People's Pharmacy

Claritin

Generic Name:loratadine

Other Brand Names: Claritin D

Revised:4/1/2000

Table of Contents

Side Effects and Interactions

Side effects with Claritin are not common, but people have reported headache, fatigue, drowsiness and dry mouth.

Other potential reactions include weight gain, blurred vision, weakness, dizziness, nausea, anxiety, depression, impotence and menstrual changes. Report any symptoms to your doctor.

For Claritin-D, the most common side effects are headache, insomnia, and dry mouth. Indigestion and loss of appetite are reported in addition to side effects listed for Claritin alone.

Certain drugs can interact with Claritin to raise blood levels of the antihistamine.

Nizoral is known to boost blood levels of Claritin, but no changes in heart rhythm or electrocardiogram (ECG) were noted as a result. In general, it would be wise to check with your doctor or pharmacist if you must take Claritin in combination with a medicine known to interact with the similar drugs, Hismanal and Seldane.

These include erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin, ERYC, Ery-Tab, Erythrocin Stearate, etc.), Biaxin, Sporanox or Tagamet.

The pseudoephedrine component of Claritin-D can reduce the effectiveness of many blood pressure medicines and may interact with Lanoxin.

Check with your pharmacist and physician to make sure Claritin or Claritin-D is safe in combination with any other drug you take.