How to save money on antihistamines

While I’m glad to see the back of cold winter weather, spring means the return of seasonal hay fever for my family. As a kid, I had a bad pollen allergy, with sore, red eyes and a runny nose. And, unfortunately, I’ve passed this on to my outdoorsy son.

Antihistamine tablets are an effective treatment for managing the symptoms of hay fever (also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis), such as itching in the back of the throat, sneezing, a blocked or runny nose and itchy watery eyes. But if you’re a frequent hay fever sufferer, the ongoing costs can put a big dent in your budget.

There are several antihistamine brands you can buy, with different active ingredients.

We found prices haven’t increased since our 2024 price survey. But you can save a significant amount of money on antihistamines by shopping around, buying larger packets or choosing a generic brand. Generic brands have the same active ingredients in the same quantities as the big-name brands.

Whatever hay fever medication you choose, there are basic safety precautions to follow. If you’re taking any other medicines, check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking hay fever remedies as well.

While some hay fever remedies are available over the counter, if none of these give you relief, see your GP to get an accurate diagnosis. Your GP may also refer you to an immunologist or GP allergist.

What are antihistamines?

Antihistamines work by counteracting the effect of the chemical histamine that your body produces when your immune system responds to an allergen. Antihistamines come in different forms, including tablets, capsules, syrups, nasal sprays and eye drops.

Antihistamine tablets or capsules are usually divided into two groups based on their active ingredient. The groups are: ones that make you feel sleepy (sedating antihistamines) and ones that don’t (non-sedating antihistamines).

Common active ingredients include:

• cetirizine

• loratadine

• fexofenadine.

The effectiveness of antihistamines differs from person to person, so you may need to try several to find one that works for you. For most people, a non-sedating antihistamine is the best option, unless your symptoms stop you sleeping.

Antihistamines aren’t the only treatment to consider. For information about other options to treat hay fever, read our report about the best options for managing hay fever.

Antihistamine prices

We compared prices from online supermarkets and pharmacies for 11 commonly available non-sedating antihistamine tablets. We compared brands based on the active ingredients they contained.

We were pleased to discover that, unlike other products, the average price per pill for each antihistamine we surveyed hasn’t changed much since 2024.

For all 11 products, we found significant price differences from one store to the next and within the same store for different-sized packets. Not all brands were sold at supermarkets.

Cetirizine 10mg

Histaclear and Razene are the two commonly available generic brands of antihistamine containing this active ingredient. Zyrtec used to be the big brand name associated with cetirizine, but that brand is no longer available in New Zealand.

Histaclear and Razene are both available at pharmacies, and we found a smaller pack of five Histaclear pills at supermarkets.

Not surprisingly, buying a small packet is the most expensive option. At the nine supermarkets that stocked the Histaclear five-pill pack, you’ll pay $1.22 or more per pill. That’s more than five times the price of one pill (23¢) if you buy a 90-pill pack from Pharmacy Direct (the cheapest retailer in our survey for Histaclear).

On average, Razene is cheaper than Histaclear. The cheapest way of buying Razene was a 120-pill pack from Chemist Warehouse (21¢ per pill). Pharmacy Direct was the cheapest store to buy a 30-pill pack (30¢ per pill) – compared with 53¢ per pill in a 30-pill pack at Life Pharmacy.

Loratadine 10mg

Claratyne (the big brand name for antihistamines with this active ingredient) is more expensive than its generic equivalents Lora-Tabs and Loraclear.

On average, Claratyne will set you back more than $1 per pill, but you’ll get stung $1.60 or more if you opt for a small five-pill pack from a supermarket – the most expensive option in our survey.

Loraclear is also available at the supermarket in five- or ten-pill packs. But you’ll pay for the convenience – supermarket prices ranged from $1.00 to $1.50 per pill. It’s a lot cheaper to buy Loraclear in a pack of 90 from a pharmacy. The cheapest place we found Loraclear was Chemist Warehouse (21¢ per pill in a 120-pill pack).

We didn’t find Lora-Tabs at the supermarket. The cheapest store we found Lora-Tabs was Pharmacy Direct (23¢ per pill in a 90-pill pack). The most expensive store to buy this antihistamine from was Netpharmacy for a 30-pill pack.

Fexofenadine 180mg

You’ll also save money buying a packet of a generic fexofenadine (Hayfexo or Fexaclear) rather than the big-brand Telfast.

For a pack of 70, the cheapest price we found for Telfast would set you back 71¢ per pill at Chemist Warehouse, compared with 34¢ for Hayfexo (from Pharmacy Direct) and 36¢ for Fexaclear (Netpharmacy). That’s a saving of $25 or more per pack.

If you want to stick to Telfast, check the price for different quantities. At Chemist Warehouse, the price was $1.40 per pill in a packet of 10, compared with $1.17 in a packet of 30 and 71¢ in a packet of 70.

It was a similar story at Life Pharmacy – we found Telfast for 83¢ per pill in a pack of 60, $1.30 in a pack of 30 and $1.90 in a pack of 10. If you’re taking antihistamines regularly, the difference in price can add up.

Other antihistamines in our survey

We also surveyed the prices of levocetirizine 5mg (Levrix and Levoclear) and bilastine 20mg (Labixten). The findings were the same – you can save money by shopping around and buying larger packets.

Are any antihistamines funded?

Some antihistamines (including cetirizine, fexofenadine and loratadine) are fully funded by the government agency Pharmac. So, with a doctor’s prescription, you’ll pay a maximum of $5 at the pharmacy for a 3-month supply. There are also exemptions for:

• people aged 13 years or under

• people aged 65 years or older

• people holding a Community Services Card and their dependent children

• people with a Prescription Subsidy Card.

However, if you don’t have a Community Services Card and are paying the full cost of a GP appointment for an adult, it might be cheaper to buy a large packet of a generic antihistamine at the pharmacy.

Tips for saving money on antihistamines

• Shop around. We found big differences between stores for the same product.

• Go large. It’s usually cheaper to buy a larger packet.

• Choose a generic product. Ask your pharmacist about the options.

• Ask your GP if you’re eligible for a prescription for a fully funded antihistamine.