I am taking Telfast 120mg in the morning and 180mg at night (fexofenadine is the generic name). Without it I would be in huge trouble allergy and asthma wise so I dont really have a choice. Have tried several others over the years and I take these high doses under supervision of my asthma/allergy consultant, dermatology consultant and GP.
In the side effects section of the patient information leaflet it says:
In tests, the most common side effects were headache, dizziness, tiredness/sleepiness, sickness, diahorrea, sleeping disorders, bad dreams, nervousness, faster heart beat and palpitations but these occurred to the same extent when dummy (placebo) tablets were used instead.
So I guess that says it all...
My own personal thoughts on it are any med can have an impact on the GI tract be it antibiotics which are well known or something like my anti histamines. So its a case of weighing up the pros and cons on an individual basis.
Anti histamines are not something to take long term if it can be avoided (I dont have a choice) as like many other drugs they can also impact on the liver and kidneys with them being a "clearing house" for everything.
If you have an alternative look into that first. It is possible to go for a natural remedy and also to try the time old traditions of winding down properly every night, getting up at set times no matter whether you are at work or home etc etc and yes it does work but you have to keep up the consistency and that can be hard to do if you end up running to the loo half the night or are in pain as we crohnies are so fond of doing!
To take a drug for its side effect as a benefit (which is what you are doing in hoping the anti histamine will help you sleep) is not really an appropriate use of that drug and the reason it was designed. The other aspect is that you take something to make you sleep will have an ongoing impact the next day in making you drowsy and could impact on your quality of life in the long run from that side..
On top of all that you then have to look at the drug interactions with anything else you are already taking.
Hope you get some relief soon and my thoughts helped in some way.
