People with high blood pressure who also have seasonal or perennial allergies must choose medications with care. Hypertension requires specialized drug regimens to maintain cardiovascular health, and allergy medicine along with other medications can sometimes interfere with that treatment.
For instance, in addition to itching, sneezing and runny nose, common hay fever symptoms also include congestion. However, the anti-allergy drugs that ease stuffy-nose problems can cause trouble for heart patients with hypertension. Decongestants to watch out for and avoid include phenylephrine, pseudoephedrine and oxymetazoline. Hypertensive patients should consult their physicians before taking new medications.
Antihistamines without Decongestants
Some individuals need allergy medicine only occasionally, when indoor air quality provokes symptoms or during periods with abnormally high outdoor pollen counts. People often reach for antihistamines at these times, and many formulas safely provide allergy relief on a temporary basis.
However, because antihistamines treat all hay fever symptoms except congestion, drug manufacturers sometimes add a decongestant component to antihistamine medicines. These combination drugs may be labeled with a "D" after their brand names. According to the Mayo Clinic, hypertension patients should not take over-the-counter drugs such as loratadine and cetirizine formulas that have decongestants added. Combination prescription medications such as acrivastine and fexofenadine may also contain decongestants that cause blood pressure to rise. Heart patients should choose formulas that don't include decongestants.
Cromolyn Sodium
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves cromolyn sodium nasal inhalers for treatment of chronic hay fever symptoms without a prescription. Safe enough to use daily for seasonal or perennial allergy sufferers, this chemical compound has preventive action against inflammation, rather than a histamine suppression mechanism, as the University of Maryland Medical Center relates. Preventing the release of histamines neutralizes the inflammation of the mucous membranes that triggers itching and respiratory symptoms.
Hypertensive allergy patients who choose cromolyn sodium for its safety properties sacrifice some convenience for hay fever relief. This allergy medicine must be taken more frequently and with a "warm-up" period of several weeks before seasonal use. With no known drug interactions and few side effects, though, cromolyn sodium will not affect blood pressure.
Corticosteroids
Physicians generally prescribe the oral corticosteroid prednisone only in extreme allergy cases, when patients cannot safely take other drugs due to health conditions. The Mayo Clinic reports that nasally administered corticosteroids, such as fluticasone and flunisolide, don't carry prednisone's risk for serious side effects.
These new-generation nasal steroids do offer superior protection against all allergy symptoms, without threatening blood pressure levels. Many physicians now prefer to recommend nasal corticosteroids over other types of allergy medicine, due to their nonsedating formulas and very minor side effects.
