Hayfever hassle - try Benadryl (Benadryl Allergy Relief)

Member Name: Absy_Baby

Product:	Benadryl Allergy Relief
Date:	11/06/09 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It clears congestion, sore/itchy throats

Disadvantages: Expensive, it does wear off!!

Like so many people I thought I was not a hay fever sufferer, that is until last year, June time, I had a stinking cold, it lasted over a month and everybody including myself was sick of hearing me moan, sneeze, cough, including me.

I was taking the usual cold and flu medication/tablets/drinks/sweets, you name it. Nothing worked, so I took a trip to the doctors where he told me I was one of the unfortunate people who NOW suffered from hay fever.

Just like clockwork 1st June, lovely weather, guess who thought she had a cold again?! Me. This time I'm on it though, I got some Benadryl, allergy relief.

The box is white and blue, the selling points on the front state:
Fast effective relief from allergies
Active in 15 minutes
Lasts 8 hours

The box also lists on the front the allergies in which Benadryl is effective, Hay fever, dust, pet, skin.

I have a rather sensitive nose and I am often sneezing at dust and especially smoke, so thought these must help.

The box contains 24 capsules and on the directions on the back it warns: do not exceed the stated dose, which in this case is, no more than 3 tablets in a 24 hour period. This is the recommended dose for children and adults aged between 12-65.

The box does say you should take one tablet at any time so I presume it's not wise to take 3 in one go, so far the maximum I've taken is 2 a day, but I've had 2 today and think I may well need another one come 6pm, to get me through the night.

I think it also makes a difference if you go outside, for example, if I went to the pub tonight to sit in the garden I would definitely need another one, but if I were inside I think I could survive.

The tablets themselves are in a blister packet and there are 12 on each blister packet, and two within the box. The tablets are 1.5 cm in length and 0.5 cm in width. I am not the best at swallowing tablets but these are easy. They are capsule material, rubbery and go down without too much fuss. The capsules are white.

For me, these tablets do what they say on the packet, they work relatively quickly, I'd say within half an hour, to 45 minutes. I get a very runny nose just like with a cold, and the tablets completely drain all the congestion I get. I also get itchy eyes (so annoying as I can't wear my contact lenses) and they itch like mad, the tablets do get rid of this. Then my last and perhaps strangest symptom, is I get an itchy back of my mouth at the top, it's horrid, I tried scratching it with a breadstick, constantly drinking water to cool it, but it was AWFUL. The tablets stop the itching.

These tablets aren't cheap costing around the £7.00 mark, I paid £6.96 from Asda but I can imagine the price can vary. I will continue to look for alternatives that are cheaper but in the mean, they work for me.

I personally would really rate these tablets BUT I appreciate these won't work for everyone, I've tried quite a few pills last year and now I am happy with Benadryl because it works for me.

Summary: Good fix while it works, quite expensive, need to keep popping pills