Long term effects of an allergy pill? Loratadine?

Question

Are there any studies/effects of long term use of an allergy pill? I use Loratadine to help control my environmental allergies but I'm concerned about it being an every-day thing. Am I facing any risks by taking an allergy pill every day?

Answer 1

This is a difficult question to answer, unfortunately. There are relatively few high quality, long-term studies which look at the effects of taking specific medications. This is mainly due to the high cost of conducting such studies, especially for inexpensive generic drugs. What we do know is that loratadine and other second generation anti-histamine drugs are better for long term use than first generation anti-histamine drugs (such as benadryl or diphenhydramine) due to diphenhydramine's anti-cholinergic effects. Studies have shown long-term use of anti-cholinergic drugs (especially in the elderly) can cause a variety of issues and should be avoided if possible.

However, taking any medication comes with some risk. It is always better to take as little medication as possible only when it is really needed. There are examples of drugs (such as Darvocet) which were thought to be safe, but were found many decades later to cause major health problems. Darvocet was released in the late 1950s and was removed from use in 2010 due to issues related to the drug causing heart problems. While this is very, very uncommon, it reminds us that medications should be used as sparingly as possible as there may be long-term effects which we don't readily understand.

To answer your question specifically, there is a very low chance that prolonged use of loratidine will cause any overt problems. However, we do not know with certainty that there will be no long-term effects. If long-term use concerns you, you may wish to consider moving to another location which aggravates your allergies less.

Answer 2

I am a pediatric nurse practitioner and prescribed loratadine and other anti-histamines for patients struggling with allergic rhinitis. Loratadine is a very safe and effective medication for allergic rhinitis. It dose not cross the blood brain barrier and usually dose not have any side effects of drowsiness or changes in level of consciousness. There is no addiction potential and loratadine is approved for use in children as young as a year old. It is a very safe medication. I have patients use it seasonally so when it is really hot and allergens are low you may try and stop the medication to give yourself a "med break" but if this is not possible, it is not harmful to take loratadine or similar long acting anti-histamines on a long term basis.