Does Fexofenadine (Allegra) cause depression?

To correct my previous post, I made a typo a couple of times. The one I need to correct is when I came home after week should have read came home after work. Thanks.

Wow! I finally feel validated. I take claritin as needed for nasal allergies. I noticed than whenever I take it for several days in a row, I get very depressed, and just feel psychotic or something. I also start thinking horrible things. Just last night, I thought about checking myself into the hospital because I knew something terrible was wrong with me. I had only taken claritin for a few days. I stopped the medicine. Now, off of claritin for two days, I feel completely normal again. The same thing has happened when I took antivert years ago (I hovered in a corner and told my mom not to come near me). I think I would have this problem with any antihistamine. Now, I can still take claritin once if I need it, but never more than one day in a row. If I take it one day, I have to wait at least 2 or 3 days before taking it again. In the meantime, what I do for allergies is use a nasal spray, astepro. It's an antishistamine nasal spray so it will solve all your nasal allergies with no side effects. I use that every day with no problem and great results. I usually only use the claritin if I'm out and having an allergy attack. I'm going to be really careful from now on. You're right, the doctors won't believe you. I'm sooooo happy I found this site. I know I'm not crazy.

i am so glad i decided to google about fexofenadine and loratadine , i find that have to take a tablet of each to be able to be allergy free to work outside , but then feel like i am going in slow motion , foggy and i also tend to feel cold all the time i am taking them. i have been diagnosed with bi-polar prior to going on these so def do not want to keep using them after reading all this , so glad it was not just 'in my mind' . does any one know how the prescribed nasal spray is long term ? have only used a few times and worked well , but is more expensive than the allerhy /antihistamine tablets

I had a really bad reaction to removing ivy from the garden - eyes swelled up, itchy, looks pretty bad.  I have taken fexofenadine for 4 days to get it down, and it is somewhat better, but I have been really aware of my mood drop, so googled this topic.  So yes, i'd say this drug really does that effect.  I'm a Psychologist, so pretty used to recognising depression in people.  So get off it as soon as you can, folks, and go see a good naturopath instead!

I've used Astepro (nasal spray antihistamine) every day for years. No side effects. It simply stops the itching, runny, sneezy nose. If anything, it makes me a little tired, but only if I'm slowing down enough to notice. I'm fine if I use it during the day, but I prefer to use it at night. This way, it works all night so when I wake up, I don't wake up sneezing. Since morning is worse for allergies, I find this to work well for me. But it literally works in minutes and I highly recommend it. The only reason I ever used claritin is if I'm out and about and had an allergy attack. It was easy to keep with me to use just in case. But now I might just start taking the spray with me instead. And yes, it is expensive, but you can also get the generic which is MUCH cheaper. I highly recommend Astepro.

Phew I thought it was just me, I started on fexofenadine 6 weeks ago, initially I had no symptoms but I started to sleep more. At the weekend I would go to bed for several hours feeling low, I also started waking up at night with palpitations. After stropping the drug I felt much better within 24 hours. Due to the palpitations I had an ECG that confirmed my heart was normal.  

I have been suffering daytime fatigue for the last two years. It started lasting one day a week until recently when i have been struggling to get out of bed everyday. After a few visits to the doctor and getting the all clear on any major illnesses  i told my doctor that the only medicine that i was taking was Fexo for the last 2 years, when initially asked if i was taking any medicines i assumed the doctor meant prescription medicine.

 The doc told me to stop taking fexo as i could be allergic to it. Within three days my fatigue abated but i had a weakness that lingered for a few weeks before i felt as normal as i could remember ever feeling.

Wow!!!! I been having the same problems and I'm so depressed! It all started with the allergra!!! Im not normally a sucidal person, but since I have been on this allergy med, I think of dying constantly!!!! Thank you for posting and the information!!!! xo

My wife was giving me the "what's wrong with you" speech.  I've felt lethargic, tired, and frankly borderline depressed the last two weeks.  Guess what I started taking two weeks ago?  Allegra!  Thanks for your stories as it's clear I have to get off of it.

I take allergy shots, now for the third time... The second time i took shots they mixed the allergens into two shots, one in each arm. I was always having bad reactions. I started seeing a different ENT and they retested me and I am getting shots again, but this time they didn't mix the allergens and I receive 6 shots, 3 in each arm. They still tell me to take allergy meds, but I feel an improvement without them. Once in a while I would take an allergy pill and then regret it. I noticed that claritan affected my mood so much that I locked myself in my room and yelled at anyone who came in. I don't take claritan anymore. I started taking allegra, I'm not sure which one is worse. Allegra makes me feel so stressed that I can't handle anything. I feel so sick with stress I get nauseated. I actually have to take a quick acting anti-depresent to keep from feeling suicidal. I asked the nurses who give me my shots if anyone else had complained about these types of effects and she said no. I will tell you that they defineately affect me and not in a good way. I don't plan on taking anymore allergy pills. I do Opticon A for my eyes and if my allergies cause a bad headache I take excedrive migraine. I hope you find something that helps your son. I put filters in all my heating/ac vents and use ionic pros in our main room and bedroom and they have helped a lot for inside. The allergy shots have helped a lot too. I think the difference this time is that this doctor does not combine the allergens into two shots.

My normally active 12 year old son has had allergies for many years.   Pretty soon after he started taking Allegra last year he started acting tired and depressed. I started researching side effects of allegra and founds this and other sites. How scary! I wish I had been told to watch for these symptoms of depression. We now use eye drops, salt nose rinses and the purpse disc inhaler only.

 

Thank you for all of your posts.  I thought something was seriously wrong with me.  I have been taking Walgreen brand Allegra for a month and am so depressed.  I barely make it to work, and do nothing else...no cleaning, no taking care of myself...my anxiety is out of the roof and my skin always feels like something is crawling under it on my arms.  I cant sleep right and have the strangest dreams which seem real.  I never suspected my allergy medication to be causing my helplessness feelings.  The only reason I came online was to see if I could take St Johns Wart with Allegra.  Thank you again for your comments!  I think it affects those of us with anxiety/depressive tendencies the worst.  Usually I can combat it with CBT but nothing has been working.  I just cant say how much your comments all helped :-D  I will not be taking anymore of it...

I am SO GLAD that I thought to google this topic! I am a strong minded person, and never give up on anything. I am always driven, always! So when I started getting dark thoughts, becoming more recluse and what i thought was "stressed" I knew that something was wrong.

I had been advised from my doctors that I should be taking a regular anti-histimine because I have pets and really bad allergies and asthma. I had been taking Zyrtec and finished a bottle of that and saw that Allegra was on sale so i thought i would try that. I bought it and every night before i went to bed i would take it. Some days I would take Smart Sense Allergy Relief. After a couple of weeks of taking it I was having dark thoughts, feeling useless, not being able to think clearly, not making sense, become irrational, moody, and emotional.

 

This morning I woke up from having ANOTHER panic attack. I thought that because I have taken a lot of stressful roles at work and other things going on it was because of that, but I knew it was something else I just couldn't figure out what it was- then i got up and went down stairs and googled my med (I also take Advair for my asthma) I found these comments and other research online and YES PEOPLE THIS STUFF CAUSES DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.

 

The best way to get over allergies? Make sure your home is clean regularly, eat healthy, stay away from dairy if you have allergy issues and stay away from the ingredients on this antihistamines. It's not worth it!!

 

My daughter is almost 16 and started taking Allegra last Sunday. She looked to be the happiest girl in the world at her school dance on Saturday night, by Sunday night, she was in a dark mood. The whole week she was in tears and it turns out, she has been cutting herself and feeling seriously depressed. Nothing has changed except this addition of Allegra on Sunday. I will stop this immediately. It is frightening that this allergy medicine can have such an extreme and significant effect on the mental health of a teenager. I would suggest that you stop the drug as well. I will post the change I predict within the next few days.

I am so very sorry to hear of your loss! May your daughter rest in peace. In my mid 30s, I had persistent suicidal thoughts within hours of taking one Allegra. I took it one more day, just to feel sure that it was the Allegra that triggered the sudden shift in mood. The first day off, I was back to my future-thinking self, albeit with hives. I'm horrified that these anti-histamines are OTC and given to children without any mood warnings. I seem to be doing better on Zyrtec, but I wonder if I'm experiencing a more gradual mood change with Zyrtec. Gradual changes are harder to pinpoint. Again, I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I gasped when I read it, but sadly I didn't doubt it a bit.