This is a doubt I've had since I started to hang on the boards.

As you may know I'm a chronic allergies sufferer, and since I'm still not into any of those vaccine treatments,the ones with the allergen injected to lower your reaction, well my main course of action is taking clarityn or clarityn D, loratadine to be specific.

The point is that, on my last neurotologyst visit, I came with a strong cold/flu, mostly allergic wich gave me hell(dizziness related), so she gave me the above treatment(loratadine), in combination with ibuprofen, wich gave me relief from my symptoms, both allergies and dizziness.

Clearly as the purpose was to unclough nose and ears, and lower their inflamation process to calm down my symptoms, I still wonder if the loratadine is in the same league of those antihistaminic drugs used to treat dizziness alone, and if this is a factor in my overall improvement after the treatment.

And if this could be true, does anyone knows how does this affects(or not) the long term compensation.

What I'm trying to find out is, if taking this drug could be like taking Antivert(for example), for long periods of time, something that, in the long run could hinder the compensation process by not letting the brain to handle the faulty signals coming from the inner ear and to compensate for them.

Just a doubt that struck me, now in the middle of an allergic crisis.

Cheers

Stargrave...my doctor says it doesn't slow compensation at all...

As far as I know, there are certain anti-histamines whose method of action is through the CNS... these are the ones which can hinder compensation. I dont know what method of action Claritan or Allegra are.... But they dont usually prescribe them like they do a valium, atavan, Meclazine...

Stargrave,

Our brains make two natural chemicals, seratonin and histamine. Have you researched anything on how the antihistamines may interact with the brain chemicals?

I know when I first had my allergic reaction, one of the things I was put on was benedryl. It made me crazy. I was so out of it. My dog has allerigies and in the summer she takes it once in a while and it just knocks her out and she becomes imbalanced. If you are saying it makes you better, maybe you are on to something. I personally would be a dizzy mess if I took it. I can't take any cold remedies with an antihistamine in it. I feel better with the cold symptoms.

Have a good weekend. - Gloria

I have wondered the same thing about antihistamines. I am so glad to read you are finding improvement!
I am in the process of trying to figure myself out-whether it's migraine or allergies, or migraine because of allergies!
I was just thinking today that I might experiment a little-because I had a good week about a month ago and I think I took benadryl a for a couple of nights that week. I was going to try it again for a couple of nights and see what happens. I would LOVE a couple of non-dizzy days!

I am no doc, but I don't think antihistamine would stop compensation-it only blocks your body from over-releasing histamine in response to a substance it doesn't like. Although meclizine is an antihistamine, but perhaps it's the type of antihistamine??? I dunno! :confused:

And, years ago, when I first had vertigo and went to the ER, they literally looked at me, bullied me into saying I had a cold recently, when I said I didn't think I did, and said "well there you go, you have labrynthitis". No testing, NOT A ONE. Just looked at my eyes and said "labs". Well, that was 12 years ago, so I'll move on....anyway my point is they gave me meclizine (which I didn't think helped me much at all) and told me to take ibuprofin because it will reduce swelling.

So there you go...antihistamines and ibuprofin. I have also read on this board people from the UK are given an antihistamine for migraine prevention but it is not FDA approved in US -Pizotifen I believe it's called. So perhaps there's something to the antihistamine theory!

I am pretty sure Meclizine is an antihistamine and that is meant to help remedy dizziness they say don't mix with benadryl because they are both antihistamines and will make you more sleepy. Not sure how they would affect your compensation....

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

I think I'll take the medicine since this allergy bout is practically KILLING me...

Add to the equation an inflamater ear, or ears to be precise, and I'm in dizzylands' hell.

I still can't figure out if, even as this is surely a decompensation factor, if I ever could be able to compensate for it, and at least not feel dizzy while I'm already dying from my alergic stuf...

Here's where I'm still considering that MAV factor, but, I need to take this all under ocntrol, first to ease on my symptoms, and next to take it out as the first, or only chouce of decomp for my neurotologyst, wich I think, kind of missconsidered my migraine history ruling it out as a dizzy factor, don't know why.

Thanks again to everyone, have a dizzy free weekend.

I don't think this is something that can be compensated for...if you have dizzies because of allergies, I would put it in the category as a symptom of allergies, like itchy eyes and runny nose. You can never fully get away from a runny nose, so we do what we can to stop that symptom until the next allergy attack/cold/whatever. So, if dizziness is something that happens to you when you get hit with allergies, take the meds!
I guess it is the same type of thing with MAV, dizziness is due to the migraine-if your symptom responds to the meds, you take the meds. Do people ever get "over" the symptoms of vertigo/dizziness with migraine?