Driving Under The Influence - Of Allergy Medicine

With allergy season officially starting, you should be aware that some over-the-counter allergy drugs can seriously impair your ability to drive or operate heavy machinery.

In fact, many allergy medicines contain the active ingredient diphenhydramine which is found in Benadryl and other allergy remedies and can be more dangerous than driving drunk, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

However, there is a new class of non-sedating antihistamines containing fexofenadine (Allegra) available by prescription that has been shown safer to use in driver simulator tests.

Researchers say even if you don’t feel drowsy on allergy medications, you can still be impaired.

The safest approach is to read the "warnings" section on the label of any allergy remedy you’re considering using and heed the advice.

Source: Annals of Internal Medicine, March 7, 2000

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