UKC

Hello,

Bit of a reach but I’m hoping that if someone is headed to Kalymnos in the next few days they could help me out by grabbing a box of Piriton?

I’ve come out in hives and it is the only thing that seems to work.  Got a few days doses but not enough to last me til Friday when we head back.  

Annoyingly my local pharmacist said I shouldn’t bother stocking up for the trip as it’s a run of the mill antihistamine. However a trip to every chemist in Pothias would prove otherwise….  

I’d be forever grateful and will give you some cash if you manage to bring some over!

I can also vote up the grade of every route you do on the island as an additional thank you. 

Elyse

Sorry, unable to help in terms of going to Kalymnos (I wish!) but I assume you've tried asking for chlorphenamine rather than specifically for "Piriton" (generic rather than brand name)?

I noticed Dave Musgrove is coming out tomorrow - could you contact him via FB and see if he can collect any at a Chemists at the airport? Of course (and typically) it will be Sunday,

Chris

Thanks for the reply.  Yeah unfortunately they don’t have a generic version either. Thanks though!

Thanks so much for this- I’ll try get in contact with him. Fingers crossed!

Just another thought, Elyse. Have you tried the local Kalymnos hospital. They are used to treating people with Hornet stings so may have piriton or something similar? I'll still try at the airport tomorrow. 

I presume that more modern antihistamines such as cetirizine has been tried by you in the past. Cetirizine is commonly available over the counter in the UK for hay fever and might be better than nothing and is on the NICE list of recommended therapies. I am not a doctor (well not the right type) so you do need to do your own homework.

see. https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/urticaria/

Discussing the clinical signs with the pharmacist might get you a good local answer that works,

Also check that they are using the EU not US terminology EU = chlorphenamine US = chlorpheniramine

If you have tried the more modern antihistamines cetirizine and loratadine but not found them effective, they are commonly used at higher than the licensed dose (which for both of them is one 10mg tablet per day) in patients with hives (urticaria). Up to 4 tablets per day is in the guidance.

Will definitely give that a go if you have no success. Thanks  

That’s really interesting. It’s only in the last few months I’ve had to deal with hives… they’re awful. And piriton was recommended by a doctor after I had no luck with fexofenodine and seems to work well, but never knew about the higher dosages of the others. Thank you!

So many helpful replies. Thank you! And I didn’t realise the different eu/us terminology, so thanks for that!

Sorry, Elyse. No luck at Leeds and Bradford Airport this morning.

Dave

Just seen your message. Thanks for looking Dave, I really appreciate you taking the time to try find some!