Misc Allegra - Making it work faster?

[drfeelgood1]

I’m taking Allegra 180mg for allergies and for my cold due to sneezing. It does the job, but took an hour even on an empty stomach to work. Is there a way to maybe swallow it with hot water? Or, maybe place the tablet under the tongue until it dissolves?

Any other ideas?

Please don’t recommend other antihistamines that may work better than Allegra, because I’m on Xanax and Allegra is all I can take because it doesn’t cause any added sedation or drowsiness.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey @drfeelgood1 I see you're not new to the community, but I still feel the need to give you a friendly hello, as I don't feel we've ever interacted.

Fexofenadine (Allegra) is often packaged in a 24-hr formulation. This is beneficial for a lot of folks because it provides stability and once-daily dosing, but by packaging them as a 24-hr medication, it often leads to a greatly delayed onset of effects. This is the case with a lot of medicines now bought over the counter. I've had personal experience. I've been caring for my Grandma who has Parkinson's for the past couple of months and she often needs DXM cough medicine. I bought her the pills and they wouldn't start working for almost 3 hours if she had literally anyting in her stomach. Yea, there's a benefit to the 24 hour mechanism, but it also takes away some control from the patient, as they are unable to pragmatically administer the medicine.

There should be no reason for such a delay with this medication outside of a special formulation like this. To beat the formulation, you simply crush the pill. If you can't tolerate the taste, mix the crushed powder with a little juice or make gelatin capsules if you happen to have some handy. Be aware that by crushing the pill, you will be introducing a higher ultimate dosage of Fexofenadine into your system, so you might want to start with half of your normal dose in the form of a crushed pill.

How's that sound?

 

[drfeelgood1]

Thanks so much!!!

Guess I need to be more patient

 

[megustalah]

Hey @drfeelgood1 I see you're not new to the community, but I still feel the need to give you a friendly hello, as I don't feel we've ever interacted.

Fexofenadine (Allegra) is often packaged in a 24-hr formulation. This is beneficial for a lot of folks because it provides stability and once-daily dosing, but by packaging them as a 24-hr medication, it often leads to a greatly delayed onset of effects. This is the case with a lot of medicines now bought over the counter. I've had personal experience. I've been caring for my Grandma who has Parkinson's for the past couple of months and she often needs DXM cough medicine. I bought her the pills and they wouldn't start working for almost 3 hours if she had literally anyting in her stomach. Yea, there's a benefit to the 24 hour mechanism, but it also takes away some control from the patient, as they are unable to pragmatically administer the medicine.

There should be no reason for such a delay with this medication outside of a special formulation like this. To beat the formulation, you simply crush the pill. If you can't tolerate the taste, mix the crushed powder with a little juice or make gelatin capsules if you happen to have some handy. Be aware that by crushing the pill, you will be introducing a higher ultimate dosage of Fexofenadine into your system, so you might want to start with half of your normal dose in the form of a crushed pill.

How's that sound?

That sounds good.

 

[December Flower]

I can't stop laughing about the hidden pun here.
Since Allegro means a little faster tempo in musical terms
And you want allegra to go a little bit more allegro

OK i'll shut up