We never found Zyrtec to be effective. The only thing we found to be of any help, medicinally, was Vistaril, a more potent formulation of Hydroxyzine.

But no medicinal relief held a candle to the relief Josh got through a complete overhawl of his diet and environment. We tried piecemeal (!) elimination diets, but really had to go the "nothing diet" route and build up from a nearly empty diet to one where he remained (relatively) asymptomatic yet got some nutrition. We also did a number on our house, cleaning out pets :-(, dust, getting rid of upholstery, carpets, drapes, ...

It paid off bigtime. We got sleep, and Josh did, too. He's about 12 years older now. Still somewhat itchy; still highly allergic. Now only takes Allegra and asthma meds. But really did thrive when figured out what he can eat that doesn't make him itchy.

Mark
> We hear a lot about Hunter, but, as he's just a few
> months younger than my dairy, peanut/treenut, dust
> allergic son, I'm generally interested in how Nancy
> deals with him and also in the advice everyone has for
> her.  When I lie awake at night with my 19 month old
> who won't stop tearing holes in his arms and legs b/c
> he itches (regardless of Zyrtec, steroid cream, Elidel,
> Aquaphor & my best efforts at allergen avoidance), if I
> happen to think of Nancy, I console myself with the
> thought that there are other people out there dealing
> with these issues, whose children have actually gotten
> older, that the night won't last forever.
>
> And if my inbox is too full, I hit delete.
>
> I have little confidence in my allergist or our GP, but
> don't have a lot of options and don't know where to
> turn.  I did some research on eastern medicine and
> didn't find anything conclusive enough to jump out of
> my expensive health plan and try anything even more
> expensive (b/c not covered).  And I wish there were
> more Double Rainbow Soy Dream options...
>
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