Antihistamines before air travel?

[msmama]

That used to happen to me (grew out of it) and a nice flight attendant once told me that sour lemon candy was the best thing to suck on when flying.

This was before earplanes though and I think I would go with that now, lol.

 

[Disneyholic]

Everybody in my family is the same. We all have severe ear pain due to not being able to de/re-pressurize our ears on take off and landing. We take a diphenhydramine tablet the night before and when we do this we generally don't have an issue. You can get this in walmart, it is in their own brand of sleeping pills. It is the same as what you would find in benadryl. Just be aware it will make everybody sleepy... Now this is an antihistamine so read up on the side affects but it has been around since the beginning of time... Something to consider... I actually take a fairly strong does of it every night to keep my severe allergies in check and to help me sleep. So i am use to it. I would keep trying your doctor. Don't take it with Valium, they would have to carry you off the air plane... You will wake up on the luggage carousal with a Magical Express luggage tag taped to your forehead... The again that may be a better way to fly...you would wake up in your hotel room next to the luggage. Something else to consider...

I cannot take benadryl/diphenhydramine. I not only get sleepy, I get paranoia, itchy skin, buzzing in my head and tunnel vision. If I get the liquid stuff on my skin I get a burn & the skin peels off the next day. If the liquid does that on the outside what is the pill doing on the inside? Just a word of warning, if you haven't used it before, don't do it just before a trip.

Benadryl is use in many over the counter meds and is safe for many, but there are a few of us out there who can't take it. It is in Sominex, Nyquil sleep aid a few others. Check the labels. Actifed used to have triprolodine but they changed the formula and now it has Benadryl. Thank God I read labels, or I would have been in trouble. I was taking Actifed when it was prescription & for many years after until they changed to their new & improved version.

As others have said, get your information from your doctor. And try the stuff out ahead of time to make sure you don't have any bad side effects from it that may affect your trip.

Good luck. I get ear pain from flying, too. That is why we drive almost everywhere we go now unless we can't get there in a car.

 

[ChristineNic]

A word of caution - not everyone gets sleepy with benadryl - some people get crazy wired. So unless you are SURE your family gets sleepy, dont take it before bed!!! (ask me how I know, I dare ya)

This is very true. My mother is one of those people that gets wired from Benadryl. One night she took something with the same active ingredient in it and I found her standing on her bed, cleaning her ceiling fan at 3 AM.

 

[Herfnerd]

Antihistamines are generally taken for motion sickness - Dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) "turns into" Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) in the body. Bonine (Meclizine) is another antihistamine that does not make people quite as drowsy and is an effective motion sickness treatment - lasts up to 24 hours vs 6-8 for Dramamine.

Unless your GP thinks the cause of the ear issues is allergy related, he probably did mean a decongestant. Then again......

BTW - the PP, Hopefully, that posted about asking strangers online for medical help does have a valid point in this regards. The GP should be contacted to clarify what his diagnosis and course of treatment is. There was no need to get snippy with them.

 

[bumbershoot]

...but he is the appropriate person to talk to regarding your child, his patient.
Please take the time to reach him for the correct, safe advice.

Doctors are not infallible. I will take info from 100 people over 1 single doctor any day of the week.

I guess I need to try those out! And maybe question my doc after all. Since he is the one that prescribed both nasal sprays for the trip, telling us to use them for two weeks prior.

Perfect case in point. Either the doctor not knowing, not remembering, not speaking clearly, or not communicating well.



The first time I really remember flying, I had horrible ear pain. It was the 8th grade DC trip, we were flying from San Francisco. It was a LONG flight. And I was in the middle of the middle row of the wide-body planes, and felt very alone. It really hurt. But the way home, no pain. I wouldn't take one flight, or even a set of flights, to mean you will always have pain.

And I over-react to things like Benadryl to the point where I am OUT the rest of the day. That is not the state I want to be in while in an airport or on a plane. Especially not while on a plane. And things like that sometimes, for me, do the drowsy thing well, but forget to do the things they are *supposed to* do. I took something during my last bout of plague (what I've been calling the stuff that was going around in December and earlier in Fall) that made me really out of it, but didn't take care of anything else. So I was coughing and miserable and having breathing issues, AND I was basically hallucinating from the drug. AWESOME.

I would start with the earplanes and some lollipops. If you have problems, well, there are drugstores in Orlando.


DS's first two sets of flights were fine, ear-wise. Third time he had lots of pain on descent. So we started with the earplanes (didn't even think of a drug because the only other time he's had something like that he went bonkers...the dentist wanted him drugged and we did because we didnt' want to be fired from their office, and it was the whole day, lost to DS's violence and hyperactivity thanks to the thing that makes it a syrup, aka corn syrup and/or HFCS) and they were awesome. Now he's 8, his eustachion tubes have grown along with him, and he just goes with a lollipop (safe, non corn syrup based one of course). Things change!

 

[TXMalecifent]

Earplanes saved my life! I cannot fly without them, my ear pain is so extreme.

 

[moopdog]

Earplanes saved my life! I cannot fly without them, my ear pain is so extreme.

My pharmacy has them ! Thank you so much for the tip... I've never even heard of them. They only have the adult size but she is only one inch shorter than me, so I am hoping they work for her. If they don't seem like a good fit I am pretty sure the airport (Philly) will have them for sale & I can look for the child size then.

 

[mmafan]

A word of caution - not everyone gets sleepy with benadryl - some people get crazy wired. So unless you are SURE your family gets sleepy, dont take it before bed!!! (ask me how I know, I dare ya)

lol benadryl works for my 3yo son....but he turns in to stich!!!!!but with only 2 arms...lol

 

[mmafan]

Meclizine.......works for my wife