Hay fever medicine

[suncruiser650]

Hi all!

I'm an airline pilot suffering from hay fever and therefor I require medicines. Unfortunately some medicines make me a little weary.
I just wanted to know if there are any pilots here using hay fever medicines which work for you?

In that way I can discuss with my doctor the proper medicin!

Thank you in advance.

Suncruiser

[deltahotel]

For me Ceterezine or Loratidine work. Own brand daily hay fever tablets from any well known supermarket. If really bad, Beconase or similar.

[421dog]

For me Ceterezine or Loratidine work. Own brand daily hay fever tablets from any well known supermarket. If really bad, Beconase or similar.
For what it’s worth, cetirazine is on the FAAs unacceptable list because it is considered a sedating antihistamine.

[Thirsty]

The joys of consulting Dr Google for medical advice that affects your career...
You get the advice you paid for!

[deltahotel]

Google away. The question was ‘what works for you?’ I’m not in FAA land so have no knowledge of that, my AME is happy as empirically it doesn’t make me sleepy. This from the NHS: ‘Cetirizine is known as a non-drowsy antihistamine. It's much less likely to make you feel sleepy than some other antihistamines.’.

[champair79]

I’ve always used Loratadine or Cetirizine. My AME also said Fexofenadine is fine (if it’s really bad) but in the U.K, you can only get it on prescription so I haven’t used it. The list of approved medicines is reviewed regularly and will also depend who your regulator is. Don’t ask on Pprune, ASK your AME and make sure you declare it on your medical each renewal.

Weirdly this year I’ve had no symptoms whatsoever. Either the grass pollen season is late or I’m magically cured! I’m just off to have my annual class 1 renewal and usually I’m a bit of a sniffling mess at this time of year.

[golfbananajam]

Though I only reached the heights of a PPL, my AME was happy with Clarityn as it's non-drowsy

[421dog]

The joys of consulting Dr Google for medical advice that affects your career...
You get the advice you paid for!

From the latest iteration of the AME Guide:

ALLERGY - ANTIHISTAMINE & IMMUNOTHERAPY MEDICATION
(Updated 07/28/2021)
I. CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS
First-Class Airman Medical Certificate: 67.105(b) & (c); 67.113(c) Second-Class Airman Medical Certificate: 67.205(b) & (c); 67.213(c) Third-Class Airman Medical Certificate: 67.305(b) & (c); 67.313(c)
II. MEDICAL HISTORY: Item 18.e. Hay fever or allergy
The applicant must report frequency and duration of symptoms, any incapacitation by the condition, treatment, and side effects. The Examiner must inquire whether the applicant has ever experienced any barotitis (‘ear block’), barosinusitis (‘sinus block’), alternobaric vertigo (‘dizziness’), difficulty breathing, rashes, or any other localized or systemic symptoms that could interfere with aviation safety.
III. AEROMEDICAL DECISION CONSIDERATIONS: See Item 26. Nose
See Item 35. Lungs and Chest
IV. PROTOCOL: See Disease Protocols – Allergies, Severe
V. PHARMACEUTICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Airmen who are exhibiting symptoms, regardless of the treatment used, must not fly. AME must warn that flight/safety-related duties are prohibited until after any applicable post-dose observation time. In all situations, the examiner must notate the evaluation data in Block 60.
Medication:
• New medications:
o Symptoms must be controlled without adverse side effects.
o Post-dose observation time: Mandatory 48-hour ground trial required after initial use.
• Acceptable medications:
o Donotinstillantihistamineeyedropsimmediatelybeforeorduringfl ight/safetyrelatedduties,as
it is common to develop temporary blurred vision each time the drops are applied.
o Post-dose observation time: Not required for acceptable medications (see chart below).
• Conditionally acceptable medications:
o May be used occasionally (1-2 times a week) with the stipulation that the airman not exercise the
privileges of airman certificate while taking the medication.
o Daily use is NOT acceptable.
o Post-dose observation time: Required to mitigate central nervous system risk, either as noted
in the table below or 5x the half-life or maximal dosing interval after the last dose. Examiners are encouraged to look up the dosing intervals and half-life.
• For more information, see: “What Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications Can I Take and Still Be Safe to Fly?”
Immunotherapy: Airman must confirm with their treating physician that no other medication is being taken which would impair the effectiveness of epinephrine (should it be needed) or increases the risk of heart rhythm disturbances.
• Allergy injections: Acceptable for conditions controlled by desensitization.
• Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT): Acceptable for allergic rhinitis, however, prohibited for airmen
65 or older who have an asthma diagnosis that does not meet CACI criteria (See Lungs and Chest).
• Post-dose observation time: 48-hour no fly after the first dose AND 4-hour no fly after each
subsequent dose.

ACCEPTABLE* (Non-Sedating) Antihistamine and Allergy Medications
May be used as a single agent or in any combination product, if other certification criteria are met.
Most Second Generation Histamine-H1 receptor antagonist • desloratadine (Clarinex)
• loratadine (Claritin)
• fexofenadine (Allegra)
Nasal Decongestants
• pseudoephedrine (Sudafed) • oxymetazoline (Afrin) nasal
spray
 Histamine-H1 receptor antagonist nasal spray
• azelastine (Astepro; Astelin) nasal spray
• olopatadine nasal spray (requires longer initial ground
trial of 7 days)
 All Nasal Corticosteroid
All Second Generation Histamine-H1 receptor antagonist eye drops
• alcaftadine (Lastacaft) • azelastine (Optivar)
• bepotastine (Bepreve) • cetirizine (Zerviate)
• ketotifen (Alaway ; Zaditor)
• olopatadine (Pataday; Patanol; Pazeo)
montelukast (Singulair)
 Immunotherapy (require 4 hours wait after each dose) • Allergy injections
• Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT)
* Airman are prohibited from flight/safety-related duties after initial use of a new medication until after a 48-hour ground trial and no side effects are noted. See Medications & Flying.
CONDITIONALLY ACCEPTABLE (Sedating) Antihistamine Medications
May be used occasionally (1-2 x per week) as a single agent or in any combination product, if other certification criteria are met. NOT FOR DAILY USE.
Medication Drug Class
Post-dose observation
 All First Generation Histamine- H1 receptor antagonist
• diphenhydramine (Benadryl)**
• doxylamine (Unisom)
• chlorpheniramine (Coricidin; ChlorTrimeton)
clemastine (No brand)
60 hours
60 hours 5 days
5 days
 Some Second Generation Histamine- H1 receptor antagonist • cetirizine (Zyrtec)
• levocetirizine (Xyzal)
48 hour 48 hour
** Diphenhydramine is the most common medication seen on autopsy in aircraft accidents. It is found in many over-the-counter products and in some combination prescription medications.
ᴓ Some Second Generation Histamine- H1 receptor antagonist • astemizole (Hismanal)
UNACCEPTABLE (Sedating) Antihistamine Medications
Use prohibited as a single agent or in any combination product.




I’m an FAA AME if that was an attempted slight…
If I’m just being thin-skinned, I apologize.

[Radgirl]

Am I reading it correctly where it says only occasional use and no flying for 5 half lives after last dose?

This class of drugs has half lives from 8 to 28 hours so that means 2 days to a week. If correct it basically grounds you during the high pollen season.....

[421dog]

The mean half life of Cetirizine is 8.3 or so hrs. So that’s presumably where the feds came up with the mandatory 48 hr wait. On the other hand, the non-sedating antihistamines are pretty much unrestricted if they are tolerated and not taken daily. The other thing they really want to make sure of is that the airman doesn’t have any issues with blocked eustacian tubes or sinuses that could cause an in-flight issue.

I generally suggest either Claritin or Allegra, (both OTC in the US) but there are certainly other options

[tdracer]

I've had really good luck with Claritin - there is something that blooms around here in June that can knock me for a loop (the rest of the year isn't generally a problem).
I've not had any issues when using Claritin (and I'm fairly sensitive to that sort of thing in medications), although I'd try it on a couple of off-days before using it when you're going to be doing that pilot thing to see how it affects you.