Avoid Certain Allergy Medications if you Have Food Allergies

I've said it before, I'll shout it again:

If you have a dairy allergy, do not take certain tablets of Zyrtec, Benadryl and Singulair. Do not use the inhaler Advair. All contain dairy.

They're not labelled clearly, but a call to the customer service departments of these drugs confirms that those with a milk allergy should not take these forms of the medications.

Allergists, other doctors and pharmacists I've spoken to were unaware of dairy in these tablets and in the inhaler.

Do not take samples of medications in the doctor's office until you have checked all medication ingredients through a label, company website or contacting the company directly.

6 comments:

Karen said...

We almost took the type of Advair that contained dairy. I insisted the pharmasist contact the company as I heard there where reactions. We were then given another drug.

Unknown said...

I know- it continues to amaze me that doctors (including allergists) and pharmacists are unaware of dairy in common medications. Plus, unclear labels on the products and difficulty getting a straight answer from the drug manufacturer further contribute to this issue.

I did contact FAAN (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network) so let's keep getting this information out there.

Nowheymama said...

I just told another parent about this. Her daughter was being given Zyrtec tablets and was still having hives, etc. She's a nurse and she didn't know.

Carla Burke said...

I follow your blog and follow you on Twitter. How do I join in on the Friday chat on Twitter?
@carlaburke

Unknown said...

Hey Carla,

I'm still trying to figure things out on Twitter myself. I think #followfriday is a Twitter trend where you recommend an interesting person to all of your followers. it's not a conversation, just a way to get your followers to see who you're following. If you go to Twitter and type in #followfriday, you'll see a long list of people recommending others.

Is that what you're asking? Does it make sense? There is a food allergy Twitter party coming up on July 23. That is a live conversation. More details to come.

Sabrina K. said...

Ugh, I'm constantly reminding doctors that just because my child is almost 3 does not meet he will be taking chewables/meltaways/tablets of anything! It seems like those forms of medication have dairy hidden in the most often. I did NOT know about Advair. That's a good thing to know since we're asthma as well. We're on Flovent though, with no reaction.