Fighting allergies seems like a constant battle for some parents and children, especially when kids have hard to control allergies.
Many parents are already working to control indoor allergies, limit exposure to outdoor allergens, and have tried most of the available allergy medicines, including:
- Allegra (fexofenadine)
- Clarinex (desloratadine)
- Claritin (loratadine)
- Singulair (montelukast)
- Zyrtec (cetirizine)
- Flonase (fluticasone)
- Nasocort AQ (triamcinolone)
- Nasonex (mometasone)
- Rhinocort Aqua (budesonide)
- Astelin (azelastine)
If some combination of these allergy medications aren't working, a newer allergy medication might be worth a try, such as:
Veramyst
Veramyst (fluticasone) is a once-a-day steroid nasal spray that is approved to seasonal and perennial (year-round) allergy symptoms in children who are at least 2 years old.
Unlike other steroid nasal sprays, Veramyst is also approved to treat seasonal eye allergy symptoms in children who are at least 12 years old. The fine-mist delivery system also seems to be a little better tolerated by kids than many other nasal sprays.
Headaches and nosebleeds were the most common side effects of using Veramyst.
Xyzal
Xyzal (levocetirizine) is a newer allergy medicine created by removing one of the enantiomers or parts of the chemical form of Zyrtec, with the plan of making it more effective and having less side effects. It is approved to treat seasonal and perennial allergies and chronic hives in children over age 6, teens, and adults.
Xyzal is also available as an oral solution, but is still just approved for children over age 6.
Patanase
Patanase (olopatadine) is an antihistamine nasal spray, similar to Astelin, that is approved to treat seasonal allergies in children who are at least 12 years old. Like Astelin, the biggest side effect that users complained of was a bitter taste following its use, which may limit how much kids will use it.
Patanase does work within 30 minutes. So it may be a good option when other medications aren't working for your older child.
Omnaris
Omnaris (ciclesonide) is a steroid nasal spray that has been approved to treat seasonal allergies in children who are at least 6 years old and perennial allergies in children who are 12 years old and older.
Omnaris has the benefit over some other nasal steroids of using a hypotonic suspension and potassium sorbate preservative, which is often better tolerated than the benzalkonium chloride preservative that is still used in some other nasal steroids, such as Flonase (fluticasone).
Allegra
Although Allegra is not a new medication, the availability of an oral suspension for younger children is fairly new, being introduced in 2007. With the Allegra oral suspension, it now be used to treat children between the ages of 2 to 11 years of age with seasonal allergies and infants as young as 6 months with chronic hives.
Allegra is also now available as an orally disintegrating tablets. Allegra ODT can used in children between the ages of 6 to 11 years and is great for younger kids who don't like taking the syrup form of medicines.
Generic Zyrtec syrup
Although Zyrtec has been around a while and is now available over the counter without a prescription, there should be a generic version available soon. This will hopefully bring some competition and lower prices for these allergy medications.
Sources:
Fluticasone furoate nasal spray: a single treatment option for the symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis. Kaiser HB - J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-JUN-2007; 119(6): 1430-7.
Levocetirizine: pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in children age 6 to 11 years. Simons FE - J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-AUG-2005; 116(2): 355-61.
Comparative pharmacology of H1 antihistamines: clinical relevance. Simons FE - Am J Med - 16-DEC-2002; 113 Suppl 9A: 38S-46S.
Efficacy and safety of ciclesonide nasal spray for the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis. Ratner PH - J Allergy Clin Immunol - 01-NOV-2006; 118(5): 1142-8.
