Respiratory allergy, sleep disorder 11655...India
A 45-year-old woman had been suffering from sneezing fits, runny nose and sleeping difficulty for the past 15 years. The allergic symptoms, likely caused by dust and pollen, occurred every two days, persisting year-round, peaking in winter. Sneezing bouts would repeat every 10 to 15 minutes and sneezing could continue for hours. When it did not stop within 1 to 2 hours, she would take the prescribed antihistamine (OD) and the sneezing would then subside within 30 minutes. Owing to the sedative effect of antihistamine, she was prompted to use it carefully. In May 2023, attempting to manage without the medication for a month, she found her symptoms worsening, accompanied by a severe dry cough. Resorting to home remedies like ginger and honey offered some relief. However, realizing the necessity of antihistamine, she resumed taking it. When she consulted the practitioner she had been suffering from a severe dry cough for a month and she was sneezing.
She also had difficulty in falling asleep and would try to induce sleep by reading books. Whenever this failed, she took prescribed sleeping tablets and would fall asleep within an hour. On 10 June 2023, she was given:
For respiratory allergy:
#1. CC19.2 Respiratory allergies + CC19.5 Sinusitis + CC19.6 Cough chronic…every 10 minutes for 2 hours followed by 6TD
For sleeping difficulty:
#2. CC15.6 Sleep disorders…every 10 minutes for 1 hour before sleep
The following day, the patient reported falling asleep after two doses of #2 the previous night, without requiring sleeping tablets. There was also a 25% reduction in cough. She continued to take the antihistamine as needed.
On 17 June, as the cough was gone, the dosage of #1 was reduced to TDS. Growing more confident in vibrionics, she stopped the antihistamine. She noticed that the sneezing bouts and the runny nose would occur only if she missed a dose, in which case she was advised to take #1 frequently.
With her sleep fully restored in the first week of July, #2 was stopped. The next one month was symptom-free, so the dosage of #1 was reduced to OD and further to OW at the end of August.
As of Nov 23, there has been no recurrence and she is on a maintenance dosage of OW.