That surprises the heck out of me, considering that later in the same article it says that Claritin and Allegra are OK, as long as you say that you suffer no side effects from it. Different people have different experiences with allergy medicines. However, I personally find that Zyrtec is more effective than Allegra, and that Claritin has no effect on my allergy symptoms at all. As for "side effects", both allegra and claritin made me somewhat drowsy while I was taking them. I certainly wouldn't want to be FLYING on allegra or claritin, although the FAA seems to say this is OK, under certain circumstances. Zyrtec has no effect on me at all, other than eliminating my allergy symptoms and (therefore) allowing me to breathe normally. Zyrtec certainly doesn't make me drowsy, like other medicines I've tried.
So I'm shocked to discover that Zyrtec is a no-no according to the FAA, whereas allegra and claritin (which have more "side effects", in my experience) are OK. That seems kind of backward. If the FAA is going to discriminate, I would think that they'd favor a medicine with fewer "side effects". If the FAA clbutted Zyrtec like they do allegra and claritin, I COULD be a pilot on Zyrtec, as I could claim (honestly) that Zyrtec has no side-effects for me. Pilots can use claritin and allegra if they claim that they have no side-effects.
I'm guessing this means that a lot of pilots take allegra, as that is the most effective allergy medicine currently allowed for use by pilots. It's too bad they can't use Zyrtec, though. I'm betting at least some of those allegra users would find that zyrtec is more effective for them. It certainly is for me.
On a side note, how would the FAA know if a pilot was using Claritin anyway? You don't need a prescription for it. It's not like the clerk at wally world is going to ask you if you are a pilot. :) -Dave
