LittleIzumi Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Being Saturday, the office is of course closed today :glare: so I can't ask. Ds has multiple allergies (we only tested food but we strongly suspect environmental as well--will test those later). The allergist said we could give him 1 tsp of liquid Zyrtec for rashes/hives. On the box, his age/weight should get 1/2 tsp. It's a once-every-24-hours med. I gave him the 1/2 tsp because he's so wee (9 months) last night for rashes. He still has rashes now, and more of them. No hives and otherwise he seems fine. Do you think I would be okay to give him the other 1/2 tsp to make the total of 1 tsp that the allergist said was okay, or should I just wait out the 24 hours and watch him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Zyrtec is not like Benedryl that will stop an allergy attack. It really has to build up in their system a couple of days before you will see improvement. I'm not sure of the dosing for one so young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Zyrtec is not like Benedryl that will stop an allergy attack. It really has to build up in their system a couple of days before you will see improvement. I'm not sure of the dosing for one so young. :iagree: Our pediatrician's office has a nurse's line that you can call at all hours and speak with someone. Even if your allergist is closed, do you have a pediatrician you can call? Our son is on Zyrtec daily as a maintenance medication. He gets Benadryl as needed for reactions. I'd think you'd want your son on Zyrtec daily and using Benadryl as needed for rashes. You'll definitely want to talk with the allergist on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 Zyrtec is not like Benedryl that will stop an allergy attack. It really has to build up in their system a couple of days before you will see improvement. I'm not sure of the dosing for one so young. I have Benadryl meltaways too, but I don't know about dosing for a 9-mo-old (21 lbs) or about comboing it with Zyrtec. The allergist only talked about using liquid Zyrtec & not in much detail. He did have some Zyrtec on Wed as well (after the testing). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 :iagree: Our pediatrician's office has a nurse's line that you can call at all hours and speak with someone. Even if your allergist is closed, do you have a pediatrician you can call? Our son is on Zyrtec daily as a maintenance medication. He gets Benadryl as needed for reactions. I'd think you'd want your son on Zyrtec daily and using Benadryl as needed for rashes. You'll definitely want to talk with the allergist on Monday. :glare: Yay. I will definitely call on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I don't know because we didn't start Zyrtec at that young of an age. However, my seven year old takes 2 tsp. per day and that's the max on the label for his age. We've never been told to take more than the maximum. I was told to give the maximum in one dose rather than split doses for best effectiveness. Zyrtec is usually good with hives. I was told not to expect it to help other skin stuff but it did help my son's skin generally. That said, he'll break out in both hives and eczema if he eats an allergen even though he's on Zyrtec year round. It is more than it helps us with chronic hives left over from major reactions and environmental allergies somewhat (nose, etc.). I have a friend whose son had major skin problems from babyhood. Nothing completely helped including high dose Zyrtec. They went to a dermatologist who finally, at nearly five, diagnosed him with a Balsam of Peru allergy. Do google it. It's actually quite common and the removal of the triggers from his skin products and diet fixed his skin. I think, actually, my son is dealing with it too. The related foods don't show up on food allergy testing and yet I had removed them over the years because his skin was clearly reactive and did similar with the soaps and related. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I have Benadryl meltaways too, but I don't know about dosing for a 9-mo-old (21 lbs) or about comboing it with Zyrtec. The allergist only talked about using liquid Zyrtec & not in much detail. He did have some Zyrtec on Wed as well (after the testing). Again, of course, check with your doctor before listening to people with no medical training... Our allergist said not to give Zyrtec and Benadryl at the same time as a general rule. If we gave Benadryl within 2-4 hours of Zyrtec time, we would just use the Benadryl instead of the Zyrtec. At that age, we gave our son liquid Benadryl. The meltaways might be too high of a dose. I'd be thinking you'd be starting with 1/2 tsp of Benadryl and upping it to 1 tsp as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Nyssa Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I would call the Dr's office-- I just called ours with a similar question 2 days ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellesmere Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Can you call a pharmacy? Even if it isn't local, a 24 hour pharmacy will have a pharmacist on staff that should be able to answer dosing questions/safety issues regarding medication. If it is a question of dosing or side effects, we always call a pharmacist instead of the doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Can you call a pharmacy? Even if it isn't local, a 24 hour pharmacy will have a pharmacist on staff that should be able to answer dosing questions/safety issues regarding medication. If it is a question of dosing or side effects, we always call a pharmacist instead of the doctor. This is what I was going to recommend. I'd call a 24 hour pharmacy. They are usually very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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