Does benadryl help with medicine interactions?

[Rajah]

I appear to have caught that flu/cold/thing-that-makes-you-sick that's going around the office, so have been put on some antibiotic starting today. But the pharmacist warned that what I'm taking might interact with another medicine that I'm taking and cause my heart to race -- says it happens rarely, but does occasionally happen. There was a lot of discussion about what I should do, whether we stick with this medication (which has worked on me in the past) or try another one (which I can't swallow) and decided the liklihood of me choking on a pill too big for me to swallow is larger than the liklihood of my two medicines interacting, especially since we think I've taken this combination before with no problem and that for the next 10 days I'm not taking that other medication (as instructed by the dr).

But, just in case, I'm going to carry some benadryl with me. My question is -- if the two do interact, does benadryl help that problem at all, or would I be just as good to just drink some warm DECAF tea and lie down and try to relax? I'm already going to skip the caffiene today if at all possible so that doesn't add to the liklihood of having a problem.

Thanks!

 

[LucyStorm]

Benadryl is only going to help if you have an allergic reaction to the medication, but won't help drug-drug interactions. Call your physician and ask your doc what you should do if the drugs interact.

 

[BethR]

Rajah, I agree with LucyStorm. Benadryl would not help if you are experiencing a racing haeart. Benadryl is an antihistamine and will help to reduce swelling, get rid of rashes, watery eyes, itching, etc (AND can make you sleepy) - it will not help with symptoms of drug interaction.

Hope that you have no trouble and that you feel better soon.