Sinus Pressue from Allergies - Mixing Meds

Reckless

Hey guys.

I've got me some pretty bad sinus pressure going on, most likely from seasonal allergies with the changing of the seasons that's just recently happened up here. I take OTC Claritin-D for the allergies only when needed, and I've got some Tylenol non-drowsy Cold & Sinus as well. Is it alright if I take both of these simultaneously?

Thanks for any help.

Deathwing

IIRC, both of those medicines contain the decongestant pseudoephedrine (i.e. Sudafed) - that's what the "D" and "non-drowsy" are indicating.

While it probably won't do anything worse than make you feel a bit hyper and run your blood pressure up a bit (if that), it might be a good idea to check with a pharmacist or your doctor before taking both at the same time, as it could put you over the normal recommended dosage for pseudoephedrine depending on how often you take them.

Personally, as a fellow allergy sufferer, I do okay just taking Claratin/Benadryl, and Sudafed only if it gets really bad. I also have a steroid (no, not THAT kind) nasal spray that works very well as a decongestant, but you need a prescription for that sort of thing.

Again, at least just ask the pharmacist wherever you're buying the medicine - unless there's one lurking on this board, they can probably give you a much more authoritative answer than anyone here.

EDIT: And as Thanatos pointed out below (and which I forgot about), if you didn't have to provide ID and get the Cold & Sinus from behind the pharmacy counter, it doesn't have pseudoephedrine, and you can ignore most of what I said above. Phenylephrine (for me, anyway) is basically the same as eating sugar - it doesn't do crap to help congestion, and it won't interact badly with the other stuff.

You might also want to consider a sinus rinse - surprisingly helpful sometimes.

Thanatos

Unless you bought it behind the counter, the Tylenol doesn't have pseudoephedrine in it, it probably has phenylephrine. There are no interaction problems between phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine, and really, not much overlap, given that pseudoephedrine actually does something, whereas phenylephrine doesn't.

Kerbob97

I would highly recommend the Ayr Nasal Rinse. I normally sound like a bad imitation of a coke head this time of year, with sinus headaches that feel like my lobes are juggling anvils and sledgehammers.

I bought the little $9 kit, and while it seemed totally crazy at first, flushed my nose out.

And it worked, - no more sinus headaches, drippy nose, or general misery. Read the directions and follow them. Best of all, no crazy side effects and it ends up being cheaper.

Thanatos

Kerbob97 wrote: »

I would highly recommend the Ayr Nasal Rinse. I normally sound like a bad imitation of a coke head this time of year, with sinus headaches that feel like my lobes are juggling anvils and sledgehammers.

I bought the little $9 kit, and while it seemed totally crazy at first, flushed my nose out.

And it worked, - no more sinus headaches, drippy nose, or general misery. Read the directions and follow them. Best of all, no crazy side effects and it ends up being cheaper.

You paid $9 for a nasal spray bottle filled with saltwater that doesn't even come pre-mixed?

LondonBridge

Get the Neilmed sinus rinse, best fucking thing ever for flushing out your sinuses!! It worked so well that I had no idea that Slimer from Ghostbusters was actually living in my head till I flushed him out!

http://www.neilmed.com/usa/products.php#sinusrinse

Thanatos

Guys, seriously, these things are saltwater in spray bottles. You can get the same thing generically at your local drugstore for a tenth of the price. I mean, don't get me wrong, they totally work, but it's not exactly high-grade pharmaceuticals.

The Muffin Man

I suggest getting the Claritin "24 hour" pills. I have been taking them once a day from spring to Fall for a few years now and I must admit that they work wonders. I dunno if the stuff you take is the same or not, but the once-a-day pills are great.

Although the dissolving ones that they have seem to take longer to "kick in" over the course of about a week, and they don't seem to act as fast as the regular pills.

X5

Thanatos is correct in pointing out that mixing pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine isn't anything to worry about.

If you are this congested from allergies though, and it's likely to last for a few weeks while the seasons change, This should go without saying, but make sure to stay hydrated. Those cold and sinus meds work wonders but also dry you and anything in your nasal passages out.

Kerbob97

Thanatos wrote: »

Kerbob97 wrote: »

I would highly recommend the Ayr Nasal Rinse. I normally sound like a bad imitation of a coke head this time of year, with sinus headaches that feel like my lobes are juggling anvils and sledgehammers.

I bought the little $9 kit, and while it seemed totally crazy at first, flushed my nose out.

And it worked, - no more sinus headaches, drippy nose, or general misery. Read the directions and follow them. Best of all, no crazy side effects and it ends up being cheaper.

You paid $9 for a nasal spray bottle filled with saltwater that doesn't even come pre-mixed?

This was at like 3 in the morning, and I had a meeting at 8AM the next day. My nose was the river of slime from Ghostbusters and I sounded like I had a bad case of "coke nose". At that point, the old Mayan (Aztec?) method of drilling a hole in the head to let the evil spirits out was a viable option.

so $9 for a kit that was portable, and I can throw in my luggage works. It comes with like 100 packets of the stuff. And yes it is salt and baking soda pretty much, but remember you use like 8 oz of the liquid at a time. So if it was premixed, even at 10 cents, you would pay more. Plus, you can adjust the intensity of the mix by using 1 to 3 packets depending on the severity of your issues. The three packet mix is actually almost painful in it's strength, but it burns that shit out of your head in one shot.

Also, have you priced OTC drugs lately? The quick dissolve Benadryl strips I have used in the past are like $15 for 5 or 6 strips, and it feels like some toxic alien took a radioactive shit in my mouth afterwards and makes me groggy as hell.