Cheap hay fever tablets: how to save £10 a month

The costs of buying antihistamines can add up over the season, especially as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns could mean symptoms last longer. You can save £10 a month or more by following our advice. 

Switching the type or brand of antihistamine you buy can save significant amounts. 

You can save around £10 a month if you switch from branded to own-brand or generic options, and even more if you switch to one-a-day tablets.

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Generic vs branded hay fever tablets: how to save £10 or more per month

We checked the prices of four common types of antihistamine tablets in pharmacies, supermarkets and discount stores and found that there are big savings to be made.

The cheapest option for a daily tablet costs just 3p per tablet, while one of the priciest is 40p per tablet.

Here's how much you can save for a month's supply (30 pack) by buying a generic rather than a branded product with the same active ingredient:

• Cetirizine Hydrochloride (one-a-day): Piriteze Allergy 10mg, £11 for 30 at Sainsbury's (37p per tablet) vs Bell's Allergy Relief 10mg 89p for 30 at B&M (3p per tablet) = monthly saving of £10.11
• Loratidine (one-a-day): Clarityn Allergy 10mg, £10.99 for 30 tablets at Boots (37p per tablet) vs Galpharm One-a-day Allergy and Hayfever Relief 10mg, 79p for 14 tablets at Aldi (6p per tablet) = monthly saving of £9.19
• Fexofenadine hydrochloride (one-a-day): Allevia 120mg tablets, £11.99 for 30 tablets at Boots (40p per tablet) vs Galpharm Treathay Fexofenadine 120mg tablets (£7 for 30 at Sainsbury's (23p per tablet) = monthly saving of £5

Prices correct as of 19 June 2024 and based on non-offer prices.

You may be able to get hold of branded products for less when on special offer (for example, Clarityn is currently £7 for Tesco Clubcard holders and £8.50 at Boots), but generic versions are almost always still going to be cheaper.

You can make further savings by swapping from a more expensive type of antihistamine to cheaper one (for example, from fexofenadine to cetirizine), or by picking a one-a-day formulation.

For example, acrivastine (brand name Benadryl Allergy Relief), a multi-dose antihistamine, can cost as much as 44p per tablet (£10.50 for 24, Asda). That's £1.32 a day if you take three per day, and there aren't many own-brand versions of this antihistamine. But if you swap to one-a-day cetirizine at 3p a day you can make a monthly saving of £38.70.

The NHS says that antihistamines like cetirizine and loratadine seem to work just as well as acrivastine - but do check with your pharmacist or GP for advice on what would work best for your symptoms.

Buying online can be cheaper

You need to watch out for delivery fees, but buying online can be cheaper.

Currently PharmacyFirst has a 'free delivery' deal on a bulk order of 180 Loratidine for £5.95 and Cetirizine for £6.95 (both 3p per tablet).

That's the cheapest way you'll get Loratadine right now, and matches the cheapest price of Cetirizine at B&M. Handy if you don't have a store near you or can't easily get to the shops.

Make sure you always check you are buying from a reputable online pharmacy which is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council.

Are cheap antihistamines as good as branded ones?

Our research has repeatedly shown that switching to generic or own-brand medicines, particularly in supermarkets or discount stores, can save you money. 

By law, generic or own-brand versions of medicines have to comply with exactly the same standards of quality, safety and efficacy as branded ones. So if they have the same active ingredients this means there's no difference in the main action of the drug.

Thorrun Govind, pharmacist and immediate past chair of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's English Pharmacy Board, explains: 'The main difference may be the "excipients" – the added things that make the tablet taste how it does or how the ingredients bind together – but the active ingredients are the same and they work in the same way.'

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Getting the best from your hay fever medication

It's worth stocking up early, as the advice is that it's best to start using antihistamines preventatively, rather than after you experience symptoms.

If you're heading off on holiday, it's worth having some stowed away in case allergies strike, or if you get itchy insect bites.

If your regular anti-allergy medication isn't working as well as it used to, switching to a different active ingredient might help. 

And if over-the-counter versions don't seem to be helping to manage your symptoms, speak to your pharmacist or GP. Find out more about allergy treatment options in our full guide to hay fever remedies.

Don't get too enthusiastic about bulk-buying though - be mindful of how frequently you typically need to take antihistamines and check expiry dates so you don't end up with meds going to waste.

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Story originally published: 5 April 2024. Pricing checked and updated: 19 June 2024