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What Causes Tachycardia After Taking Antihistamine Medication?

Posted on Thu, 4 May 2017

Question: hi I recently had an experience and I'm not sure what happened. I woke up one morning and my allergies where acting up so an aquaintince of mine gave me a small white oval pill and said it was for allergies. 20 min later my chest felt like it was caving in, my arms where numb, it was hard to walk and my heart rate was like 190. and we couldn't get my blood pressure reading. and when we finally did it was extremely low like 70 over 50

Answered by Dr. Dr. Muhammad Sareer Khalil (39 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Explained

Detailed Answer:
Hello and Welcome

I appreciate your concern

The pill you took was most likely an antihistamine. Most antihistamines have anticholinergic side effects that include dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention and tachycardia (A fast heart rate). But they aren't usually severe as long as an overdose of the medication isn't taken. The heart rate and blood pressure you described is usually seen in patients with shock and vascular collapse. IV fluids and vasopressors (even) would have been required as part of resuscitation. Please identify the pill and strictly avoid it in the future.

Wishing you best of health

Thanks

Let me know if you have any query

Please consult your doctor before deciding on any further course of action.

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Dr. M.S. Khalil

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Muhammad Sareer Khalil (44 minutes later)

ok well I take zyryec or Claritin on a regular basis. and when I say I was scared for my life I mean it in every sense of the word. I thought I was having a heart attack. is there something else it could have possibly been that was givin to me

Answered by Dr. Dr. Muhammad Sareer Khalil (16 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Explained

Detailed Answer:
Hello again

Yes, it's possible but no specific drug causes such symptoms unless there was anaphylactic reaction to the drug that you received.

What treatment did you receive ?
Did you recover immediately with or without any intervention?

Wishing you best of health

Thanks

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar