Is An Allegra Prescription Necessary?


Some might wonder: Why would anyone need an Allegra prescription? It's just allergy medication, right? If it's safe enough to be used by most adults, and promises long-lasting relief from a very common and highly inconvenient condition (seasonal allergic rhinitis, which is more popularly known as hay fever), why would anyone need a prescription for it?

An Allegra prescription is in fact required in many parts of the United States, as well as other countries. This is because Allegra is a medicine that is known to have potentially fatal contraindications. This means that if combined with certain substances, this medicine could pose some very serious health risks.

Among such substances are other medicines and supplements, herbal supplements included. The substances that have been known to produce negative reactions with fexofenadine, the active ingredient of Allegra, include ketoconazole (Nizoral), erythromycin (Erythrocin, E-Mycin, EES) and azithromycin (Zithromax). Antacids that contain magnesium and aluminum bases have also exhibited problems when combined with fexofenadine. It is generally advised that a patient not take Allegra at least 15 minutes before or after taking such antacids. An interval of a few full hours is preferred.

If you are taking any other medication that you fear may conflict with Allegra, be sure to tell your doctor before taking this allergy medication. If you are also suffering from heart, kidney and/or liver disease, you doctor may still be able to recommend that you take Allegra, but at a dose that needs to be adjusted to suit your needs.

Fruit juices have also been known to conflict with fexofenadine. To be more specific, acidic fruit juices such as apple, orange and grapefruit juice have been proven to impair the effectiveness of Allegra's active component. If you want your allergy medication to work as it should, you should avoid taking it with fruit juices. Avoid taking it with alcohol, too. Alcohol has been shown to speed up the effect time of Allegra, but it has also been known to enhance the side effects of a lot of other drugs. Moreover, taking medicine with alcohol has been known to cause liver disease, among other health complications. The safest beverage with which to take fexofenadine is water.

If you are pregnant or nursing, consulting your doctor even if you don't need a prescription for Allegra may be a good thing. It is unknown as yet if Allegra is passed to a baby through the mother's bloodstream (in the case of pregnant women) or breastmilk (in the case of nursing women), but just to be safe, avoid taking medication without your doctor's okay. Some medicines may negatively affect the baby's development. Allegra is maintenance medication, which means you have to take it at least once every day, and this means if you are nursing or pregnant, your baby will also be taking a small dose of it every day.

In conclusion, an Allegra prescription may not be necessary in some parts of the world, and it may be possible to buy it over the counter in some areas - but it is up to you, as the person who is taking it, to be aware of the risks, and to decide if it is best to consult a doctor before taking you adopt this medicine into your daily routines.