The active ingredient in Benadryl is 25mg of Diphenhydramine HCI per tablet while Claritin has 10mg of Lortadine. Both ingredients are for antihistamine – a medicine used to treat allergies and hypersensitive reactions and colds. Here’s the drug facts about the two:

Claritin

• Lortadine 10 mg
• temporarily relieves runny nose, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, itching of the nose or throat
• not more than 1 tablet for adults every 24 hours

Benadryl

• Diphenhydramine HCI 25mg
• temporarily relieves runny nose, sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, itching of the nose or throat
• 1 to 2 tablets (25mg to 50mg) for adults every 4 to 6 hours

When I had Benadryl, it worked wonder for me. I hate to say it but man, I like that stuff. The effect is really fast. The only downside is, it makes me drowsy. I guess if you are insomniac, this is the drug for you, haha. Anyway, I can’t have it during day time though because of work, where my allergy is active. So I switch to Claritin. It works but not as fast as Benadryl. I’m not sure about the 24 hour window. I normally take it in the morning before I go to work and by late afternoon, my allergy starts to act again. I ride my motorcycle to work and I hate it when I have to raise up my visor and rub my itchy nose. Benadryl works well but only advisable to take it before going to bed. The bad thing is, if I take Claritin, I can’t take any other allergy medication for 24 hours. Maybe I need something that will only work for 6 or 8 hours.