Most patients with hypertension, or high blood pressure, manage their conditions with medications that can interact with some allergy medicines. Even when the drug formulas do not pose threats to one another, some chemicals can raise patients' blood pressure in the course of calming their allergy symptoms. According to the National Institutes of Health, compounds in decongestant tablets and nasal sprays do just that as they constrict blood vessels in the nasal passages. For this reason, hypertensive people should not take drugs that contain oxymetazoline, phenylephrine or pseudoephedrine.
Nasal Steroids
Allergy sufferers who get hit hard during pollen season or who show respiratory allergy symptoms off and on all year need reliable control from their medications. Nasal steroids represent safer methods than taking short doses of questionable drugs or going without treatment in order to safeguard hypertensive conditions.
MayoClinic.com points out the distinction between nasal and oral corticosteroids, the latter of which carry serious side effects apart from cardiovascular risks. Low metered doses of nasally administered steroids are considered safe for heart patients to take on a regular basis. These prescription allergy medicines offer convenient once-daily dosing and only minor side effects. They effectively treat itching, sneezing, and runny and stuffy noses.
Antihistamines
In addition to sedation drawbacks, some antihistamines also cause blood pressure to rise or interfere with medications meant to control hypertension. Allergy patients can find antihistamines without these properties, but must carefully examine the drugs' ingredients to make safe choices. The NIH reports that combination drugs designed to address both runny and stuffy nose allergy symptoms contain pseudoephedrine or other compounds that exacerbate hypertension. Some brands of ceterizine, acrivastine and desloratadine allergy medicines have alternate decongestant formulas that hypertensive patients should avoid. The good news is that stand-alone antihistamine medications perform well to counteract histamine-induced sneezing, itchy and watery eyes, and runny-nose symptoms. Those with drowsiness side effects should be limited to short-term, seasonal use.
Cromolyn Sodium
Cromolyn sodium, a nonsedating nasal spray, does not include risky decongestant elements. Among the safest of allergy medicines, cromolyn sodium has less convenient dosing rules that affect its efficacy against allergy symptoms of runny nose, congestion, itching and sneezing. The protection it affords does not last as long or may not be as strong as other allergy preparations, but many patients accept these limitations in exchange for a superior level of safety. The NIH reports that the preventive action of cromolyn sodium does not cause blood pressure changes and that side effects are rare and minor.
