Terfenadine/Triludan

[Plan 10]

Gentlemen and Ladies of an AME persuasion, a question

Just about to run out of stocks of this drug... been on it for 16+ years, 1 as-and-when-necessary for symptomatic relief, had a full Class one since 1988, and always included it in current medication section on renewal (UK CAA, ATPL, Captain shorthaul.)

A little birdie whispered in my ear recently that Terfenadine was no longer persona-grata for Class 1. Is this correct? Can there be a 'grandfather exemption" allowed? Is there something else just as good if not.

The potential heart poroblem was explained to me by my GP all those years ago with some ludicrously low occurence figure of 0.25% or therabouts; am I to believe that the 0.25% number has now increased with increasing numbers of users to the "Daily Mail" scaremonger threshold, or is there some new development.

Appreciate any input, renewal is next week, almost co-incident with me running out if the good wx continues.

Plan 10

[MisNomer]

Plan 10

suggest you replace current therapy with Clarityn/Loratadine which I believe is approved. Another choice would be Zirtek/Cetirizine dihydrochloride. Neither of these cause drowsiness and are more modern drugs than Triludan.

[Plan 10]

Thanks MisNomer for the reply! I'll give an over the counter shot at Clarityn and the other one as well, and if they work and are approved hit the GP with a polite request for help on this one!

Appreciate the input from those who know,

Plan 10

[Tocsin]

Plan 10,

I'm using Loratidine now - I find it less effective than Terfenadine, and would much prefer to go back, but it is now totally withdrawn.

Looking for a better alternative...

Tocsin.

[grob103]

Have found Zirtek to be as effective as Triludan was. I found Clarityn completely ineffective.

Does anyone know what the status is of Beconase WRT flying? I avoid using it on flying days, but suffer slightly on very high pollen-count days as a result.

regards,

grob103

[Wedge]

I was under the impression that Zirtek (Ceterizine) was on the banned list as it can cause drowsiness. It's usually prescribed for hayfever as it is a strong anti-histamine. You can get it over the counter but it's much cheaper on prescription - can anyone confirm if this is banned or not for Class 1?

[eff.ey.bee]

I tried zirtec for a while and it did make me very drowsy!!! Beware.

[pilotwolf]

Hi All. Was going to post a similar thread...

... over the years I have tried just about all the over counter and POM medications available for hayfever without success.

I have been using Beconaise inhalers as I understood it was approved... hope this is the case! Although I was told this several years ago when I first started flying and it was a CAA class 3.

Also I m interested in knowing the FAA regulations as I have an FAA licence and most of my flying is carried out there...

Bearing in mind that if you suffer really badly should you be flying at all? I find on a bad day there is nothing more debilitaing than continually sneezing and wiping my nose - certainly there is no way I can fly on these days even with beconaise. Again thou in an airline with the filtered/recycled air and at altitude is it such a problem?

Any help / references would be appreciated.

[Plan 10]

Thanks everyone for the input. Did my renewal the other day, and the AME definitely nixed Terfenadine completely, but did say there was a derivative available and safe by the name of Fexofenadine. Apparently one of the isomers in/of terfenadine caused the heart reaction, and this one is synthesised without that isomer.

Trying Clarityn now, seems ok, but then I never was a heavy user.... only about 10 Triludan in a complete summer usually, and ony on the really bad days. But when you need it, you need it! I'll get the GP to give me a test on the other one, see how it does.

Thanks again,

Plan 10

[NigelS]

I am getting confused now. My ME told me definitely not to take Clarityn on flying days...

[Plan 10]

Nigel,

Definitely got the thumbs-up for Clarityn/Loratadine from the AME at the renewal, and have tried it for a week now with no side effects. He also gave the alternative name for Fexofenadine, but I can't read his writing to decipher it (honestly!) Something like Telplan I think.

Plan 10

[NigelS]

Plan 10
This just shows how awful medics writing is.. Outside the US fexofenadine is called Telfast (in the US it is Allegra-D). Sadly I know this sort of crap because rather than follow the aviation ambition early on, I spent years and years in pharmaceutical companies. At least I'm redressing that now...

Ciao