The Inactive Ingredients May Be the Cause
The inactive ingredients in over-the-counter and prescription medications, as well as vitamins and supplements, could be troublesome for some allergic individuals.
 
If symptoms still exist after avoiding known allergens, check any supplements or medications you are taking for inactive ingredients. You may be ingesting the troublesome food or ingredient without knowing it.
 
Through an email correspondence, I discovered an Allergies Site visitor was taking 14 different medications and had a diet that was restricted in food such as no wheat, rye, ALL corn products, and no type of fish or pork. I suggested corn could be in some of the medications. Here is the response I received:
 
"I just called Walgreen's and corn is in several of my medications. I'm picking up the breakdowns tomorrow when I pick up ANOTHER medication."
Here is an individual that was told to restrict ALL corn products but was given medications that contained corn.
 
Inactive ingredients are used for a variety of reasons -- as a binder to hold ingredients together; as a coating for increased stability, for appearance or to mask the taste or odor; as a diluent to liquify; as a filler to make solid; as an enhancer to increase the stability of the active ingredients; as a lubricant to make it flow well; and as a preservative to retard spoilage.
 
While most individuals tolerate inactive ingredients without problems, keep in mind these ingredients are capable of inducing adverse effects. Allergic individuals should ask their pharmacists for all inactive ingredients or read the product labels carefully prior to taking any prescription or over-the-counter product.
 
Ask the pharmacist if the medication contains anything that could cause an allergic reaction. To help avoid possible reactions, inform your pharmacist of any allergies or sensitivities you have. At times, the manufacturer may need to be contacted to determine all ingredients.
 
Common Suspects
 
BHA and BHT are used as fillers in vitamin and mineral supplements.
 
Sulfites are used to maintain the stability and potency of certain medications. They are in many anti-asthma drugs, in some anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and the anti-allergy drug epinephrine.
Benzalkonium chloride is a preservative found in asthma inhalers and some nasal decongestants.
Benzyl alcohol is used as a preservative in many injectable drugs and solutions.
 
Corn may be used in aspirin, lozenges, oitments, suppositories, vitamins, laxatives and capsules. Most solid or liquid medications contain corn starch or corn syrup.
Dyes and other coloring agents are used in almost every medication to improve appearance and to provide a unique product identity.The Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) has approved over 100 dyes to be used in pharmaceutical preparations. One example is Tartrazine, also known as FD&C Yellow No. 5.
 
Lactose, or milk sugar, is used as the base for more than 20 percent of prescription drugs and about 6 percent of over-the-counter medicines.
Propylene glycol is an ingredient used to make drugs more soluble.
Sweeteners such as aspartame and saccharine are used in many chewable tablets and liquid medications.
 
Examples

Here are a few allergy medications listed with their inactive ingredients:
Actifed Cold & Allergy: Corn starch, flavor, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol, potato starch, povidone, sucrose, and titanium dioxide.
 
Allegra: Croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, and pregelatinized starch. The aqueous tablet film coating is made from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, iron oxide blends, polyethylene glycol, povidone, silicone dioxide, and titanium dioxide.
 
Allegra-D: Microcrystalline cellulose, pregelatinized starch, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, carnauba wax, stearic acid, silicon dioxide, hydroxy propyl methylcellulose and polyethylene glycol.
 
Clarinex: Dibasic calcium phosphate dihydrate, microcystalline cellulose, corn starch, talc, carnauba wax, white wax, coating material consisting of lactose monohydrate, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, titanium dioxide, polyethylene glycol, and FD& C Blue #2 Aluminum Lake.
 
Claritin: Corn starch, lactose, and magnesium stearate.
 
Sudafed Cold and Allergy: Lactose, Magnesium stearate, potato starch and povidone.
 
Zyrtec: Corn starch, lactose, magnesium stearate, povidone, titanium dioxide, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, and polyethylene glycol.
 
How About You?
 
1) Have you suffered reactions from the inactive ingredients in over-the-counter or prescription medications?
2) Have you had to stop taking a medication because of the inactive ingredients?
 

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