Piriton (or other antihistamines) for urticaria/allergies?

S

Shilasdair

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This is my final question (at least for tonight
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) about allergies, I promise.

I want to know if any of you have used Piriton or other anti-histamines for alllergic conditions, the dosage for the size of horse, how long for, and whether it actually worked?

Thanks.
S
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I have used it with my 15.3 500kb Appy mare. I gave her 2x3 per day, for five days, currently giving two per day. It appears to be working well, I am assuming her problems are a combination of tree pollen and spores in the hay. I think it was sparked off this year by a neighbour fertilizing their fields. The dosage etc. was suggested by a fellow member of our RC, who had been using piriton for about 5 years and had excellent results, she thought she would have to retire a 13 year old horse, now it is 18 and needs piriton for a week or two every spring. Hope that helps.
 
I have never used them in horses but if I was going to I would use Zirtek (cetirizine) as it is a better, less sleepiness and isn't metabolised through the liver, and also works on the urticaria and preventing it and works for 24 hours and as newer antihistamine than Piriton it also has kess side effects. If I was to give to either of mine I would try about 10 tablets as a starting dose and go from there. Shop around or speak to a pharmacist to ask if they can them generically (as cetirizine) for you as that will be cheaper then branded Zirtek, but it is the same thing.

Haven't read your other posts so am not sure what you need it for but for any sort of urticaria I would also feed aloe vera juice in feed.
 
Thanks, YorksG
Is your mare showing signs of allergic rhinitis then? Headshaking, snorting, rubbing nostrils on front legs, clear discharge?
If so, I can suggest a few things for her too (my old Tb girl has hayfever).
S
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There can be psychiatric issues with people with cetirizine, including paranoia, I would be wary of using it with horses, as it would be difficult to asses the impact.
 
She is rubbing head, coughing and has clear or sometimes white discharge from both nostrils, any assistance greatly appreciated
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There can be psychiatric issues with people with cetirizine, including paranoia, I would be wary of using it with horses, as it would be difficult to asses the impact.

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It has been reported in a tiny number of people who have taken it - usually at higher than recommended doses. It is the most widely used anti histamine in the world and as a 2nd generation antihistamine has a better mode of action ie not being processed through the liver and fewer side effects than the older types such as Piriton. Personal choice at the end of the day - just trying to help.
 
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She is rubbing head, coughing and has clear or sometimes white discharge from both nostrils, any assistance greatly appreciated
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Ah...I have found that soaking hay and haylage to reduce dust works well, but my secret weapons are nasal sprays.
My vet advised me to try human Beconase (2 sprays in each nostril) two or three times a day. You have to time the spraying to your girl breathing in, and it will make her sneeze more for about 5 mins afterwards, but really helps my mare.
There is also a new nasal powder product available, called Nostrilvet which is just a cellulose powder to physically block the allergen. I did chat to my friendly local pharmacist, who found that there is a human version, with the same dispenser, called Nasaleze, which is about £7 a bottle, which is much cheaper.
As its not actually a drug, it is a nice safe option, but I haven't tried it on my girl yet.
I've also found that putting a black fly veil seems to help her.
S
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So was I, having met a few patients who were in a bit of a bad way following taking it. The worst was a young woman who had a number of food intolerances, and having a rather unpleasant reaction to the stuff myself.
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Shils my lad is a headshaker with "hayfever" like symptoms. So far i'm using teething gel round nostrils allowing us to hack for about an hour+ before itching gets to him. Any advise u have that helped ur girl would be greatly appreciated
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Forgot to say, Yorky, that if your mare is allergic to oil seed rape pollen (as mine is), she will stop some time during the first week or so in June.
Every year, mine sneezes from the end of April/beg May, to the beg June, then is fine.
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I think the tree pollen was much earlier this year.
S
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Shils my lad is a headshaker with "hayfever" like symptoms. So far i'm using teething gel round nostrils allowing us to hack for about an hour+ before itching gets to him. Any advise u have that helped ur girl would be greatly appreciated
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You could also try nosenets? I bought one for my girl, it didn't work for her, but for some horses they are really effective for relief when ridden.
I'm also trying homeopathic 'Mixed pollen' tablets - two twice a day, hidden in apple. I am unconvinced either way, but it is worth a try as they do no harm.
As rhinitis is inflammation of the nostrils (due to the allergy) I also found that NSAIDs helped mine - I gave her bute one year, and that definitely helped, although I took her off it as it gave her diarrhoea (she is prone to colics so I'm careful).
This year, I have Danilon ready to give her depending on the severity of the hayfever.
S
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She appeared to become sensetised by the Rape pollen last year, but as is often the case, she has now developed allergies to a number of other pollens. We still have quite a lot of tree pollen about. It is quite interesting when we ride out I have an allergy to tree pollen, the mare does and sister has a number of food intolerances etc. We threrfore go around the countryside, wheezing, snotting and with a variety of interesting rashes, with me glancing round suspiciously and furtively if I have taken the 'wrong' antihistamine
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That's an attractive picture you paint, YorksG.

Another thing about headshakers to pollen allergy - be careful about stabling them. My girl can't control her headshakes - and if she is near any walls will accidentally smack her head off them, which can cause much worse problems than a bit of snot. She is much safer out, although that may seem counter-intuitive.
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S
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He has a nosenet that does work in part the teething gel seems to add to relief. I'm reluctant to try bute. Off to google the other suggestions though. Thanks
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He has a nosenet that does work in part the teething gel seems to add to relief. I'm reluctant to try bute. Off to google the other suggestions though. Thanks
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You are welcome.
The minimum dose of bute worked for my girl (16hh MW type Tb) so I wasn't worried it would mask any unsoundness etc. Danilon is kinder to the digestive system, though, and my girl is a sensitive flower (so she says
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).
S
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It is quite interesting when we ride out I have an allergy to tree pollen, the mare does and sister has a number of food intolerances etc. We threrfore go around the countryside, wheezing, snotting and with a variety of interesting rashes, with me glancing round suspiciously and furtively if I have taken the 'wrong' antihistamine
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Sorry but I PMSL at that!
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Off the topic slighty but on the wheezing front, I have asthma and everyone on the yard can tell I've arrived before they see me due to my barking cough!
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Interesting post though never heard of using human antihistamines for horses.
 
QR
The NSAID thing hadn't occured to me (duh) but would make sense. We turned her out in early April as the tree pollen outside and the hay spores inside made things worse.
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We are steaming the hay and putting it out for them. We were also using pollenexe and I think I may add this to the mix again as I think she was better when I used that. It is a bit of trial and error, but will deff look at the NSAID route.
 
Sorry, I keep remembering things - it can also help if you remove the noseband, or slacken it, as obviously pressure can make the horse feel the rhinitis more.
Another tip someone gave me was to buy local honey (preferably produced within a few miles so it has the same mix of pollen that your horse is breathing) and add a tablespoon or two to the feed twice a day.
I can't report whether that helps or not, as my girl said 'Honey is vile!' and refused to participate.
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S
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She is very sensible then, I always think that honey smells of petrol, yeuck!

My mares main problem is increased resp and wheezing, not much head shaking. The piriton works wonders for her, it does need to be something which lasts a good long time, not just when ridden.
 
I suppose you could look at treatments for COPD (aka RAO) then, as that's the same thing.
There used to be a drug called Chromovet (sp?) which was administered through a nebuliser, which I've seen used for horses like yours, but I don't know if it's still available.
It seemed to be very effective in the horses I knew, and they didn't mind the masks.
You'll have to google and see if it is still around!
S
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If the piriton stops being effective (I so hope it doesn't) I will look at other methods, provided I get the dosage right she is fine and appears to have no side effects, certainly not over sedated (mind you I think a bucket of temezepam would not over sedate madam! )
 
I'm off to buy honey tomorrow as had heard that said on here the other night and interested me. It helps my grandma with her asthma, she swears by it (believe it or not!!)
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just got to try and find some local enough! Ride with a fairly loose noseband already, will loosen it even more 2moro! cant loose it altogether cuz the nose net does help him. Just been looking at pollenex (global herbs) jeez its expensive! But if it works...
 
I think with the honey, you are supposed to start the honey a couple of months before the symptoms occur. At least that is my understanding with people (never thought about it for horses
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Oh dear, never mind
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Try the piriton, it works for urticaria in people, so should with horses. I think, but may be wrong, that the same physiological process happens in horses as in people, so it should help to stop the process and remove (rather than just alleviate) the symptoms.
(there is that better? )
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very very sorry!! i shall take my smelly headshaker q's elsewhere!!
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thanks v much for your help though! noted on the honey - may have missed the boat on that one for this yr then!
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Also just had a light bulb moment Shills, that form of reaction is often seen in people with food intolerances (yes here I go again!) so is there anyway you could use an ellimination diet to remove any offending foods? When we had the tbxWelshd with food intolerances we fed her on grass nuts if we felt she needed any extra nutrients. (Not the answer if the problem is grass mind you) She also tolerated alfalfa well (current appy goes bonkers on it)
 
Oliver_twist, I'll forgive you for infiltrating my urticaria thread with your stinky headshakers this time....
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YorksG - I have done the feed elimination thing, and can discount all hard feeds, also her symptoms disappear during the winter, so can discount her forage diet.
I have watched her carefully this spring, and her urticaria directly co-incided with the first day that culicoides midges appeared (she had been bitten on the ears and udder area by those blackflies earlier, but didn't react).
S
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My beautiful new horse of three months has just this week turned into a window-lickin headshaker. Devastated, I have just bought a nose net to try and was advised to put Vicks in her nostrils. Haven't had the opportunity to try it yet but was also considering trying Piriton. I just wondered if any of you have tried the equiwinner patches advertised on line? They are impressively expensive, offering a money back guarantee, however, they give a long lists of ways to diagnose what type of allergy they benefit and I suspect you will not see your money again if you do not carry out these tests initially!
 
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