What Are the Best Types of Antihistamines and How Do They Work?
Is Benadryl a good antihistamine for allergies?
Although Benadryl is the most common antihistamine and can be effective at relieving symptoms, it often has a sedative effect on those who take it. If you don’t want to feel drowsy or sleepy after taking your allergy medication, you may want to consider Zyrtec, Allegra, or Claritin.
This article is a transcript.
What are antihistamines? I'm Dr. Manan Shah, I'm an ENT and allergist with Wyndly Health. In terms of allergies, when your body's exposed to an allergy trigger, it releases a molecule called histamine.
Histamine causes the symptoms of allergies, like runny nose and watery eyes. So antihistamines block the release of histamine and fix your allergy symptoms, at least for the time that you're using them.
The most commonly known antihistamine is Benadryl. But in general, we recommend people use second-generation antihistamines like Claritin, Zyrtec, or Allegra, since these medications are less sedating. If you'd like to learn more, please subscribe.
