For truck drivers, allergy meds bring little relief

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As an allergy sufferer, summer brings me no joy — unless I’ve got diphenhydramine nearby. This generic drug found in Benadryl and other over-the-counter drugs fights the good fight against my runny nose and sneezing.

Unfortunately, diphenhydramine can present a serious problem for anyone who drives.
Researchers at the University of Iowa tested 40 allergy sufferers in a driver simulator. The test subjects were then asked to perform routine driving tasks after taking either a standard dose of Benadryl, a placebo, or enough alcohol to be considered legally impaired.

The results showed that the driving performance and coherence of drivers on Benadryl performed at similar levels as those who were legally impaired. Further, the drivers on Benadryl did not recognize or believe that their performance levels had deteriorated.

Scary eh?

We all know that driving while under the influence of alcohol is not only illegal, it is socially unacceptable and a threat to public safety. We now need to increase awareness about the effects of some of the allergy medications out there. Talk to your truck drivers and employees in any safety-sensitive job position. The same should go for dispatchers and other operations personnel or any employee working on a dock where impaired co-ordination or judgment could cause harm.

If you’re a fellow allergy sufferer and you drive, or if you manage people who drive or operate equipment, do what I did. I spoke with my pharmacist on the subject and he recommended that a professional driver use a non-drowsy allergy medication. He went on to say that over-the-counter drugs such as Claritin, Allegra, and Reactine were medications that offer effective relief without promoting drowsiness.

Other problem medications are antihistamines, which can cause drowsiness, confusion, and impaired co-ordination. Decongestants can cause insomnia and nervousness.

The short and sweet of my message is that if you have allergies, don’t buy any allergy medication without first talking to your doctor or pharmacist. Be absolutely sure that they understand that you or your workers drive for a living, and that you need to find allergy relief medication that will not interfere with performance behind the wheel — or, just as importantly, won’t disrupt normal sleep habits.

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Jim Park was a CDL driver and owner-operator from 1978 until 1998, when he began his second career as a trucking journalist. During that career transition, he hosted an overnight radio show on a Hamilton, Ontario radio station and later went on to anchor the trucking news in SiriusXM's Road Dog Trucking channel. Jim is a regular contributor to Today's Trucking and Trucknews.com, and produces Focus On and On the Spot test drive videos.


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