PillTime<\/a>, said: \u201cHay fever is hitting the country hard, but taking these sedating-style tablets is a no-go if you\u2019re already taking medication to help you get to sleep.\n<\/p>\n\n \u201cNot only will they both combine to sedate you, but it can impact breathing, and make you short of breath.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt can also lead to dizziness and in extreme cases people could even fall unconscious.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The concern centres around\u00a0first-generation antihistamines\u00a0\u2013 the older type of hay fever medication commonly sold under brand names such as\u00a0Piriton\u00a0and\u00a0Benadryl.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n These drugs are known for causing drowsiness, which can become dangerous when combined with other sedatives.\n<\/p>\n
How do I know which hay fever tablets to take?<\/p>\n
\n Non-drowsy antihistamines, such as\u00a0loratadine,\u00a0cetirizine, and\u00a0fexofenadine, are widely available and generally safe to take alongside sleep aids or tranquillisers.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Thnoia continued: \u201cThese are becoming increasingly common on shelves and are less likely to cross the blood-brain barrier, so shouldn\u2019t cause the same sedative effects.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Even\u00a0SSRIs, the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants – such as\u00a0sertraline\u00a0– may carry similar risks, particularly when combined with older-generation antihistamines.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Can you drink alcohol while taking hay fever tablets?<\/p>\n
\n One of the most commonly mixed substances with antihistamines that isn\u2019t a medicine at all \u2013 but can have the same dangerous effect when combined \u2013 \u00a0is alcohol.\n<\/p>\n
\n Recommended reading:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n And it\u2019s easy to forget while having a good time in the sun that you\u2019ve had both in the same day.\n<\/p>\n
\n Mr Thnoia added: \u201cAlcohol significantly amplifies the sedative effect of first-generation hay fever tablets, which can result in severe impairment and lead to unconsciousness or serious accidents.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cEven non-drowsy antihistamines can occasionally react with alcohol, depending on individual sensitivity, so it\u2019s best to avoid alcohol altogether if you\u2019re thinking of allergy medication.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Thnoia, superintendent pharmacist at\u00a0NHS-registered online pharmacy PillTime, is urging the public to double-check medication ingredients. He warns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-223345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114765335333777307","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}