Allergies, Ashtma & High Blood Pressure

[inherday]

My partner has asthma and seems to have allergies, in particular smoke bothers her.  Her doctor had her on Claritin-D 24 Hour but then told her that would affect her because her family has a history of high blood pressure.  She then placed her on Flonase.  Now she had panic attacks and heart palipatations so she stopped taking it.  What's the next step and is it true about allergy meds being a concern with high blood pressure candidates?  She's healthy now other than the not being able to breathe, coughing, and itchy dry eyes.

[National Jewish Health]

The “D” in Claritin-D is pseudoephedrine.  It falls in the class of drugs called sympathomimetics and these can aggravate existing high blood pressure.  She may want to give plain Claritin (the antihistamine component of the drug) a try, as antihistamines in general pose no problem for those at risk for high blood pressure.

There is no ready explanation as to why Flonase seemed to cause panic attacks and heart palpitations.  Maybe the two just seemed to be related.

Good luck