Allergies, Medications and Golf Performance

[Carl3]

I have a family history of allergies, but never seemed to have a problem until last summer. I had the round of my life on a Pete Dye course and came home and took a snooze while watching the PGA. I woke up very dizzy, vertigo or something and my sinuses were working overtime. I found out that my sister has experience this a couple of times. Well I went out and bought some antihistamines and took 1 a day the rest of the summer and never had a problem. Got them at CVS with the active ingredient of Fexofenadine Hydrochloride. This year my allergies started early so I bought a similar product at Walmart. In the past week I went from being a single digit to a bogey golfer. I feel week and have a lot of fatigue. I think I lost a whole club in distance and I have been very erratic due to the fatigue. So I stopped taking them 2 days ago and feel my strength coming back, but the golf still stinks.

Anyone else experience something like this? Should I buy better antihistamines? I bought a non-drowsy, 24-hour product each time, but maybe the Walmart stuff has something else in it. I also has a similar problem about 8 to 10 years ago when my doc had me on Statins for high cholesterol. I was on them for about 2 weeks. I could not reach the green with my normal clubs. Came home and did a little research on them and decided they were poisoning my body and never took them again. Strength came back.

[Vinsk]

Hello. Fexofenadine is Allegra. As with any medications, different effects/side effects can occur with different people. There are several different choices out there. Zyrtec, Claritin. Personally I have found people with significant allergies do very well with Montelukast (Singulair). This is an anti-leukotriene medication which is often the culprit of allergy sufferers but gets overlooked (leukotrienes.) I’ve not had any patients with side effects to Montelukast. If you try Zyrtec or Claritin to no avail it may be a good choice. You can discuss this with your PCP.

Yes some statins have been significantly linked to myalgia (muscle pain) causing a generalized weakness in people. The benefits as always must be weighed against the untoward effects when choosing a medication.

[Patch]

I take Cetirizine once a day during the  allergy season. I had to stop taking otc stuff due elevated blood pressure issues. 

Also, though sometimes I use nasal spray, I would recommend caution when using them. Quite a few contain steroids, and your nose can become dependent on them. Saline nasal spray, which is basically salt water, is a better way to go. 

[Vinsk]

9 minutes ago, Patch said:

I take Cetirizine once a day during the  allergy season. I had to stop taking otc stuff due elevated blood pressure issues. 

Also, though sometimes I use nasal spray, I would recommend caution when using them. Quite a few contain steroids, and your nose can become dependent on them. Saline nasal spray, which is basically salt water, is a better way to go. 

@Patch, the nasal sprays with a corticosteroid (Flonase, Nasocort..) do not have dependence. They have been associated with Increase ocular pressure in some people, but are otherwise safe to use sparingly. Afrin ( oxymetazoline) are the types that can cause ‘nasal spray addiction’ which isn’t a true addiction but is named as such. These cause rebound effects if over used. 

[Patch]

23 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

@Patch, the nasal sprays with a corticosteroid (Flonase, Nasocort..) do not have dependence. They have been associated with Increase ocular pressure in some people, but are otherwise safe to use sparingly. Afrin ( oxymetazoline) are the types that can cause ‘nasal spray addiction’ which isn’t a true addiction but is named as such. These cause rebound effects if over used. 

Good to know, thanks

[Vinsk]

3 hours ago, Patch said:

Good to know, thanks

No problem. I just realized you said you stopped taking OTC meds for bp reasons...Cetirizine is OTC (Zyrtec). If you have bp issues you could consider Singulair (Montelukast). Or it sounds like Ceririzine is ok for you? Just didn’t know if you were aware it’s OTC. Cheers.

[saevel25]

Wow, very informative

This years allergies has been pretty bad so far for me. 

[Carl3]

I feel much better physically since I stopped taking the Fexofenadine. I think for the time being I will stick with taking a shower as soon as I get home and I also have a neti pot that I have used the past two days that basically washes the sinuses out with saline.  Fortunately I don't suffer as much as some do from allergies (yet). Thanks for the ideas!!

[Hardspoon]

7 hours ago, saevel25 said:

This years allergies has been pretty bad so far for me. 

Yeah, seriously, this year has been awful.  I usually have very mild allergies, if at all, and I've had to pop a Claritin basically every time I've been outside this year.  Brutal.

[dennyjones]

My daughter has severe asthma and bad allergies.    Her asthma is under control but she occasionally uses her breathing machine.   I said that to say her new doctor recommended she use Xyzal allergy medicine which is OTC.   She swears by it and has tried most other allergy medicines.    

[Buckeyebowman]

I searched for quite a while until I found an OTC allergy med that would control my symptoms without making me drowsy. I finally hit upon a store brand that contains Acetaminophen 325mg, Chlorpheniramine maleate 2mg, and Phenylephrine HCL 5mg.

I found that anything containing Dextromethorphan or Diphenhydramine, I don't remember which one exactly, but it was one of those that would put me in orbit around the moon! I looked at an OTC sleep aid once and the active ingredient was one of those two! No wonder it knocked me out!

[Carl3]

On 5/13/2018 at 8:25 AM, dennyjones said:

My daughter has severe asthma and bad allergies.    Her asthma is under control but she occasionally uses her breathing machine.   I said that to say her new doctor recommended she use Xyzal allergy medicine which is OTC.   She swears by it and has tried most other allergy medicines.    

My heart goes out to you. My younger brother had very bad allergies as well as asthma. He was allergic to so many things and spent the first 5 years of his life in and out of the hospital. Scary times. I will look into Xyzal.