CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Your medications and rising mercury may not mix.
Blood pressure medications, antihistamines, psychiatric medications, antibiotics, all of these types of drugs can cause problems from severe sunburn to dehydration and more.
“Big ones would be antibiotics like doxycycline,” said Patient First physician assistant Stephen Biggs.
Staying out in the sun even for a short time while on doxycycline can be dangerous. You can quickly get a severe sunburn.
If you’re on diuretics for high blood pressure, or if you take allergy medication, you’ll want to take in a lot of extra water on hot humid days. That’s because they dry you out.
Antihistamines, such as Claritin, Zyrtec, Benadryl and others, can prevent you from sweating as much as you normally would. Sweating is important as it is the main way our bodies cool down.
Some blood pressure medications also control your heart rate. Biggs explains how that can be dangerous in the high heat.
“Your temperature goes up, your heart rate goes up and the medicine kind of allows it not to do that, and so sometimes you can have a problem regulating body heat and things like that.”
Some anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications also regulate your heart rate and can make it hard to control your body temperature.
If you start to feel sick and experience heart palpitations, dizziness, headache or nausea, Biggs advises you to get into some air conditioning and cool down quickly.
“The answer is don’t spend a lot of time out in the heat, hydrate … or limit the time … go out early in the morning or late in the evening, don’t go out in the middle of the day.”
It’s also important to store your medications in a cool dry place, as heat can effect them as well. If it has changed color, texture or smells funny, don’t take it.
