This is one allergy treatment you never, ever want to use
When the steroid nasal spray Flonase made the switch from prescription-only to OTC last year, millions more allergy sufferers were baited into using it.
Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline even launched a fancy (and ironic) new website promising that Flonase could clear those clogged nasal passages and help you get back a “great sense of smell.”
But if that stuffed-up nose is keeping you from smelling — or even tasting — your morning coffee, here’s some advice you’ll never get from GSK or our own government.
Stay as far away from Flonase as you possibly can.
Because reports are flying in from around the country from people who have lost… perhaps permanently… their senses of smell and taste after taking the drug.
It’s a predictable and even common side effect. So why did GSK and our government work together to make sure none of these victims were ever warned?
GSK knew that could happen. The FDA knew that could happen.
It seems like everyone knows about the risks of Flonase except poor Lana and the millions of other people who are buying the med right now to relieve their allergies.
When the prescription version of Flonase hit the market in 1994, GSK quickly began receiving complaints about people who could no longer smell or taste a thing.
In fact, the FDA’s own drug interaction database has shown hundreds of complaints from people who suffered a loss of smell and taste after taking Flonase.
One woman from Georgia lost both senses after taking the drug in 2003 — and, 12 years later, she hasn’t improved at all.
Reports like this are why the label for prescription Flonase was required to carry a warning about “alteration or loss of sense of taste and/or smell.”
But when Flonase was approved for OTC sale last year, the warning mysteriously disappeared. That’s despite the fact that OTC Flonase is the same dose as the old prescription version and the directions for use are identical.
So how did GSK weasel out of carrying the warning on the OTC product?
The fact is, when prescription meds transition to OTC, the labeling discussions between the drug companies and the FDA aren’t friendly sit-downs. They’re intense negotiations with plenty of political and financial pressure.
And if there was one warning GSK was dying to drop from Flonase, you can bet it’s the one that claimed the drug could keep you from ever enjoying a good meal or the smell of fresh-cut flowers again. That’s an especially horrifying side effect for a drug that GSK is targeting to adults and kids as young as four years old.
But by letting GSK erase the warning from Flonase, the FDA gave millions of consumers the impression that this sledgehammer steroid drug is safer than it is. And our government paved the way for GSK to make a fortune while keeping consumers in the dark.
GSK sold $100 million worth of OTC Flonase in just four months last year, and it’s on its way to becoming the next billion-dollar drug.
But with the same ingredients, strength and dose as the previous prescription version, Flonase continues to rack up victims.
One Flonase user named Mimi recently wrote in to a popular radio show to say that after using the drug for a couple of weeks, she couldn’t taste her food any more. One older gentleman lost his sense of smell and worries he won’t be able to detect a gas leak in his home.
The worst part is that Flonase isn’t exactly some life-saving heart pill — it’s a drug that absolutely nobody needs to take. If you’re looking for some natural — and safe — allergy relief, try hot showers, saline spray, butterbur supplements, and steaming a few drops of eucalyptus oil. These have all been proven to relieve congestion and help you breathe more easily.
And if you’re taking Flonase and have noticed any change to your senses of taste and smell, stop using the drug immediately and talk to your doctor. The longer your senses are gone — or impaired — the harder they may be to recover.
Sources:
“Do Flonase and Nasacort harm sense of smell? Joe and Teresa Graedon, June 5, 2015,Winston-Salem Journal, journalnow.com
Flonase website, flonase.com
