Allergy medicine

Wiseman

Does allergy medicine , Claritin D in this case, cause an elevated HR during exercise ?  My HR values for bike intervals this morning were 5-7 beats high for the wattage, not sure if that's meds or underlying bug/allergy.

Scott Alexander

I'm no pharmacist, but I thought anything with a "D", like Allegra D, Claritin D and Zyrtec D, is indicative of a decongestant, which is usually ephedra-based.

I love my zyrtec D, but it cracks me out BAD sometimes!!!

Kevin Walter

Scott is right. D-probably means pseudoephedrine which can definitely raise the HR a bit. I actually think pseudoephedrine is on the banned list for some sports for this reason. The young girl who lost the gold medal from Romania for gymnastics around 2000 or so lost it for a positive pseudoephedrine test I believe after she took it as prescribed by her doctor for a cold.

Linda Patch

Not being a doc, but having had your experience, that D is certainly what caused your HR to be higher. I can't take that stuff. One time I was up for almost 48 hours straight. Kept taking it, then realized it was responsible for me being wide-eyed and frazzled all night. Add that to the high HR--oooo, that was a bad couple of days.