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Antihistamines & AF

LankyCoachMan profile image
16 Replies

I have allergies but also atrial fibrillation. Are the any natural supplements I can take to reduce my skin irritation, now I'm not taking antihistamines? The itching is doing my head in. I have been advised not to take antihistamines, whilst taking bisoporal.

Please help

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LankyCoachMan profile image
LankyCoachMan
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16 Replies
mav7 profile image
mav7

I join your club with not having allergy that causes skin irritation but a seasonal allergy from pollen that causes coughing and congestion.

Not yet been able to see a doctor, but also would like to know proper medication.

LankyCoachMan profile image
LankyCoachMan in reply tomav7

I also have hayfever & am finding it difficult as the pollen is starting, stuffy, runny nose. Oh the joys...I'll be going to see a pharmacy & my gp tomorrow.

Good luck in getting sorted.

BenHall1 profile image
BenHall1 in reply tomav7

Hi mav7,

I carry the AF diagnosis but have been AF free for around 4 years ...... that said, I still take all my regular AF medication and BP medication etc. With this background I was recommended a product - Pirinase. This brand comes in different categories such as 1) symptoms of hayfever or 2) airborne allergens. Bit expensive but works- for me its great because now we are moving into the pollen season and as I live in a rural/dusty area with hedgerow flowers bordering farmland, I'm gonna need it.

John

mav7 profile image
mav7 in reply toBenHall1

Appreciate the reply ! Will check.

opal11uk profile image
opal11uk

I also get skin irritations, plus wear compression stockings which cause the same so will be interested in replies please.

Sleepyzz profile image
Sleepyzz

I am in bisoprolol but have taken Cetirizine for hayfever long term with no issues or affect on my afib. It’s not the best antihistamine and dr did prescribe fexofenadine which was brilliant for my hayfever but did seem to trigger an afib episode so I had to switch back to cetirizine.

Thomas45 profile image
Thomas45

For all the 20+ years when I had paroxysmal AF, because I am also asthmatic my only treatment was with Flecainide, plus an anticoagulant.Eventually my AF became persistent, now deemed permanent, as nothing will stop the AF, which thankfully is asymptomatic.

During an operation to remove my appendix, my heart rate while in permanent AF rose to over 190 bpm. It was 180 when I was woken up, 3 hours after the operation had finished.

While I was in hospital waiting for my heart rate to fall below 80, a hospital doctor, of unknown status, insisted I took Bisoprolol. He dismissed my protests when I told him I was asthmatic. My heart rate fell below 80 and I was then allowed home as long as I continued to take the Bisoprolol for the foreseeable future..

I did, but after seven weeks I started with painful itching. It was intermittent, two hours on my right upper arm, then a pause of an hour or so, and then it could reappear, for example on my left thigh, or my wrists, hands, feet torso, unremitting painful rashes. After 7 weeks I saw a GP, who couldn't work out what was causing it. After 11 weeks I saw a GP who specialised in dermatology . She recognised the cause as Bisoprolol, and I was weaned off it, during which weaning I had a second known side effect of Bisoprolol, a sudden onset of Asthma. I was in a pharmacy at the time. An ambulance was called and I spent 3 days in hospital.

The medical group which run my local medical centre have a research department, and they discovered that if Bisoprolol gives you itching, ( urticaria / hives ), it's likely that all other beta blockers will do the same. My medical records show that I am not to be prescribed beta blockers.

I was prescribed Ceterizine to get rid of the rashes. Bisoprolol had caused a change in the pH of my skin. I took daily antihistamines for about 3 years I couldn't eat acidic food, such as tomatoes or oranges without getting a rash. Now I can.

So the question I ask you, to ask your GP, is, what's the alternative to taking beta blockers? There are calcium channel blockers, I've never tried them myself. There's rhythm control drugs like Flecainide. It's most likely the beta blocker causing the itching.

LankyCoachMan profile image
LankyCoachMan in reply toThomas45

It's not the bisoporal that's causing the itching. I itch, get hives if I don't take antihistamines in general. Just basic, off the shelf tablets from most supermarkets. On top of that, I suffer with hayfever & this time of year ain't fun.

Thomas45 profile image
Thomas45 in reply toLankyCoachMan

Yes, I bought my ceterizine from Lidls or Aldi's.

Megams profile image
Megams in reply toLankyCoachMan

~I found I needed to sort my diet out to get on top of hives/itching and hay fever. I have a predisposition to upper respiratory issues which usually result in an infection.

As I use a CPAP machine at night it was/is imperative that I remain dairy free/gluten free/ no sugar or food additives and basically follow a low carb diet. I always read labels at supermarket,

I stopped taking antihistamines once I was on top of diet which has benefited me as I was desperate to try anything.

Good luck~

JoDogBlue profile image
JoDogBlue

I had an ablation two weeks ago and about to start taking Fexofenadine as my regular prescribed hayfever treatment. Now I'm left wondering if I should be steering clear of it... I was taking it summer 2022 when I went into AF after covid. Is Fexofenadine associated with AF? I want to avoid anything that might rock the boat while I'm in the ablation recovery period...

Desanthony profile image
Desanthony in reply toJoDogBlue

Best to ask your pharmacist which antihistamine is best for you. I have taken fexofenadine for years on prescription and have had no problems.

LankyCoachMan profile image
LankyCoachMan in reply toDesanthony

I ask the pharmacy & they suggested Cetirizine. Allspice good atm

Swimsyroke profile image
Swimsyroke

I have lots of intolerances and some allergies, having suffered with debilitating migraines for most of my life.

About 8 years ago I started getting hives and finally put it down to an egg white allergy from the flu jab.

When the itching drives me mad I take 1/3 of a ceterizine tablet which I have cleared with my EP consultant and it can work for up to 5 days without me feeling like a zombie.

I started off taking a whole ceterizine tablet then because I hate taking pills and always found I slept too long and too deeply with a whole tablet, I cut it down to 1/2, now 1/3

I am on Bisopropol and Edoxaban.

It's early days yet but since JeanJeannie announced she was going to come off all supplements because of the fillers, I did the same and although the itching has not stopped I can tolerate it and haven't taken any ceterizine since then.

I guess it's a case of experimenting as where I live there's noone really out there for you.

Thank goodness for this site. I have learned and am still learning so much.

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire

Quercetin. A small dose of this 3 times a week has kept my winter hives at bay. I used to take Cetirizine at a very small dose spaced out but found it was still making me unacceptably drowsy . On reading about it I came across reports of Cetirizine withdrawal syndrome and decided that long term use was not to be risked. So I tried the Quercetin which is a mast cell inhibitor and that worked for me.

Alphakiwi profile image
Alphakiwi

Ive had skin irritation for a year. It stopped recently when i took myself off rivaroxaban an a so called blood thinner. Check to see if you to are getting side effects. I had been on rivaroxaban for six years and i believe my body had had enough. I guess the doctors will try me on something else.

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