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Daily Allergy Management & Impact on Clearance
For those of you who have both environmental allergies and bronchiectasis—how do you manage your allergies? If you take a daily allergy pill, have you noticed any impact on mucus or clearance? Do you find there’s less “gunk” to clear?
I’m about halfway through allergy shots and thought my allergies were under control, but lately my nose has been sniffly. I decided to try Allegra, and to my surprise my lung mucus has really diminished. Clearance feels quicker and easier. I’m wondering if this is just a temporary effect or if others have noticed the same.
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@kat711 I have had good luck with a combination of Xyzal tablets and Azelastine nasal spray. This takes care of the itch, runny nose and congestion without totally drying out membranes. It even helps the itch in my eyes without excessive drying.
@kat711 Not really an answer rather a comment. Allegra is the least anticholinergic (drying) of all the antihistamines. Even so, I have found it drying, however, so now I have taken to cutting the 180mg allegra in half, taking one half in the morning (the larger half if there is one), and the other half before sleep. So far it's working great. Cutting the tablet in half was the allergist's idea.
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2 Reactions@sueinmn thanks for your response. My allergist has asked me to take either Allegra or cetirizine (Zyrtec) because the allergies are significant. I'm having trouble making it through to maintenance with Allegra. Over my life I have had to discontinue allergy shots 4 times. Made it all the way several years ago and should have keep up on it. Allergies returned. Cetirizine is so dehydrating but I love the management of the allergies, feel great. But boy is it hard to clear the lungs.
@kat711 When I was building up to maintenance and had a bad (inflamed) reaction the allergist said to take 2 tablets of allegra, which helped a lot. Have you tried that, along with topical steroid? It helped the itching and very large welts/bumps I used to get.
Regarding difficulty clearing your lungs you can always neb 2 vials of hypertonic saline, which I often do.
@scoop thanks so much for this info. I have not tried 2 Allegra, but I will! I have done 2 vials of saline before, and I will try that again. Great advice. Thanks!
@scoop
I read, but I don't remember where, that Allegra can interfere with something to do with BE. I wish I could remember. I stopped using Allegra. I wonder if the allergist was familiar with that interaction.
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@rozie83
That's something I worried about too. According to my pulmonologist it's fine for me to take Allegra daily. When I do, I notice the lung mucus is lighter, which we think is due to reduced allergic symptoms therefore less nasal dripping into my lungs during sleep. Furthermore, my doctor says that Allegra is unlikely to negatively affect airway clearance. Unlike earlier antihistamines, fexofenadine (Allegra) lacks anticholinergic activity and does not impair mucociliary clearance, making it a safe choice. That's a such a relief to me. It's possible that environmental allergies and asthma set me up for BE in the first place, but I will never know for sure.
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