What is Loratadine?

Did you know your body can become immune to the effects of allergy medications over time? This happened to me after taking loratadine for two years, and I had to switch for awhile.

I told my doctor that my allergies had returned, and she told me that I needed to switch up my medications occasionally in order for them to maintain their effectiveness in my system. So, I switched to cetirizine hydrochloride for six months, and my symptoms cleared up.

Once the six months were up, I switched back to loratadine. It worked as wonderfully as it had in the beginning.

@cloudel - I had the same issue with loratadine as you, but I discovered a way to get around the problem. Since I take most of my other medications at night, I started taking loratadine right before bed, also.

I found that in addition to staying awake and sniffle-free the next day, I also fell asleep sooner and slept more soundly. This drug should be marketed as a sleeping pill!

I feel your pain. I could not have continued taking it if I had to do so in the morning, because I could not function. My brain was cloudy, and my body slowed down. I hope taking it at night works as well for you as it did for me.

Loratadine does a better job at stopping my allergy symptoms than anything else I have tried. I have one issue with it, however.

It makes me so sleepy that I can hardly stay awake! Driving to work is difficult, but staying conscious at my desk is even harder.

I feel miserable being this sleepy, but I also feel terrible sniffing and sneezing all day without the drug. Does anyone know of anything I can do to keep taking it but stay alert at the same time?

I decided to try loratadine after my sister raved about it. She works in a veterinary clinic, and it helped her with her allergy problems, even though she is exposed to cat and dog hair on a daily basis.

After the first day of trying it, I was amazed at how well it worked. A few days later, though, I started having intestinal cramps. It felt like I had trapped gas, and it was pretty painful.

I had to stop taking loratadine, but I did find another antihistamine that worked for me. It’s a shame though, because it doesn’t work as well as loratadine.

I just wanted to mention that I take loratadine, and I don't notice a difference when I take the store brand versus the name brand. The active ingredient is exactly the same! Check the bottles!

The biggest difference is really the price. And if you're trying to be conscientious about you're budget, using store brand medicine is a good place to start.

@JessicaLynn - Some of the supposed non-drowsy allergy medicines do make me drowsy. I took Zyrtec briefly and it made me so sleepy. I ended up switching to loratadine, which I'm fine with.

I have a lot of allergies too, and I keep meaning to go get allergy testes. However, I don't think I can go for a week without taking my medicine! I think I'm going to have to wait until the dead of winter one year and make sure my house is really, really clean. It stinks that allergy medicine can interfere with allergy testing!

You know, it's funny that loratadine can make you drowsy. Because it's marketed as a non-drowsy anti-histamine! I'm pretty sure some of the other "non-drowsy" anti-histamines can cause drowsiness also.

I take an anti-histamine on a regular basis, and luckily it doesn't make me drowsy because I really need to take it. I have a ton of allergies.

I have to say, too, that I'm extremely happy that drugs like Claritin and Allegra are available over the counter now. I used to pay twice as much for my medicine when it was prescription only!