Aaaaattttcchoooooooooo ooooooooooooo! (Benadryl Plus)

Member Name: CaptainD

Product:	Benadryl Plus
Date:	03/09/05 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast, effective symptomatic relief of hay fever / other allergies; no side-effects that I've had

Disadvantages: Expensive

Tis’ the season of Spring (well it was when I actually wrote the review, I know we're now approaching the end of summer!), and many a young man (and woman)’s fancy turns to thoughts of…

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HAY FEVER

Yes, we may think of love, but if we suffer from seasonal rhinitis, we are more likely to be concerned with stopping our lives from being ruined for a few months. (Thoughts of love are often less romantic with streaming eyes and nose along with constant sneezing.) I have tried many different remedies for my hay fever over the years – homeopathic (works okay if you remember to start taking them about 3 months in advance!), Claratyn (about as much good as taking M&M’s), Trilludan (generic name Teffenerdine – work okay for hay fever symptoms but caused side effects such as migraine – now taken of the market, at least in the UK)… but Benedryl have definitely proved to be the best overall remedy. Since nasal congestion tends to accompany the sneezing et al, Benadryl Plusgives better symptomatic relief than the ordinary type – though obviously it costs a little more.

The tablets themselves are small and easy to swallow, and don’t leave a disgusting taste in your mouth if you still manage to have difficulty swallowing them. I have not noticed any side-effects although very occasionally they seem to cause a little drowsiness. (Though other people have had the opposite effect - it is supposed to be "non-drowsy" after all - so you may not want to take them too close to bedtime...)

For effective relief of hay fever symptoms, they are unbeatable – which, as any other sufferer will know, is a life-saver. As well as working well against hay fever, Benadryl is also an effective general antihistamine, providing fast symptomatic relief from cat and dust allergies in my case. I find that this relief last approximately 12 hours, obviously depending on just how much exposure to pollen / allergens I have in that time. It is rare that I need to take a second pill in the evening, and on the occasions I have needed to, it has not interfered with my sleep pattern. Long-term use is of course not really advisable unless it’s unavoidable, though this is obviously true of any drug and is not a reflection on Benadryl in particular.

They are available in packets of 12 / 24 (which works out very slightly cheaper per tablet - £8.95 in UK pharmacies). Personally I think this is a little on the steep side and I would also like to see 48 / /96 / 120-tablet packets, with accordingly lower prices. With the average price at just over 37p per tablet I can see why they don’t do the larger packets though – I doubt if anyone would be very happy paying nearly £40 for enough tablets to last them the whole hay fever season (although you will end up paying that anyway, just in smaller quantities!). The Pharmacists won't let you buy two boxes of 24 at once though, which is probably why they don't sell them in bigger boxes. (Although this is an "Over The counter" drug, it is controlled, so you have to actually ask for it - they're kept locked away so you can't simply pick it up yourself.)

Ingredients
Acrivastine 8mg, Pseudoephedine hydrochloride 60mg. Max sodium content: 1mg per capsule.

Contra-Indications

None that I'm aware of, but as always if you're not sure, consult your GP / MD (that's what you guys in the States call your local doctor, right?) or ask the dispensing Pharmacist. Not for use by those under 12 or over 65 years of age.

Summary

While Benadryl Plus does give excellent symptomatic relief quickly and for a respectable length of time, I don’t feel I can give it 5 stars as it is rather expensive. While it’s true that you can’t put a price on good health, it doesn’t change the fact that you also need to be careful how much you spend, even on medication. (And besides, getting relief from certain symptoms hardly means being in “good health”…) It’s not exactly daylight robbery, but if you have serious hay fever (and need to take 2 per day), you could find yourself seriously out of pocket. On the other hand, Benadryl is by far the best hay fever remedy that I’ve used. So a good 4 stars, would have been 5 if it had been a little cheaper.

Speaking of making money by taking advantage of people’s health problems, don’t get me started on the subject of opticians and dentists!…


Thanks as always for reading my deranged ramblings,


CaptainD

Summary: I wish it was a little cheaper, but this is probably the best antihistamine on the market at the mom