What is the most important information I should know about desloratadine and pseudoephedrine?
Back to top
|
Do not give this medication to a child younger than 2 years old. Always ask a doctor before giving a cough or cold medicine to a child. Death can occur from the misuse of cough and cold medicines in very young children. |
|
Do not use any other over-the-counter cold, allergy, or sleep medication without first asking your doctor or pharmacist. If you take certain products together you may accidentally take too much of a certain drug. Read the label of any other medicine you are using to see if it contains an antihistamine or decongestant. |
|
|
Do not use a cough or cold medicine if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) within the past 14 days. Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you take cough or cold medicine before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from your body. |
|
Desloratadine and pseudoephedrine can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert. |
|
Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase some of the side effects of this medication. |
What is desloratadine and pseudoephedrine?
Back to top
Desloratadine is an antihistamine that reduces the natural chemical histamine in the body. Histamine can produce symptoms of sneezing, itching, watery eyes, and runny nose.
Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant that shrinks blood vessels in the nasal passages. Dilated blood vessels can cause nasal congestion (stuffy nose).
The combination of desloratadine and pseudoephedrine is used to treat sneezing, cough, runny or stuffy nose, itchy or watery eyes, hives, skin rash, itching, and other symptoms of allergies and the common cold.
Desloratadine and pseudoephedrine is for use in adults and children who are at least 12 years old.
Desloratadine and pseudoephedrine may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
What happens if I miss a dose?
Back to top
Since cold or allergy medicine is usually taken only as needed, you may not be on a dosing schedule. If you are taking the medication regularly, take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at your next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
What happens if I overdose?
Back to top
|
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine. |
Overdose symptoms may include feeling restless or nervous, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, warmth or tingly feeling, or seizure (convulsions).
What are the possible side effects of desloratadine and pseudoephedrine?
Back to top
|
|
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat. |
|
|
Stop using this medication and call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as: |
- fast, pounding, or uneven heartbeat;
- confusion, hallucinations, unusual thoughts or behavior;
- severe dizziness, anxiety, restless feeling, or nervousness;
- dangerously high blood pressure (severe headache, blurred vision, buzzing in your ears, anxiety, confusion, chest pain, shortness of breath, uneven heartbeats, seizure);
- easy bruising or bleeding, unusual weakness, fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms; or
- urinating less than usual or not at all.
Less serious side effects may include:
- dry mouth;
- nausea, stomach pain, constipation;
- mild loss of appetite, stomach upset;
- warmth, redness, or tingly feeling under your skin;
- sleep problems (insomnia);
- feeling restless or excited (especially in children);
- skin rash or itching;
- dizziness, drowsiness; or
- problems with memory or concentration.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
What other drugs will affect desloratadine and pseudoephedrine?
Back to top
|
|
Before using this medication, tell your doctor if you regularly use other medicines that make you sleepy (such as other cold or allergy medicine, sedatives, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures, depression, or anxiety). They can add to sleepiness caused by desloratadine and pseudoephedrine. |
Tell your doctor about all other medications you use, especially:
- medicines to treat high blood pressure;
- a diuretic (water pill);
- medication to treat irritable bowel syndrome;
- bladder or urinary medications such as oxybutynin (Ditropan, Oxytrol) or tolterodine (Detrol);
- salicylates such as aspirin, Backache Relief Extra Strength, Novasal, Nuprin Backache Caplet, Doan's Pills Extra Strength, Pepto-Bismol, Tricosal, and others;
- a beta-blocker such as atenolol (Tenormin, Tenoretic), carvedilol (Coreg), labetalol (Normodyne, Trandate), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal, InnoPran), sotalol (Betapace), and others;
- an antidepressant such as amitriptyline (Elavil), clomipramine (Anafranil), imipramine (Janimine, Tofranil), and others.
This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with desloratadine and pseudoephedrine. Tell your doctor about all your prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.
Where can I get more information?
Back to top
Your pharmacist can provide more information about desloratadine and pseudoephedrine.
Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Copyright 1996-2012 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version: 2.02. Revision date: 12/15/2010.
Your use of the content provided in this service indicates that you have read, understood and agree to the End-User License Agreement, which can be accessed by
clicking on this link.
