will most likely need anti-biotics to kill it and get rid of it once and for all.

Sincerely,
MG

The sinus infection is mostly gone, just a little congestion. So I'm pretty sure I don't need more anti-biotics, it's just the allergies that are causing the headache and congestion now.

It's not ALL decongestants that keep me awake- just the Claritin-D. I've used sudafed and stuff before without the lack of sleep but since it wears off after 4-6 hours I stil feel awful when I wake up. I've tried taking the Claritin immediately before bed, but all the happens is I wake up after 45 minutes or so and can't fall back asleep.

Ideally there should be some type of nighttime decongestant/allergy medicine that won't wear off after a couple hours. Too bad my prescription plan for work sucks and Zyrtek isn't covered because that usually worked fine, but way too much money to keep taking.

I've tried Saline rinses and they just make me feel more congested.

See about using Allegra instead of Zyrtec. It has been recently released in a generic form.

The Claritin-D you are buying does it have psudephedrine in it or the 70% less effective PSE derivative? I couldn't take the claritin's because it caused me to have heart palps.. never had a drug do that before..

So if you are wanting the best allergy relief.. the generic Allegra and there is an Allegra-D might be worth a try. See if your GP can get you some samples to try since you are having odd reactions. If your GP is good he will try to work with you an save you a bit of money, by letting you try it before buying the script.

Respectfully,
MG

If you can find it try DIMETANE (not Dimetapp) but it is hard to find. Or try the CVS non-ephenerine formula is available.