IV Zantac in Anaphylaxis

[croaker260]

It has drug interactions with several common Rx'ed medications: Valium, Coumadin, Procardia Glipizide, Metoprolol. Just to name a few. I doubt you'll get it even in the conversation to be placed into Anaphylaxis. Since its not a life saving medication. Benadryl works well. However, good luck in your quest. All the best...

In Hospital Care and EMS Care are not same. What the ER does or doesn't do, can't be the only reason to place it into the EMS protocol. Why is it so important to be a medication for you to have? Asking for protocol change is like pulling teeth. Been there doing/done it. You'll get a lot of resistance. Be ready. Good luck...

Just another follow up, the overwhelming majority of the side effects listed are seen with Tagamet, not Zantac (10% of the rate of SE compared to Tagamet)or Pepcid (even far less).

Tagamet inhibits the cytochrome P450 enzyme system in the liver, wich is responsible for the metabolism of many drugs. Therefore it prolongs the metabolism of b blockers and other drugs, which may interfere with treatment of epinephrine and prolong the halflife of the offending allergen.

As for comparing Pepcid and Zantac...We are actually pushing for Zantac because of the shorter time to effect when given IV.

Edited June 7, 2011 by croaker260

[usalsfyre]

Can't say anything about Zantac, but we've had very good results with famotidine here, the only difficulty for some services is the refrigeration issue (we have Engle coolers on our trucks, so it's a moot point for us).