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The Problem with Allergy Medicine - Inflated Drug Efficacy June 16, 2008

I always know when summer is approaching by the onset of sneezing fits and the overwhelming desire to scratch out my eyes- yes, I am talking about allergies. I am allergic to just about everything that you find outside. But, I can deal with this because it means that summer is almost here and I love summer.

I deal with my allergies by seriously medicating myself with antihistamines. I love antihistamines, they are great. They eliminate all of my allergies, except on the worst of days. I have tried pretty much every brand of allergy medicine out there and I’ve found that Aerius, by far, works the best. Originally, you could only get it prescribed by a doctor, but in the last couple of years it has turned into an over the counter medication.

Aerius is expense. I’m good with this. It cures my symptoms and allows me to enjoy the great outdoors in my favorite season. As you can see in the picture , it costs $31.99CDN for a pack of 30, or $1.07 per tablet. This really is quite a reasonable price if the efficacy of the medication is 24 hours like stated on the outside of the box.

This brings me to my MAJOR PROBLEM with allergy medicine in general. It NEVER WORKS FOR AS LONG AS IT SAYS on the box. And it’s not even off by a little. I find that 24 hour allergy medicine works for maybe 6 hours and on bad days I need to take 2 for it to really work (keep in mind that these are the extra strength ones). I have a problem with this. So if you do the math - on a bad day I’m taking about 5 or 6 pill (well above the maximum daily recommended dose). So now instead of paying $1.07 to cure my allergies, I am paying between $5.35 and $6.42.

The drug companies need to be upfront with us on how well their medicine really works. It allows the consumers to make informed decisions regarding their selection in pharmaceuticals. Without this information, when we, as consumers, make pharmaceutical purchasing decisions they are not optimal decisions and this can lead to consumers that are unhappy with your product - such as me with this blog post. I will continue to purchase Aerius, as I find it works the best and I’ve found this issue is consistent across brands. But, I will, without hesitation, switch brands if I find a product that is as good or better. I would be a far more loyal consumer had they been more upfront with me before I made the product purchase.