Living in Shade

When you think of protecting yourself from the sun its almost always in regards to protecting yourself from skin cancer and damage from the UV ray’s. That however is not the only time when you have to think about your exposure to the sun.

Today I wanted to talk about the reaction that certain medications have to the sun. We’ve all seen the take with food warnings, a not as common warning however is to stay out of the sun while on a medication.

Medications that carry this kind of warning are known as sun-sensitizing drugs. These drugs have side effects when people taking them are exposed to the sun. There are two main types of sun-sensitizing drug reactions, photoallergy and phototoxicity.

Photoallergic drugs are ones where problems occur when the skin is exposed to the sun after the medication has been applied to the skin’s surface. The UV ray exposure causes a structural change to occur in the drug. The body then responds by producing antibodies that lead to the sun-sensitivity reaction. This usually results in a rash which can occur up to a few days after exposure. From there the rash could possibly spread to other areas of the body that were not even exposed to the sun.

The other more common type is phototoxicity. This can occur with all types of medications no matter how they are taken. What occurs here is that the drug itself absorbs the UV light from the sun and then releases it into the skin resulting in cell death. Within a few days symptoms will start to appear. The crazy part here is that symptoms can persist up to 20 years after the medication is stopped.

It’s important to remember that not every person who takes one of these medications will experience a reaction. It could be a one time deal or it can each time the medication is taken and then sun exposure occurs.

Sunscreens can help a little bit with this, but the best option is when taking one of these to just go ahead and try and stay out of the sun. If its going to be a long term medication then your most likely going to have to get some protective clothing to limit your skin’s exposure to the UV rays.

If you see a label or warning on a medication your taking about sun exposure I would suggest contacting your doctor and discussing the situation. Always better to be safe than sorry.

Below is a list of some common sun sensitizing medications from WebMD:

• Antibiotics: Doxycycline, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, trimethoprim
• Antidepressants: Sinequan (doxepin); and other tricyclics; St. John’s wort
• Antihistamine: promethazine, diphenhydramine
• Benzoyl peroxide
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories: ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen, celecoxib, piroxicam
• Diuretics: Furosemide, burmetanide, hydrolorothiazide
• Antihypertensives ( blood pressure drugs): Aldactazide, Capoten, capazide, lotensin
• Antianxiety medications: Xanax, Librium, compazine
• Benzocaine
• Cholesterol medications: Zocor, Questran, Lescol, lovastatin
• Estradiol, progesterin (in oral contraceptives, HRT)
• Retinoids: Isotretinoin, acitretin
• Hypoglycemics: glipizide, glyburide
• PDT Pro photosensitizers: 5-aminolvulinin acid, methyl-5-aminolevulinici acid
• Neuroleptic drugs: Chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, perazine, perphenazine, thioridazine, chlorprothixene, thiothixene
• Antifungals: griseofulvin
• Sulfonamides: sulfadiazine, sulfamethizole, sulfamethoxazole, sulfasalazine, sulfisoxazole
• Other drugs: Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), 5-FU, amiodarone, diltiazem, quinidine, hydroxychloroquine, coal tar, enalapril, dapsone, cinnamates, benzophenones, salicylates.