Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 11, 2012, at 8:08:26
In reply to Also, wanted to ask, please..., posted by Maisey on February 10, 2012, at 16:49:43
>Are there cough and cold medicines that CAN be taken safely with anti-d's?
Yes. For a blocked nose you can use a decongestant nasal spray for a few days. For a fever or aches and pains you can take acetaminophen. Cough medicines are not very effective, there is not much point in taking them.
>I always thought the biggest concern is that they up each other's chance of side effects. Generally, I haven't had problems. Even with Benadryl - it's just an anti-histamine.
You could take a small dose of Benadryl at night if you need to, just don't take a lot. If you need an antihistamine for allergies, you could take cetirizine (Zyrtec) or fexofenadine (Allegra).
>I don't take it with elavil b/c you're not supposed to go overboard on HCLs. Though, I take such a small dose of elavil. That's why I didn't worry last night until I read the Allergy&Sinus label, and discovered it was more than just an HCL like I had thought...
I'm not sure what you mean. A large number of drugs are given as the hydrochloride/HCl eg. amitriptyline hydrochloride. The hydrochloride/HCl refers to the atoms which are bonded to the drug to make it into a form which can be used in medicines. There is *no* problem taking different medicines containing HCl at the same time. When looking at the ingredients in a product, just look at the drug names, don't worry whether they are HCl or not, it's not relevant.
As an example, Benadryl + amitriptyline might cause a dry mouth. This is because diphenhydramine (the drug in Benadryl) and amitriptyline can both cause a dry mouth, and the effect is increased if they are taken together. It is nothing to do with HCl.
Hope this helps.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:854446
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120202/msgs/1009972.html