Intercepted from the public account "Pollen Monitoring and Forecasting"
Parents often ask me: Can anti-allergic drugs be given to children for a long time? For example, loratadine, desloratadine, cetirizine, levocetirizine and other drugs.
Children often use antiallergic drugs for the treatment of allergic rhinitis
Age and dosage are recommended when using AR
I have answered this question many times, and I will answer it again today:
Before taking any medication for a long time, the first thing to do is to weigh the pros and cons. When the benefits of controlling symptoms with antiallergic drugs are greater than the disadvantages caused by allergic rhinitis to children, antiallergic drugs can be taken for a long time.
So how to weigh it, this usually requires the help of professionals, so long-term anti-allergy drugs must be under the guidance of a professional doctor or pharmacist.
In general, oral antiallergics are divided into three generations (clinically strictly two generations):
The first generation of the most commonly used are chlorpheniramine maleate (commonly known as chlorpheniramine), diphenhydramine hydrochloride, etc., this type of drug has a similar effect, and it is necessary to use it multiple times a day. The most common side effect is drowsiness. Moreover, for children younger than six years old, the safety is not clear, so it is not suitable for children to take, let alone eat for a long time.
The second generation is most commonly used are loratadine, cetirizine and the like. Compared with the first generation of anti-allergic drugs, the adverse reactions of drowsiness are small, the number of medications per day is also small, it is more convenient to eat once a day, the children's safety data is more comprehensive and specific, suitable for long-term use of children, some children need to take the disease, and even take 3-6 months without seeing serious adverse reactions.
The third generation of antiallergic drugs is the metabolite of the second generation of antiallergic drugs, mainly including levocetirizine, fexofenadine, desloratadine, etc., the research and development positioning of this type of drug is to hope that the adverse reactions of the central system are less than the second generation, however, at present, this expectation has not been clinically confirmed, so the clinic often still classifies them to the second generation, and it is not recognized that there are third-generation anti-allergic drugs.
Due to individual sensitivities, the appropriate oral antiallergic drugs will be different for each person. What should people who take an anti-allergic drug that does not work well do?
It can be exchanged for another variety of the same drug. For example, for myself, the effect of taking loratadine is not as good as the effect of cetirizine. And my husband, the effect of taking loratadine to control allergies is very good.
Because oral antiallergic drugs are usually used for a long time when treating some children's allergic diseases, many parents are worried about the side effects of such drugs. Thankfully, there is currently no evidence that long-term use of commonly used second-generation anti-allergy drugs can cause serious side effects such as drug dependence and heart damage.
However, here need to mention a cause of severe arrhythmias, has now been withdrawn anti-allergy drug astemizole (once also called cismin), once widely used, after the withdrawal of the drug factory reluctant to this trade name, and now it is installed to loratadine head, leading many people to worry about the cardiotoxicity of loratadine, in fact, the normal dose of loratadine, in the clinic rarely see cardiac side effects, if the condition requires, loratadine can also be used for a long time.
At present, the common adverse reactions of the second generation of anti-allergic drugs that are widely used mainly include drowsiness, headache, dry mouth, dry eyes, weight gain, etc., of which drowsiness is the most common, about 10% of the incidence, I belong to one of the people who will be sleepy after eating cetirizine. By the way, the side effects of dry eyes are also evident in me.
Of course, in addition to oral antiallergic drugs, there are also nasal antiallergic drugs that have a relatively fast onset, such as azelastine nasal spray, which is equivalent to oral antiallergic drugs, and the relief of nasal congestion symptoms is better than oral, but it is not suitable for children under 6 years old.
Generally, the medication is taken twice a day, and the course of treatment is not less than 2 weeks. Usually for children with moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis whose symptoms are not effective in controlling symptoms with second- and third-generation oral anti-allergic drugs, treatment with azodestine nasal spray alone for 2 weeks can significantly improve nasal symptoms.
Adverse reactions are also mainly drowsiness, dry nose, dry mouth, dreams, cough, etc., if used improperly (such as tilting your head back when spraying) will produce spicy taste, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms.
To learn more about the treatment of allergic rhinitis in children, please visit the "Appointment" live broadcast below.
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