Asthma with increased allergies

[Bodhi]

Hello, my friend is a 32-year-old man who has been taking lisinopril 10 mg and loratadine 10 mg. His allergies were well controlled for the past year so he decided to stop taking his loratadine. He understands the importance of taking medications as prescribed, and says he takes his blood pressure medication every day. He claims the reason he stopped taking the loratadine was that his friend told him loratadine is an as-needed medication and that if he had no symptoms, there was no reason to continue it. However, this past week has been horrible, and his allergies are acting up. He says that in the past he has used Primatene Mist with loratadine but is having difficulty locating it. Upon questioning, he says he has been short of breath every day for the past 2 weeks. He claims that when his allergies are bad, his asthma acts up. His doctor in the past always recommended Primatene Mist for his asthma and allergies. Can anyone suggest any help?

[Aarav]

@Bodhi It appears to be allergy-induced asthma. The patient should be referred to his primary care physician to discuss other options. Ideally, he should be prescribed a short-acting beta agonist to help relieve his shortness of breath until his allergy symptoms are controlled. If he appears to have daily shortness of breath after his allergies are controlled, additional drug therapy may be necessary to control his asthma. Additionally, he should be advised to take his loratadine daily even when he feels better, to prevent his allergies from acting up.