Medications to Stop Before Allergy Testing
It is important to know what medications to stop before allergy testing because some medications may alter the results of your test.
Stop these oral antihistamines for 5 days before your appointment:
- Allegra® (Fexofenadine)
- Atarax®
- Vistaril® (Hydroxyzine)
- Zyrtec® (Cetirizine)
Stop these oral antihistamines for 3-4 days before your appointment:
- Actifed®
- Dimetapp® (Brompheniramine)
- Benadryl® (Diphenhydramine)
- Chlortrimeton® (Chlorpheniramine)
- Clarinex® (Desloratadine)
- Claritin® (Loratadine)
- Phenergan® (Promethazine)
- Tavist®
- Antihist® (Clemastine)
- Actifed®
- Aller-Chlor®
- Bromfed®
- Drixoral®
- Dura-tab®
- Novafed-A®
- Ornade®
- Poly-Histine-D®
- Trinalin® (Combination medicines)
If you are taking an oral antihistamine that is not listed stop the medicine for 3-4 days before your allergy test. If you are not sure if the medicine you are taking is an antihistamine ask your doctor.
Stop these medications the night before your allergy skin test:
- Singulair® (montelukast)
- Accolate® (zafirlukast)
Stop these medications the morning of your appointment:
- Zyflo® (zileuton)
- Tagamet® (cimetadine)
- Zantac® (ranitidine)
- Pepcid® (famotidine)
- Axid® (nizatidine)
Sometimes antidepressants can also act as an antihistamine. Let your doctor know if you are on any antidepressants or any of the medications below before your skin testing.
- Amitryptyline (Elavil)
- Clomipramine (Anafranil)
- Doxepin (Sinequnan)
- Imipramine (Tofranil)
- Trimipramine (Surmontil)
- Amoxapine (Asendin)
- Desipramine (Nupramin)
- Nurtiptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl)
- Protriptyline (Vivactil)
- Maprotiline (Ludiomil)
- Mirtazapine (Remeron)
- Trazadone (Desyrel)
- Nefazadone (Serzone)
PLEASE LET YOUR DOCTOR KNOW IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY TAKING A BETA BLOCKER.