Helpful Things 1

Not necessarily a Mexico City update, but...

I've always wanted to share a few things I've come across that have really improved my life. These can be products, services, habits, systems, you-name-it. Anything that has had a substantive, positive impact on my quality of life.

At first, I wanted to call this series of posts "Game Changers". But, let's admit it, Game Changers is a really goofy damn name. It's also overused and probably inaccurate. So "Helpful Things" it is. What do you think?

So -- without further ado, here's the first one...

Claritin

Yes, that ages-old allergy medicine. The active medicine is 10mg loratadine.

I take one Claritin per day, every single day, without fail. This one simple step has taken me from having two or more upper respiratory infections per year to zero in the last ten years. (Maybe more.) Further, I used to generally feel crappy whenever anything was in the air. Call me lucky. Now, I am asymptomatic for allergies unless there's tons of dust in the air -- then I'm merely uncomfortable. I haven't had a cold in all this time either. Nothing.

The key is most people take Claritin incorrectly. I blame the way the stuff is marketed. Claritin is marketed as allergy relief, but allergies are a chronic illness. Allergies aren't something you catch. You are always allergic, and if you're severely allergic to one thing, odds are you are at least mildly allergic to many others. This means people generally put up with low-level allergy symptoms all the time, resorting to Claritin only when they feel abnormally bad.

This is the wrong way to go about it. What they don't understand is Claritin takes more than 24 hours to kick in. They will not feel immediate relief taking Claritin. That's why Bayer introduced Claritin D, which is loratadine plus the decongestant pseudoephedrine. Yup, good old Sudafed.  Now, Sudafed will knock out your allergy symptoms quickly, but it will also make you feel like shit. You're not supposed to take it for an extended period of time. It can also be bad for your heart, I am told.

Plain Claritin can be taken every day, it is generally side-effect free, available worldwide, and cheap!

If you suffer from allergies, trust me, include one Claritin 10mg in your daily supplements. Yes, generic loratadine is fine -- I take generic. Unless you count on having sick days a few times per year -- a friend actually once told me that was the reason he would not be following this advice, the lazy bugger -- you will improve your quality of life and find this to be a Helpful Thing.

Presently somewhere,

Andy