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Sedative, antidepressant, antiepileptic drugs, but also anti-flu, antiallergic and even herbal drugs have an influence on driving. You can get a ticket or cause an accident after taking them.
Most drivers know that you should not drive while drinking. Few, however, realize that this must not be done after taking certain medications. Meanwhile, they can delay our reactions, cause a bad judgment, impair vision, hearing and coordination of movements.
Drowsiness at the wheel
Driver drowsiness is very often the cause of accidents. You should not drive if you have taken strong sleeping pills or sedatives, even the day before. In addition to drowsiness, they slow down reactions and impair the precision of movements. Travel sickness funds are allowed for the passenger, but not for the driver – they will sweetly lull us to sleep. Older generation antiallergic agents (e.g. clemastinum, phenazolinum) can also lull our attention. Therefore, it is worth asking the doctor to replace them with those safer for drivers.
Driving a car after anesthesia
We must also remember that local anesthetics are also a contraindication to driving. When we remove a tooth under local anesthesia, we should not sit behind the wheel for at least 2 hours. The same applies to other procedures performed under anesthesia. After anesthesia – we do not drive XNUMX hours after waking up.
Painkillers and driving safety
Painkillers containing only paracetamol, ibuprofen or acetylsalicylic acid are safe for drivers. However, if they contain barbiturates or caffeine, special care should be taken as they may impair concentration. Strong painkillers such as pethidine or tramal are contraindications for driving. They disrupt the work of the brain.
Cold and flu medications
Drugs for symptomatic treatment of colds and flu can also cause undesirable effects. When taking painkillers and anti-cold preparations containing codeine or pseudoephedrine, we must remember that they extend the reaction time.
Dangerous antidepressants
Some antidepressants can cause drowsiness or insomnia, dizziness, blurred vision, and other symptoms that make driving impossible. So we have to ask the doctor if we can drive a car on them. It is also worth knowing how long their concentration remains in our blood. Impaired psychophysical performance in a patient who took a tablet of the anxiolytic clorazepate may persist for more than 4 days..
Fatigue after energy drinks
Herbal medicines also have an impact on driving. Be careful with those containing valerian, lemon balm or hops. Let’s also be careful when taking preparations containing guarana, taurine and caffeine, such as energy drinks. They eliminate the feeling of fatigue, but not for long. First they stimulate, but then increase fatigue.
Read the leaflet carefully before use
Information on the effect of the medication on the body’s performance should be included in the leaflet. If you see a triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle of the drug package, it means that you must not drive a car during treatment with this preparation. However, we should always ask a doctor or pharmacist about the effect of the prescribed drug on our body.
Text: Halina Pilonis
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