If you have alcohol addiction, your treatment team may recommend that you do not take antihistamines due to the potential side effects. As a rule, mixing Zyrtec or other drugs with alcohol can lead to health complications. Complications and side effects may be more severe in older adults. If your allergy med of choice is diphenhydramine, also known as Benadryl, the answer is an emphatic NO. The same rule goes for other first-generation allergy medications such as chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton), clemastine and hydroxyzine . According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of American, allergic rhinitis affects 20 million adults in the United States each year.

Loratadine , fexofenadine , or cetirizine and alcohol are generally considered a slightly safer combination. These medications do not typically cause drowsiness or other side effects that are intensified by alcohol consumption. Combining cetirizine and alcohol is unlikely to cause severe drowsiness.

Combining Zyrtec and alcohol can end up leading to overdose in some cases. Overdosing on either substance can be fatal if medical attention is not received immediately. It works by blocking histamine, a substance in the body that causes allergic symptoms.

Is It Safe to Mix Benadryl and Alcohol?

This includes beverages, mouthwashes, and other drugs that list alcohol as an ingredient. To be on the safe side, you can ask your doctor or pharmacist how long to wait after you finish taking Benadryl before you reach for a drink. Cetirizine injection is used to treat acute urticaria in adults and children 6 months of age or older. Cetirizine is in a class of medications called antihistamines. It works by blocking the action of histamine, a substance in the body that causes allergic symptoms. One of the deadliest combinations is alcohol and narcotic pain medications.

One risk is the severe effects it can cause if you take it with alcohol. Remember that alcohol can add to the alcohol cravings drowsiness caused by this medication. Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages while taking this medication.

Can the Mixture of Alcohol and Zyrtec Lead to Death?

Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Information appearing on Drugsdb.com is of a general nature and is not intended to diagnose or treat any health condition. It is compiled from sources such as the U.S National Library of Medicine and FDA Approved Product Labels. While alcohol does not affect how well Zyrtec will work, it can reduce the amount of time you are experiencing the benefits of Zyrtec. There are also other reasons to avoid the combination of alcohol and Zyrtec.

• AlcoholicsAnonymous.com is not owned or operated by any treatment facility.
• You should never mix Zytrec with any other drug or substance.
• Harmful physical effects such as seizures may occur in some cases.
• In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can lead to an overdose or alcohol poisoning—both of which are potentially life-threatening medical emergencies.

However, you still might feel some sedating effects.4 Each person’s metabolism is different, and you may have different reactions when taking allergy medicine. Allergic reactions caused by food, dust, pollen, mold, pet dander, insect bites, and other common allergens. When these allergens enter the body, your immune system identifies them as dangerous intruders and releases chemicals to fight them off.

What Are the Long-Term Effects of Mixing Alcohol and Allergy Medicine?

But both drugs work on your central nervous system , which is made up of your brain and spinal cord. Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects. Tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are these 5 things happen to your brain when you quit drinking allergic to cetirizine, levocetirizine, hydroxyzine , or any other medications, or any of the ingredients in cetirizine injection. Mixing these medications with alcohol intensifies the side effects and increases the risk of a fatal overdose.

Zyrtec and Claritin are similar over-the-counter allergy medicines. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggests that Benadryl may have a greater effect on a driver’s ability to stay alert than alcohol does. The administration also agrees that alcohol can enhance the effects of Benadryl. But if you really want to get a good night’s sleep, don’t make the mistake of thinking a glass of wine and a dose of Benadryl will do the trick.

The longer a person misuses stimulants and alcohol together, the higher the risk becomes of developing substance use disorders. If you lie about the amount of alcohol you consume on a regular basis, your doctor can’t accurately judge the risks and benefits of prescribing a particular medication. Alcohol can make some medications less effective by interfering with how they are absorbed in the digestive tract. In some cases, alcohol increases the bioavailability of a drug, which can raise the concentration of the medication in your blood to toxic levels.

Can You Mix Zyrtec and Alcohol?

If you have angina, you might be prescribed a medication called nitroglycerin. If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, please see the National Library of Medicine’s listof signs you need emergency medical attention or call 911. To avoid these undesirable symptoms, check your local area’s pollen counts, often available from online weather service portals. When pollen readings are at their highest, minimize outdoor activities such as gardening or sports. Keep your home’s windows closed, and cool your house via air conditioning placed in recirculation mode.

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Combining alcohol with medications used to treat hypertension can cause dizziness, fainting, drowsiness, and arrhythmia . Using alcohol with medications used to treat heartburn, both prescription and over-the-counter, can cause tachycardia and sudden changes in blood pressure. If you mix any type of anti-nausea drug with alcohol, the side effects of the medication can become more intense. Harmful physical effects such as seizures may occur in some cases.

In other cases, it might take several drinks before Zyrtec becomes dangerous to mix with alcohol. Antihistamines are not generally the first line of treatment for these conditions. Typically, your doctor will prescribe an antihistamine as a supplementary or alternative medication in a larger treatment plan.

You might not need to completely avoid alcohol if you are taking a blood thinner. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your intake to no more than one or two occasional drinks if you are on anticoagulant therapy. Older adults are also more alcohol poisoning and binge drinking likely to experience problems, as the ability to clear both alcohol and drugs from the body is reduced with age. In case you experience prolonged or excessive CNS effects that affect your normal activities, contact your healthcare provider right away.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please seek help from a medical professional. Some of the most common side effects of Zyrtec are listed below. Zyrtec is available in chewable or rapidly dissolving tablet forms as well as liquid medication. The most common dosage for tablets is one 10 mg tablet once every 24 hours.