Pollen Allergies, What Pills to Take?

[glennr]

Zyrtec seems to be the most common for allergies and i really need some relief for my pollen allergies right now. I can't find anything about tinnitus on the side effects in the package, but when I Google Zyrtec and tinnitus it says that it is ototoxic and this not recommended. What to do?

 

[housemzk]

I take levocetirizine daily, as directed by my allergist. I did a quick Google search and couldn't find that it was ototoxic either.

 

[glynis]

I take fexofenadine 120mg all year round..
Love glynis

 

[glennr]

I take fexofenadine 120mg all year round..
Love glynis

Well i cant find anything specific relating fexofenadine with ototoxicicity so that might be the safest bet yet? We also have it in norway under the name Telfast so might give it a try then instead of risking anything with Zyrtec

 

[glennr]

I've read that you mentioned in an earlier post that fexofenadine had tinnitus mentioned as a side effect @glynis ? But when I read the side effects there is no tinnitus listed at all?

After reading abit more about Zyrtec and fexofenadine they seem almost identical with Zyrtec giving abit more drowsiness then the other. None has T mentioned as a side effect.

So what makes either or marked as ototoxic is that it can cause dizziness then?

Would be interesting in hearing other opinions if there is any out there

 

[Nekomata709]

I think unless a certain amount of people report tinnitus as side effect, it doesn't go onto the list of side effect of that drug but almost all drugs can potentially be harmful to ears. 10 out of 2000 people who reported side effect for fexofenadine said tinnitus as their side effect according to this FDA report. Those people are all over age 40. You can search other drugs by the "name of drugs + tinnitus" on this website.
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/fexofenadine-hydrochloride/tinnitus/

 

[MBH]

I live in the US and I have moderate T, but what I use for my allergies med montelukast (singular) & tylenol sinus severe I know it say sinus but it works great for allergies. It does not spike my T. Also, i have been using it from the start. I don't know what the names would be from where you are.

 

[glennr]

I think unless a certain amount of people report tinnitus as side effect, it doesn't go onto the list of side effect of that drug but almost all drugs can potentially be harmful to ears. 10 out of 2000 people who reported side effect for fexofenadine said tinnitus as their side effect according to this FDA report. Those people are all over age 40. You can search other drugs by the "name of drugs + tinnitus" on this website.
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/fexofenadine-hydrochloride/tinnitus

I think unless a certain amount of people report tinnitus as side effect, it doesn't go onto the list of side effect of that drug but almost all drugs can potentially be harmful to ears. 10 out of 2000 people who reported side effect for fexofenadine said tinnitus as their side effect according to this FDA report. Those people are all over age 40. You can search other drugs by the "name of drugs + tinnitus" on this website.
https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/fexofenadine-hydrochloride/tinnitus/

Thanks for the tip! Seems the site does not list side effects but rather shows people WITH tinnitus who reports it worsening? Anyways it seems like both fexofenadine and Zyrtec are equals with the "ototoxic " effects being dizziness and nothing about Tinnitus as a side effect. That's at least a bit reassuring i think

 

[Nekomata709]

I think the report shows people who get tinnitus because of the drug (as a side effect). It shows dizziness, weakness, ear pain, etc as "other" side effects.

 

[Nekomata709]

BTW, I use fexofenadine and old time antihistamine, diphenhydramine, for my allergy and they haven't affected my tinnitus. Diphenhydramine has only 1 person reporting tinnitus as side effect out of 3,000+ according to FDA report.

 

[Tinker Bell]

Allergies can increase tinnitus, so how would one determine whether it was the allergy or the allergy medication? I think it would be the cause if there were substantial reports of tinnitus as a side effect, but there are not.

I have taken Claritin, Flonase and Singular. No negative impact, if anything my tinnitus seems quieter. Plus there's the added bonus of breathing better!

 

[1MW]

corticosteroids especially dexamethasone(you can try 0.05mg or less) at low doses for allergies.
Also topical and not systemic use of corticosteroids.

 

[Aaron123]

Allergies can increase tinnitus, so how would one determine whether it was the allergy or the allergy medication?

Excellent question. You look at data from clinical trials where one group received the drug and the other the placebo and then see if the symptom rates are different between the two groups. (This doesn't pick up post-approval experience in larger populations, but it does provide much better evidence on whether there is a causal or spurious relationship.)

For some drugs this is available in varying levels of detail in the "full prescribing information". Sometimes the drug makers have this on their sites, sometimes it is on the FDA site.

From the prescribing information for Zyrtec, tinnitus was reported less than 2% of the time. For more common adverse reactions they give a comparison to placebo. So for example, 14% of people 215 people on 10 mg of zyrtec reported a headache. Sounds bad until you see that 12.3% of the 309 people on the placebo reported a headache.

Here's the full list of side effects occurring less than 2% of the time in trials of 4000 adults and 650 kids. Sadly we don't know specific percentage or the percentage in placebo groups. None of this is necessarily causal (and most almost certainly isn't - see about about headaches), and pretty much every medication has a list like this. Sometimes it is more detailed and sometimes less.

I've added bold for the hearing categories and for some other potentially 'bad' outcomes.... Here's the list:

Autonomic Nervous System: anorexia, flushing, increased salivation, urinary retention.

Cardiovascular: cardiac failure, hypertension, palpitation, tachycardia.

Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems: abnormal coordination, ataxia, confusion,
dysphonia, hyperesthesia, hyperkinesia, hypertonia, hypoesthesia, leg cramps, migraine,
myelitis, paralysis, paresthesia, ptosis, syncope, tremor, twitching, vertigo, visual field defect.

Gastrointestinal: abnormal hepatic function, aggravated tooth caries, constipation, dyspepsia,
eructation, flatulence, gastritis, hemorrhoids, increased appetite, melena, rectal hemorrhage,
stomatitis including ulcerative stomatitis, tongue discoloration, tongue edema.

Genitourinary: cystitis, dysuria, hematuria, micturition frequency, polyuria, urinary
incontinence, urinary tract infection.

Hearing and Vestibular: deafness, earache, ototoxicity, tinnitus.

Metabolic/Nutritional: dehydration, diabetes mellitus, thirst.

Musculoskeletal: arthralgia, arthritis, arthrosis, muscle weakness, myalgia.

Psychiatric: abnormal thinking, agitation, amnesia, anxiety, decreased libido, depersonalization,
depression, emotional lability, euphoria, impaired concentration, insomnia, nervousness,
paroniria, sleep disorder.

Respiratory System: bronchitis, dyspnea, hyperventilation, increased sputum, pneumonia,
respiratory disorder, rhinitis, sinusitis, upper respiratory tract infection.

Reproductive: dysmenorrhea, female breast pain, intermenstrual bleeding, leukorrhea,
menorrhagia, vaginitis.

Reticuloendothelial: lymphadenopathy.

Skin: acne, alopecia, angioedema, bullous eruption, dermatitis, dry skin, eczema, erythematous
rash, furunculosis, hyperkeratosis, hypertrichosis, increased sweating, maculopapular rash,
photosensitivity reaction, photosensitivity toxic reaction, pruritus, purpura, rash, seborrhea, skin
disorder, skin nodule, urticaria.

Special Senses: parosmia, taste loss, taste perversion.

Vision: blindness, conjunctivitis, eye pain, glaucoma, loss of accommodation, ocular
hemorrhage, xerophthalmia.

Body as a Whole: accidental injury, asthenia, back pain, chest pain, enlarged abdomen, face
edema, fever, generalized edema, hot flashes, increased weight, leg edema, malaise, nasal polyp,
pain, pallor, periorbital edema, peripheral edema, rigors.

 

[Nekomata709]

I am one of the rare and unfortunate people who got tinnitus from taking one of the safest antibiotics. I didn't know I could get tinnitus as a side effect at that time, so I didn't know what was happening to me until it's too late. You don't have to be overly scared of taking medication that doesn't list tinnitus as a side effect but it's good to be aware of the risk no matter small it is, so if the unfortunate occurs, you can act fast.

 

[glennr]

That is very true @Nekomata709 I'm guessing that i am over analyzing it at this point now

 

[David077]

corticosteroids especially dexamethasone(you can try 0.05mg or less) at low doses for allergies.
Also topical and not systemic use of corticosteroids.

Maybe you mean 0.5mg? From the information I found on the Internet, 0.5mg is the minimum dose, a dose of 0.05 given to babies or as eye drops.

 

[1MW]

I mean 0.05mg.