The best antihistamines for children

*Review of the best according to the editorial board. Selection Criteria. This material is subjective, not an advertisement and is not intended as a guide to purchase. Consultation with a specialist is necessary before purchase.

Drugs produced for children – these are drugs that attract the attention not only of parents, but also of regulatory agencies, including Rosravnadzor. Drugs that are registered for use in children should be carefully tested for safety, side effects and contraindications, which inevitably every medication has, they should be clearly and unambiguously defined.

Possible symptoms of side effects should be well structured. After all, young children who can not yet speak, are unlikely to complain that the drug did not suit them, and, for example, there was pain or discomfort in the stomach. Of course, if the side effect is any rash, then parents, after reading the instructions, will be warned and in the presence of such a rash, you can cancel the drug and consult a doctor, but not always the side effects will be so obvious.

One of the groups of drugs that are often used in children of all ages are allergy remedies. The baby is just forming an immune system, including the ability to react properly to the intake of various allergens. We can say that the newborn baby immediately gets into a whole world of allergens. If during its intrauterine development, its conditions of existence were sterile, and the expectant mother was fed correctly, the child will not be affected by any allergic substances.

But immediately after birth, the baby is literally attacked by a variety of allergens. This fabric of diapers, detergents, after a few months – complementary foods, household allergens such as house dust, down and feather pillows, pet hair, aquarium fish food, other potentially harmful substances.

Summer is also a serious test for the baby. Pollen from grasses, dust, flowering plants, bites from various insects – all can provoke the immature body to form a pathological and excessive allergic response. In addition, heredity must not be forgotten. After all, if parents have polyvalent allergies, atopic bronchial asthma, the risk of a child having allergies increases significantly.

In this case, it is advisable to consult an allergist-immunologist, and if necessary, parents should take the appropriate tests, and also make them the child to determine whether the baby will have a hypersensitive reaction to any food, or other contact, respiratory or food allergens.

But what to do if your child has already had an allergic reaction? What to do if your baby has a skin rash, hives, dry nighttime cough, bronchial spasm with difficulty exhaling, and wheezing? What to do if a child has allergic rhinitis with copious amounts of clear mucous discharge? Naturally, you should first consult your pediatrician, and if the situation is not an emergency, you can also show your baby to a pediatric allergologist.

And only after seeing a doctor can parents be sure exactly when, under what conditions a child should be given anti-allergy medication. These remedies can be prescribed as a single dose, as an emergency, for example, when an allergic reaction has already developed. This may be a short course of medication, but it can also be quite long – for example, if a person is diagnosed with bronchial asthma.

In this review we will look at those medications that are used in the Russian Federation and around the world by pediatricians and allergists to treat children and relieve the symptoms of allergies.

Allergy medicines for children

Before we begin our review of medicines, let us remind you that the international nonproprietary name, i.e. INN, is given first. Then the first drug in parentheses is usually the most expensive, the original, which was first introduced to the market and to which all other commercial copies, or generics, are equal in quality. These are also listed in parentheses, after the first original drug. The following is a range of pharmacy prices, and we are talking about the original drug, which is the most expensive. We will not save money on children. The retail prices are valid for pharmacies of all forms of ownership in the Russian Federation for spring 2021.

This list is not an advertisement or an anti-advertisement of any medication or manufacturer, and is dictated solely by existing clinical and national recommendations for the use of antihistamines in pediatrics. All data on medicines are taken exclusively from the official instructions posted in public sources:/, as well as the register of medicines, RLS:/.

All of the following information is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute a direct recommendation for action or medical advice. Do not use these materials for diagnosis, treatment or any medical procedures. Consult your doctor before using any technique or consuming any product. This site is not a specialized medical portal and does not substitute professional consultation of a specialist. The owner of the site does not bear any responsibility, to any party that has suffered indirect or direct damage as a result of an incorrect interpretation or misuse of the materials posted on this resource.

First generation antihistamines for children and adults

All the information given below will be useful for parents, for people without any medical education. It is good if parents remember that there are several generations of antiallergic agents, at least two generations. The first generation of antihistamines, of course, has its pluses, but also its minuses. Those parents, who are now 30-40 years old (that is, not quite young parents), or even grandparents, who are now 40-50 years old, will remember that in their childhood, only first-generation anti-allergic agents.

And Dimedrol was most commonly used. Then, in the eighties and nineties the range of antiallergic drugs began to expand, Suprastin, Tavegil, Diazolin appeared. But up to now these drugs, nevertheless, belong all the same to the antiallergic preparations of the first generation. Then, in the XXI century there were more modern, safer and more convenient to use means, which were called antihistamines, or second-generation antiallergic drugs. These are Claritin, Erius, other drugs. But let’s start the conversation with first-generation antihistamines, What are their drawbacks and disadvantages? These are the disadvantages of first-generation medications.

Atropine-like effect

1st generation antihistamines “dry out the mucosa”; they reduce the secretion of, for example, saliva in the mouth. This desiccating effect, this antisecretory effect is very characteristic of atropine. Atropine is indispensable, for example, as an antidote for poisoning by cholinesterase inhibitors, the notorious organophosphate poisons. And 1st generation antihistamines also show this atropine-like effect as a side effect, since they also affect the cholinoreceptors.

But the reduction of mucus secretion will not always be harmless. Yes, just a dry mouth is not terrible. Finally, you can rinse your mouth with water. But we are talking about all mucous membranes, and the most important is the mucosa of the respiratory system, the small bronchi, and the area of this mucosa is very large. If there will be dryness just there, it will lead to thickening of sputum, thickening of that mucus that is secreted in the bronchi. Thick sputum, viscous sputum loses its protective properties, and ceases to fight germs.

If you give your child Dimedrol or Suprastin as a single dose, for example in case of food allergies, Quincke’s edema or an insect bite, there is no danger, no thickening of the tracheobronchial secretion will develop. But if the 1st generation antihistamines in a baby used for several days against the background of respiratory pathology, such as bronchitis, cough, with acute respiratory infections, the deterioration of the protective properties of sputum can lead to a deterioration, secondary infection, fever, and even pneumonia.

Parents should be especially careful if the child already has obstructive lung pathology, or a tendency to bronchial spasm. This situation can additionally worsen the drainage function, reduce pulmonary ventilation and cause various microbial complications. Therefore, it is not recommended to prescribe long courses of first-generation antihistamines in children with bronchopulmonary pathology.

Other atropine-like effects are increased intraocular pressure, possible urinary retention, and other unpleasant symptoms. But these symptoms are usually much more dangerous in older age, for example, in the background of glaucoma or adenoma of the prostate. They do not usually cause any severe side effects in children.

Tachyphylaxis and other manifestations

First-generation medications can affect movement coordination in both children and adults, and can slow down mental performance, dull attention, affect perception, appear drowsy and even dizzy. Naturally, when administered once, it is not terrible, but prolonged use of these drugs should be avoided in every possible way, since they impair the child’s ability to learn, communicate and communicate both with peers and with parents and teachers.

Some drugs of this series exhibit local anesthetic agents, such as Novocaine and Lidocaine, and in high doses may lower blood pressure and adversely affect the heart rhythm.

Common side effects are dyspepsia, abdominal discomfort, nausea, decreased appetite. Poor appetite is a sign of taking Suprastin and Dimedrol, especially for several days.

If you use these remedies for a long time as a basic treatment, their effect slowly diminishes. Therefore, if a quality drug has begun to lose its effectiveness, then to prevent tachyphylaxis, they should be alternated, not allowing continuous use for more than a week, a maximum of 10 days, but only at the decision of the doctor.

Sedation and frequent ingestion

The first generation remedies are quite crude. In order for them to show their antihistamine effect, rather high doses and frequent intake are required, since the duration of action of these drugs is very short. These drugs penetrate the blood-brain barrier, which divides the blood and neural tissue, and block, in addition to histamine receptors, and the corresponding structures in the brain, this leads to a sedative effect.

Sedative effect cannot be interpreted unequivocally: in one case it is bad and in another case it is good. Sedation may appear as a slight drowsiness, and sometimes a pronounced sleeping pills, after a tablet of Dimedrol the child can sleep through the night without suffering from night itching, and in this case – it is a blessing.

In the USSR, for example, first-generation antihistamines were used in some cases as a fairly strong sedative, and even a sleeping pill. The strongest effect of this kind was observed in Diprazin, or Pipolfen, which is only available in ampoules for parenteral administration, and is still occasionally used in hospitals. Despite the powerful sedative effect of Pipolfen, it is indicated for use starting at two months of age. But since this drug is very strong, and is not sold in tablets, then we will not describe it further, because it is a prescription drug, and is used in hospitals.

The second strongest sedative effect is Dimedrol, followed by Suprastin, which is comparable in strength to Dimedrol, but a little weaker. Klemastin, or Tavegil, has the lowest degree of sedation, so Tavegil is liked to be prescribed to children in the daytime, so that the sedative effect has as little effect as possible on the absorption of learning material at school and the child’s activity in preschools. Diazolin and Fencarol have almost no sedative effect, but they are also weaker in their antihistamine action than the other 1st generation drugs.

What are the “pluses” of the first generation antihistamines?

These funds, despite the above negative qualities, are still successfully used, and no one is going to abandon them. Dimedrol is also a good remedy for nausea and vomiting, for example, for air and sea sickness. All these medications work fine when there is skin itching of allergic cause, for example, at night. The sedative effect improves sleep, and the next day is expressed slightly.

But still the two main factors are the two most important benefits. These drugs really have anti-allergic effect, including a very fast, since they are produced, including in ampouled form for intramuscular and even intravenous injection. And secondly, these products are always available in pharmacies, and are very inexpensive. Of course, we must remember that these are prescription drugs, and without a prescription no one will sell them to you.

Therefore, 1st generation antihistamines are, first of all, first aid remedies used in short courses, for severe allergic reactions, such as laryngeal edema, angioedema Quincke, severe urticaria, and so on. For example, Suprastin can be injected intramuscularly and given as tablets, and you can do with one tablet Tavegil, which is gentler, and is able to act longer, after a single application of up to 12 hours. Thus, Tavegil is a kind of transition drug from the first generation of antihistamines to the second, modern.

Let’s look at it more closely. Also, let’s not ignore Dimedrol, which was mentioned above, and as for other drugs of this generation, they can not be used by one-year-old children yet. So, Diazolin tablets are only indicated for use from the age of five, and Diazolin tablets can be taken from 7 years old.

Fencarol is a very good anti-allergic drug, but, despite the love of children’s allergists to this remedy, it can not be taken in children under the age of three, but after three years – please. And although it does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier and does not cause drowsiness, it is still better for parents of babies who are only a year old to refrain from taking it.

Some 1st generation medications

Let’s list those 1st generation drugs that are still prescribed by various doctors, both pediatricians and allergists, they are used by pediatric emergency team doctors for emergency treatment, but are also successfully used in adults. And let’s start with the safest and mildest remedy, Clemastine, or Tavegil.

Clemastine (Tavegil)

Rating: 4.9

It is the most effective and widespread antihistamine drug of 1st generation approved for use in children. Works for a long time, the sedative effect is not pronounced due to the fact that the drug does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Tavegil also reduces vascular permeability, causes a mild situation that is sometimes indicated in a child’s agitation associated with itching, but does not have a sedative effect.

Tavegil is produced by a large number of foreign companies, currently in the Russian Federation you can buy the drug made in Italy, for 20 tablets you will pay from 190 to 220 rubles. The indications for Tavegil are all the same, ranging from contact dermatitis, urticaria, allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis to insect bites and eczema.

Children should only be given Tavegil in syrup, ages 1 to 6 years one teaspoon of syrup, once or twice a day at a dosage of 0.67 mg. Spoonful enclosed. Tavegil is also produced by pharmaceutical companies Nycomed, Sandoz, Takeda, and the Hungarian company Egis. Such a large number of the best foreign manufacturers indicates that this is a really good and high-quality drug, and it is even more interesting that it has no generics at all, including Russian-made.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of Tavegil were mentioned above. It is used successfully in paediatric practice, but it is contraindicated just up to the age of one year, and it also cannot be prescribed for babies with suspected bronchial asthma. Children from 1 year of age are indicated to take only in the form of syrup. However, there may also be side effects such as over-sedation, dizziness, lethargy. In children, quite often the opposite side effect can also occur, which is reduced to a stimulant effect. It is irritability and restlessness, nervousness and manifestations of insomnia, in rare cases, seizures. There can also be an overdose, which is usually manifested by dry mouth, dilated pupils, and redness of the upper half of the body.

Suprastin

Rating: 4.9

Chloropyramine, aka Suprastin, you are the only company by the Hungarian pharmaceutical company, Egis, and for a package of 20 tablets you have to pay a small amount: from 107 to 130 rubles. Suprastin is a typical representative of the first generation antiallergic drug, with a sedative effect. It has an atropine-like peripheral property and can be used as a mild antispasmodic. Typical indications for use are various acute allergic processes, urticaria, hay fever, allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, rapidly developing soft tissue swelling of the face, aka Quincke’s edema. It can be used in tablets as an antipruritic in insect stings, in dermatology to reduce the symptoms of contact dermatitis, to treat medicinal rash, to treat acute and chronic eczema.

Can be prescribed to children from a young age, but is contraindicated in pregnant women and children under 1 month of age. In pediatric practice, depending on age, is used from 6.25 to 12.5 mg, 2 to 3 times a day. Treatment with short courses is desirable.

Advantages and disadvantages

Suprastin has all the typical shortcomings of the first-generation agents described above. There are such “side effects” as slight muscle tremors, drowsiness, lethargy and weakness, irritability and insomnia, dry mouth, and possibly difficult urination. Suprastin is contraindicated in persons with glaucoma, but this is usually at an advanced age. In pediatric practice, contraindications to use are quite rare. It is probably an acute attack of bronchial asthma, in which this drug is also contraindicated. Also Suprastin is recommended in pediatric practice for use with caution, and the argument is the hypersensitivity of children to antihistamines. In other words, should not be given too high a dose of antihistamines. The drug enhances the effect of sleeping pills, tranquilizers, antidepressants.

Hyphenadine (Fencarol)

Rating: 4.8

Fencarol is a drug that is used relatively infrequently in pediatric practice. It is available in tablets, 25 mg #20, in Latvia, by Olinefarm, and costs from 330 to 520 rubles., Which is not cheap for a first-generation medication. The drug acts typically: it fights exudation and itching, reduces vascular permeability and reduces the severity of allergic swelling. Fencarol reduces bronchospasm and acts as an antispasmodic with respect to bowel muscles.

M-cholinoblocking activity, that is, its atropine-like effect is rather weak. Fencarol is indicated for skin itching and neurodermatitis, Quincke’s edema and urticaria, hay fever and various itchy dermatoses, as part of complex therapy such as psoriasis, eczema and atopic dermatitis.

In pediatric practice, it may be prescribed for children from the age of three. The drug is recommended for children: from 3 to 7 years – 10 mg twice a day, from 7 to 12 years – 10-15 mg 2 to 3 times a day, and over 12 years – 25 mg 2-3 times a day. The duration of the treatment course is determined by the doctor.

Advantages and disadvantages

The disadvantages of the drug are standard for this group of drugs: it can dry the mouth, cause drowsiness, headache, and so on. It is contraindicated for use before the age of three, pregnant and lactating women, and hypersensitive persons. There is a separate dosage of 50 mg, quite large, so it is forbidden for children and adolescents, young boys and girls under the age of eighteen. Accordingly, in pediatrics, it is best to use either 25 mg or 10 mg tablets.

Mebhydroline (Diazolin)

Rating: 4.8

Diazolin, produced by the domestic company Ozon is the only oral antihistamine that, in addition to tablets, is also available in the form of white round pills. For some reason, children like dramas much more than pills. Diazolin is one of the cheapest antihistamines: 10 pills of 0.1 g in the spring of 2021 will cost 50 to 72 rubles. Diazolin is a typical representative of its generation, its sedative action is weak, but its anti-allergic, antipruritic, and antiexudative effects are also not very pronounced. Naturally, its choline-blocking effect is also weak, and this is an obvious plus.

It has standard indications: eczema and hay fever, allergic rhinitis and urticaria, skin itching and allergic conjunctivitis. It is given to children after an insect bite, and as part of the combined treatment it is indicated for bronchial asthma.

It can be prescribed for children from two years of age and even younger, the dosage in children is determined by the pediatrician, but not more than 100 mg (one tablet) per day for children under two years of age, not more than 200 milligrams per day for children from 5 to 10 years, that is 2 tablets. As in other cases, either a single prescription or a short course, the duration of which is determined by the pediatrician or allergist.

Advantages and disadvantages

The disadvantages of Diazolin are standard: it dries the mouth, reduces the amount of fluid in the tracheobronchial secretion, can irritate and dry the gastric mucosa, and is contraindicated in some diagnoses. These are glaucoma, prostate hypertrophy, epilepsy, which can be in childhood, such as Lennox-Gastaud syndrome, stenosis of the exit hole of the stomach or pylorostenosis, some heart rhythm disorders. Since some of these diagnoses can occur in pediatrics, it is advisable to carefully examine the young patient before prescribing diazolin.

Promethazine (Pipolfen, Diprazine)

Rating: 4.8

As already mentioned, Pipolphen has a very strong sedative effect. It is almost always sold only in ampoules and is used in hospitals. At the same time, it is a strong drug and for antiallergic reactions, and sedative effect is so great that it is also used as an anti-nausea and antiemetic. After injection the effect occurs within 20 minutes and lasts for 6-8 hours, sometimes up to 12 hours.

The indications for taking Pipolfen are the same as mentioned above, and even more serious, for example, it is administered for anaphylactic shock. And, as we know, anaphylactic shock is the most severe allergic reaction. In pediatrics it is used separately in severe forms of exudative diathesis in infants, in a severe form of children’s eczema, with skin itching, in serum sickness, in asthmatic bronchitis and in false croup, that is, laryngeal edema not of diphtheria but of allergic origin.

It is administered to children starting at 1 year of age, with a dosage of 5-10 mg 1 to 2 times a day. Intramuscular injection involves a dosage of up to 1 mg per kilogram of body weight, from 3 to 5 times a day, but it is always under the control of a doctor, since the drug is used in hospital. Sometimes Diprazine, or Pipolfen is also administered intravenously, as part of a lytic cocktail, can be used in intensive care units and emergency therapy.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantage of Diprazin is the strength of both the action and the severity of the side effects. And just the same, it has more side effects than drugs of the same group. These are, in addition to all of the above, insomnia, seizures and euphoria, catatonic status and extrapyramidal disorders (dose-dependent), syncope and low blood pressure when given rapidly intravenously, contact dermatitis, lethargy and drowsiness, constipation, and even jaundice. We will not dwell on the list of side effects and contraindications, because hardly anyone can buy Pipolfen in the pharmacy, without good reason and a prescription.

Dimedrol

Rating: 4.7

Dimedrol is the “granddaddy” of all antihistamines. It is everywhere, in the most run-down village pharmacy it will be present, but, however, you will be sold it only on prescription, despite all its cheapness. The cheapest Dimedrol costs from 2 rubles. 50 cents for 10 tablets! As an antihistamine drug, it is very good, especially in the case when you need to cause an additional sleeping effect or sedation. However, this same “roughness” of operation is also its side effect, since it penetrates well into the structures of the central nervous system through the blood-brain barrier. The side effects are manifested by pronounced drowsiness, and with prolonged use – it is dry skin, the development of constipation, the appearance of tachycardia.

How is Dimedrol prescribed to children? It was mentioned above that a single dose for children under 1 year of age is from 2 to 5 mg. From 2 to 5 years, the dose may be increased from 5 to 15 milligrams. However, there are no pills on sale that contain a dose of 5 mg, and only 0.05 g pills are produced, 10 times the amount needed. Yes, even if they produced a children’s form, it should not be tablets, but drops, or syrup. Therefore, it is still advisable for parents not to use Dimedrol in children of the first year of life and older.

After all, parents themselves will not be able to choose the dosage correctly and give it to the child, so here we are only talking about emergency physicians, who will put Dimedrol to the baby if necessary in the form of injections. Parents should not get involved with it.

Modern drugs of the second generation for children

The aforementioned side effects – sedation, tachyphylaxis, the need to use the drugs frequently, cholin-blocking effects – are no longer liked by doctors and patients, they are not always necessary, and it would be better not to have them. Therefore, in the 21st century, the following drugs, which also belong to the antihistamines, but modern remedies, entered the scene. These drugs have an important advantage over the drugs described above, let’s list some of them:

1. Second generation medicines are more specific and act selectively on the right type of receptors, for example, they do not block histamine receptors in the central nervous system, and do not have a hypnotic effect;
2. drugs also do not affect choline receptors, so they do not exhibit atropine-like action, at least to the extent characteristic of first-generation drugs;
3. In therapeutic doses, the drugs do not cause sedation and drowsiness, there is no impairment of thinking speed, attention, speed of psychomotor reactions, people can work with machines and mechanisms, drive a car;
4. The second generation medication has a high speed of action and binds with H1 receptors firmly and for a long time, after one dose the medication acts for the whole day and that is why you can take the modern medication only once a day;
5. It is important that the reception of these drugs is in no way connected with the intake of food, you can take them whenever and as often as you like, most importantly – at the same time;
6. Such unpleasant effects as tachyphylaxis are not developed on second-generation antihistamines. Therefore, if the doctor has chosen a drug that is well suited to the patient (in our case, the child), then parents can not fear that over time it will lose most of its effect, and will need to change it for a new. You can continue to treat with it safely, and this fact allows you to avoid unnecessary costs and polypragmasy, that is, the unjustified prescription of different drugs that can together have a harmful effect on the liver.

Prescribing second-generation antihistamines to children is prescribing an almost “ideal” drug. These are drugs such as Claritin, Erius, Zyrtec, Kestin, and other drugs.

But with their long-term use in high doses, even 2nd generation antihistamines can harm the heart and liver. You can read about the cardiogenic, proarrhythmogenic action (causing arrhythmias) here.

Let us now briefly describe these medicines.

Cetirizine (Zyrtec Zodak drops)

Rating: 4.9

Zirtek reliably protects against both early and late allergic reactions. Bronchial secretion decreases, making it easier to breathe and reducing the risk of infection. It acts on histamine H1 receptors with a high degree of selectivity, and in addition to antipruritic, it has a pronounced antiexudative effect. Cetirizine is indicated for allergic conjunctivitis and rhinitis, for hay fever, for Quincke’s edema, urticaria. It should be used in children from 1 year of age, the daily and single dosage is prescribed by the doctor.

Advantages and disadvantages

After long-term experience of use, it turned out that the drug still causes a little drowsiness in children, it also can not be prescribed to pregnant and lactating women. If children have chronic renal failure, the drug should be used with extreme caution. There may also be side effects of taking Zyrtec. It is dry mouth, some drowsiness, less often – headache and dizziness, and in overdose there may be an increase in side effects, there is delayed urination, constipation, that is, M-cholinoblocking effect also begins to appear.

Loratadine (Claritin)

Rating: 4.8

Claritin or loratadine, was the first of these drugs that have been successfully used in children as a highly selective blocker of H1 histamine receptors. This is where the triumph of the 2nd generation of allergy medicines began. The drug acts quickly and for a long time, is indicated for long-term use, has no sedative effect and does not penetrate the blood-brain barrier.

In those therapeutic doses that are used, it does not have a cholin-blocking effect, does not affect the heart, and has no arrhythmogenic effect. It starts to work after oral administration in half an hour. Maximum effect develops 12 hours from onset and lasts, after a single dose, for more than a day.

Indications will be long-term therapy for chronic allergic conditions: idiopathic urticaria, pollinosis, year-round allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis of allergic genesis, and skin itchy allergic dermatoses. Claritin should be used in children from two years of age, the dose is given depending on body weight, here we will not give the dose, as this is the task of the pediatrician. Claritin is produced in Belgium, by Schering-Plough, and one pack of 10 tablets will cost no more than 220 rubles, the price is very reasonable.

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of Claritin are obvious: safety, no pronounced side effects, the possibility of single administration, and so on. However, this drug, as well as many other second-generation remedies, is not used to stop a sudden acute allergic situation, when you need to act quickly. For example, with Quincke’s edema, with progressive bronchospasm, difficult and hoarse voice we need to be afraid of possible allergic laryngeal edema and even the onset of anaphylactic shock. First-generation antihistamines, glucocorticosteroids such as dexamethasone are ideal. Giving is required in parenteral form, so that the drug acted in a few minutes, and interrupted the development of a severe allergic reaction. In this case, as we can see, the effect is maximal only after 12 hours. Therefore, of course, we cannot consider Claritin and its analogues to be means of emergency and urgent anti-allergic care.

Fexofenadine (Allegra)

Rating: 4.8

Allegro or fexofenadine, produced in tablets, in France, and is very expensive: for 10 pills you have to pay from 540 to 1000 rubles. Allegra may be prescribed in adolescents, children from the age of 12. Why this drug is more expensive than others?

Allegra is very well tolerated with long term use, even a month after taking it, it works just as well as it did at the beginning. And we know that even the high selectivity of the active substance to histamine receptors still does not rule out a slow, weak, but still the appearance of tachyphylaxis. In this respect Allegra clearly keeps its brand.

This drug is not indicated for allergic diseases, but only two: this seasonal allergic rhinitis (as a symptomatic treatment to reduce discomfort in tablets of 120 mg), and in chronic idiopathic urticaria – in tablets of 180 mg. Above are the recommended doses, in recalculation for one day of intake.

Advantages and disadvantages

The situation is exactly the same as with the previous remedies. Do not run out to buy Allegra at the pharmacy and think that an allergy drug for 1000 rubles will immediately relieve the symptoms of a swollen lower lip with Quincke’s edema. Not at all, its task is to treat a completely different allergic pathology. It is not even intended to relieve bronchospasm and skin itching, it has its own narrow indications. The price of Allegra, of course, is high for Russians, and this is its obvious disadvantage.

But there are plenty of analogues: the drug Gifast is produced by the domestic company Obolenskoe, and the tablets can be found at a price of 430 rubles, in 180 mg #10. The Indian drug company Sun called Fexadine can be found even cheaper, the same dosage will cost 320 rubles. However, the cheapest analogue of Allegra will also be the Indian drug Fexofast. It can be purchased in the same dosage in the same amount for the price of 270 rubles., The Indian company Microlab.