Allergy Meds - Generic or Brand Name?

So, these are a FEW of the medications floating around my house. (Kind of sad, I know.....)

These are only our allergy meds, I didn't include any of our asthma medications. 

The reason I included this graphic was show that there isn't a one - size - fits - all treatment for any medical problem. 

 

Hubby & I and all 3 kids have allergies and we all treat them differently. Some of us take pills (name brand or generic), some of us like nose sprays (also name brand or generic).

My kids allergies are worse than mine, they all had to have 5 year's worth of allergy shots.

Allergy shots can help when you are on high doses of allergy medicine and still not finding relief. Before she started allergy shots, daughter Kitty could easily sneeze 30 times in a row (every day, all day long), even while taking allergy medicine. 

So, Asthma Doc tested her for allergies and found out she is allergic to everything (trees, flowers, bushes, grass, cats, dogs, horses, etc.) The only thing she wasn't allergic to was rats. Shot Nurse said we could get a pet rat!  

Yeah, funny....(insert eye roll here)

So, after 5 year's worth of allergy shots, Kitty can now manage allergies with allergy medicine.(Some people may not need allergy medicine after allergy shots, but she still does.)

Everyone is different. 

Some people like allergy pills, some like nose sprays.

And with pills and nose sprays, some people feel the name brand works best, while others are okay with the generic version.

In an interview with Huffington Post,  C. Michael White, Pharm.D., Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Connecticut said:

“Some patients will tolerate a brand name medication but when they switch medications, they simply do not do as well. The reason may be that that while the blood concentrations of the brand name medication are very similar, what the tablets are made out of can vary. So while the average patient does as well, not everyone will. If you are that outlier, you are better off on the branded medication or another generic. I usually recommend trying two generic versions before giving up and moving back to a brand name drug because again, the costs are much cheaper." 

My daughter is one of those "outliers" that does better on the name brand. 

 

But both of my sons use generic versions of allergy medicine. 

 

Go figure.

You may have to try a few brands of pills or nose spray and see what works best on you.

Pretty soon, you too can have a pile of allergy medicine like the photo above! 

Even if the trees and flowers cause me endless allergy misery, they really are pretty! And they smell amazing!

I try to always look on the bright side of things!