kristinafh's Full Review: Claritin Recurring Hives 24 Hour Tablets 30 Each
Hello. My name is Kristina and for most of my life, I have suffered from the occasional (and random) breakout of hives. Those little boogers don't come out often but when they do, they itch like there is no tomorrow. For years, I have used one product, and one product only to make them go away. That product is Claritin.
But you whisper to yourself...ahem...Kristina, this is the place where you reviewClaritin Recurring Hives Reliefnot just the plain oleClaritin.
Well yes, I hear you. There's a reason for that. But first, I want to tell you a story. It'll be educational, informative, scary, and finally revealing. To boot, you just might walk away understanding how pharmaceutical companies really operate in this world and why – if you’re a “creative” individual – you’ll love working in the Marketing Department for any industry.
What You Need to Know About Hives Hives - medically known as urticaria - is an outbreak of swollen, pale, red bumps and/or patches that appear very quickly on various parts of your body. They look different from other skin irritations – the size, shape, and color are hard to mistake for other common conditions like a rash, measles, mumps, or chicken pox. These blotchy scoundrels seem to pop out of nowhere and they itch and itch and itch.
What causes hives? There are a bazillion known and even more unknown causes. Some of your typical reasons include allergic reactions to foods, various odds and ends that exist in the environment, all sorts of drugs, lots of insect bites, and Hepatitis B (in adults).
How do they come about? When your body feels under attack and/or invaded by something - maybe an allergen - it unleashes chemicals in your body known as histamines. Some people just become wheezy and drowsy. Others may just sneeze a bit. And then there's the rest of us - we break out in these large patchy welts.
I know that I like to joke around in my reviews but please take me seriously when I say to you that hives can kill you.
When I was eight years old, I had my first outbreak. It seemed rather uninteresting. They were on my hands and legs. Aside from the itching, I wasn't in any real pain. I felt fine otherwise. My mother thought that perhaps, I had an allergic reaction to pollen or something along those lines. An hour later, my entire body was filled to the brim with these white-reddish blotchy spots and as I was driven to the ER, my throat started to close up and I couldn't breathe. I have no clue what shots were administered to me but I do know that I slept for a VERY long time.
Sometimes hives just break out externally - on top of your skin. Sometimes hives break out underneath your skin and when that happens, they can wreak havoc with your internal organs - causing swelling, uncontrollable contractions, and sometimes, even suffocation.
SO, sorry to have to scare you like this but sometimes a girl has to make her point.
About the Pharmaceutical Company - Schering-Plough
Many years ago, Claritin and its sister product, Claritin-D (the decongestant version) were only available by prescription. In 2002, just as they were about to lose their two billion dollars per year corner of the market (i.e. their patent on the formula was set to expire, the drug-maker, Schering-Plough did something pretty ingenious. After a large insurance company - Wellpoint, petitioned the government to allow the Claritin family to be sold over the counter (their attempt to take a bite out of pharmaceutical profits and restore some of their own), Schering-Plough fell off of the turnip truck and agreed to sell the product as an over-the-counter drug.
I'd like to give kudos to the Schering-Plough for making this brave move however, it wasn't entirely benevolent on their part. As you might imagine, this move literally, put the competition out of the generic-version-business. As far as I'm concern, that's okay. You see, apparently, Claritin is considered just as safe and even more effective than what one could get over-the-counter. There really is no reason to keep it all tied up in the hands of strange pharmacists ;).
BUT...we're not done with our story yet.
Smartie-drawers Schering-Plough did something else pretty sneaky. While their two billion dollar business was moving to the other side of the fence, they went ahead and reformulated Claritin into a new and improved formula - now called Clarinex. The jury is still out on if Clarinex actually works better but hey - insurance companies are actually suckers enough to pay for it.
Claritin Recurring Hives Relief
We're not done with our marketing story yet. Also in 2002, Schering-Plough turned in numerous studies to the FDA to prove their case that Claritin could be sold to treat chronic hives without adversely affecting fifty bazillion things. It received approval and was the first drug to be marketed in this manner.
And folks, that's how we come to this product - Claritin Recurring Hives Relief. It started hitting shelves in 2004. I was excited because as an uninformed consumer, I mistakenly thought - wow! I bet they tookClaritinadded something else special to it to come up with this formulation.Claritin already worked well for my hives but hey - because I live in a short-attention span society, I'm all for getting rid of those hives faster!
But guess what? This product has the exact same ingredients as the other, over-the-counter Claritin that you buy, allegedly for "allergies".
This my friends, is the work of a fine marketing team. Slap a different label on it, mark up the price a bit, and there you have it. Seriously. You can walk into your local drug store, pick up this box, pick up good ole regular Claritin and you'll see around $1.50 difference in price.
Unless you like to randomly throw money down the drain, you'd be silly to buy a more expensive version of the same product. What I do is buy the "package" that is either on sale or that has a coupon available. I never seem to have to buy either version for full-price - which means that you should never have to either.
Now, on to the mundane details.
Question: Why would I buy Claritin Recurring Hives Relief?
Answer: If you have random bouts of hives that have been diagnosed appropriately by a physician, then taking this medication helps a great deal.
Question: How does it help?
Answer: It doesn't prevent your hives from appearing but it does minimize the itching to the extent that you won't feel the need to scratch. Scratching your hives tends to irritate your skin. In my case, my hives tend to multiply when I can't stop scratching. Soon, my entire body can be covered in them and believe me - that's no fun.
Question: How soon does it stop your itching?
Answer: For me - within about ten minutes of taking. It's amazing.
Question: What makes it work so well?
Answer: shrug What do I look like? A chemist?! The active ingredient is something called Loratadine. Other than that, it has a couple of inactive ingredients like Corn Starch, Lactose Monohydrate, Magnesium Stearate.
Question: How does this compare to Benadryl?
Answer: It doesn't. It's heads and shoulders above Benadryl. Benadryl makes me sleepy, and gives me a dry mouth. This does none of those - or anything else. Of course, the pharmaceutical company gives you a long list of possible side effects (i.e.
(Drowsiness or dizziness; headache; nervousness; nausea, diarrhea, or abdominal discomfort; dry mouth; dry skin or itchiness; or discoloration of urine). I think they just put that in there to satisfy the hypochondriacs!
Question: What about interactions with other over-the-counter medications, prescriptions, or food?
Answer: None according to the FDA and the pharmaceutical company.
Question: I hate having to swallow pills. How often would I have to take it?
Answer: Only as often as you need to ;). But seriously, the directions tell you not to take more than one tablet a day. The pills are very, very tiny and white. You won't have an issue swallowing them.
Question: Is it safe for kids?
Answer: Yep - for kids six and over.
Question: How would I recognize the package?
Answer: The entire Claritin family is packaged in deep, medium blue boxes. If you walk up and down your cold and flu aisle, it's difficult to miss them. Claritin Recurring Hives Relief is only sold in a package of ten. Each pill is isolated in a blister pack.
Question: Anything else I should know?
Answer: Yes, that'll be $75. Sheesh! What do I look like, a doctor???!!
But seriously, as always, talk to your doctor before you start mixing over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs of any kind. And remember, I'm not a doctor, I just talk like one in epinions reviews.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.