Posted by MB on July 13, 2001, at 3:11:31
In reply to Antihistamines and suicidal ideation, posted by susan C on July 12, 2001, at 16:57:35
> I would like to know if others share my experience. I have found no dr to confirm it, other than it is listed as a very small% in the side effects list. Whenever I take an antihistamine, whether it is OTC or Allegra (or Clariton), the new ones, with in 48 hours I am suicidal. When I stop, it is out of my system in about the same length of time and I could feel my mood 'lift'. When the allergy doc prescribed allegra, I said 'I can't take antihistamines they make me depressed' he said, 'oh, no, this is a NEW one, it does not pass the blood brain barrier.' A friend of mine also had a similar experience, couldn't beleive it and tried a second time...he was braver than me. Anyone else out there?
My initial reaction to antihistamines is relief from anxiety...maybe about three hours after I take them (which is weird because it seems they "hit" other people faster). Then I become narcoleptic and succumb to an ineluctable sleep that lasts no less than a day or two...then I am plagued with leaden fatigue for three or four more days, during which my body feels as if it weighs 400 lbs. All I want to do at this point is sleep, yet I can't because I am so restless...so I lie there wiggling my foot until I can move again. The whole ordeal is extremely depressing. The whole time I am in the fatigue stage, I have a weird, nostalgic melencholia that is reminiscent of the depression induced by opoid withdrawal. Zyrtec (one of the new "non drowsey" types) was the worst. Funny: the smaller the dose of Zyrtec that I took, the worse my reaction (less was more...how deep...)
poster:MB
thread:69881
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010708/msgs/69953.html