I have recently started having problems with tachycardia (very fast heart rate.) When this problem initially manifested in November, I asked my physician if the fact that I was taking Actifed for itchy eyes and palate might have something to do with it. He just glared at me, and prescribed Allegra.
As soon as I discontinued Actifed, the tachycardia went away immediately. Things were going fine until May, when the problem began again.
When I looked up prescription information on Allegra, it lists both tachycardia and palpitations under “uncommon adverse reactions.” So, I’m hoping that by dropping Allegra, I may once again be able to get rid of this problem.
So does anyone know of any antihistamines that do not have cardiac side effects? (Claritin also lists tachycardia as a side effect.)
(For the record, I am under a cardiologist’s care. I will be seeing him on Wednesday. Although I expect that he can comment on whether dropping Allegra will be of any use, I don’t necessarily expect him to know of good alternatives for my allergy problems. He has known of my Allegra usage all along, by the way.)
Any antihistamine can cause you to feel a trifle nervous, or excitable, but that’s not quite the same thing as real tachycardia, which is the truly racing, hammering heartbeat. The Old Reliables–chloropheniramine (Chlortrimeton), diphenhydramine (Benadryl), and brompheniramine (Dimetapp)–don’t usually cause “racing heartbeat” palpitations, although of course YMMV. Benadryl usually puts most people right to sleep.
But, um, Actifed isn’t just an antihistamine–it’s actually two drugs, triprolidine and pseudoephedrine, and pseudoephedrine at least quite definitely causes palpitations and nervousness all by itself–it’s what’s in Sudafed.
But WebMD doesn’t list actual “tachycardia” or heart palpitations as side effects for Actifed, and more importantly, it says:
It’s entirely possible that your cardiac specialist glared at you because he just found out that you were taking OTC allergy pills that could have caused a dangerous interaction.
So maybe you should go back to Square One and think about what other kinds of medication you were taking while you were taking the Actifed for the allergies.
Lots of good info, DDG. I’ll definitely be looking into some of those. I remember that I had earlier marked chloropheneramine off my list, because I think I read that it tended to dry out your eyes, and I wear contact lenses. Dry eyes, however, are starting to sound better and better.
Yes, I shouldn’t have been taking Actifed for so long. And, actually, it made no sense for me to be taking it, since most of the time, I didn’t really need the decongestant activity of the pseudoephedrine. But it worked so well…
My family physician did discuss it with me (besides just glaring at me.) His objection was to the pseudoephedrine in there. Knowing that that was the problem, he prescribed Allegra (180 mg), and definitely not Allegra-D for me.
Drug interaction was not a problem. I’m basically a disgustingly healthy person. I didn’t have any of the health conditions listed. I do have mild problems with asthma, but I’m generally only symptomatic after an upper respiratory infection. The only thing I take on a regular basis is a multivitamin and an antioxidant. Taking allergy medication was a real departure for me, because normally I don’t like to be all drugged up. I just couldn’t deal with the itchy eyes and palate all the time.
Hmmm. On re-reading your entire post, I note that Allegra does include a possible interaction with multivitamins containing magnesium. I’ll have to check the label, but I’m nearly certain my multivitamin does. However, since Allegra has the potential to cause tachycardia problems all on its own, I think it’s in my best interest to ditch it. I discontinued taking it as of this morning.
Interestingly, every doctor I’ve talked to regarding this problem is aware that I’m taking Allegra. My family physician prescribed it, and the cardiologist and the two electrophysiologists (a subspecialty in cardiology which handles arrythmias) all know my history of starting on Actifed and switching to Allegra. I’ll be seeing one of the electrophysiologists on Wednesday.
Ask about steroid nasal spray (flonase) to help control your allergy symptoms. It helps eliminate the initial inflammation that can lead to the need for antihistamines and decongestants. Takes about a week to kick in, but seems to work well on a lot of people. Also try getting a hepa filter for at least your bedroom.
Avoiding both racing heartbeat and dry eyes is going to be pretty tricky when it comes to antiallergy drugs. as has been noted, pseudoephidrine(basically low-grade speed) always carries a risk of heart-related reactions, and non-CNS antihistamines like diphenhydramine will definately dry you out. IANAD, but I would recommend something like Tavist(Clemastine). I think you can get it without Pseudoephedrine in it, and it doesn’t dry you out quite as bad. be careful though, it can be quite psychoactive if you go beyond the recommended dosage.
The hepa filter is a very good idea. (Getting rid of the dogs in the bedroom would be an even better idea, but they tend to end up vandalizing the house when left to roam the house on their own at night.)
I know that they make both a Tavist and a Tavist-D, so I’m presuming that the regular Tavist is pseudoephedrine-free. I had not heard about the psychoactive effects, though!
I’ll find out tomorrow if my cardiologist thinks that dropping Allegra will help, or if it is implicated in a different type of tachycardia than I’ve been experiencing. If getting rid of it works, maybe I can just trade in my cardiologist for an allergist…