COVID "long-haulers" may have finally found relief in inexpensive, over-the-counter drugs

[marmar]

Two women have recovered from post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), a condition more commonly known as long COVID — and researchers believe that inexpensive, over-the-counter antihistamines were the reason.

The news comes from a report published this month in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners which describes the recovery of two middle-aged women who, by chance, found that antihistamines greatly improved their daily functions after suffering from long Covid.

The research will be welcomed by sufferers of long COVID, of which there are many. Up to 10 percent of those who contract COVID-19 have long-term symptoms long after the virus has cleared their body, according to University of Alabama researchers. The United States population has had a cumulative 78 million cases of COVID-19, meaning around 8 million Americans have long Covid symptoms long after the virus has cleared their system. Long Covid sufferers experience all kinds of different symptoms, though the most common include brain fog, psychiatric disorders, loss of taste and smell, fatigue and lack of energy. Long Covid appears to affect children and adults in equal measure. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/02/21/long-haulers-may-have-finally-found-relief-in-inexpensive-over-the-counter/

[dalton99a]

1. Fexofenadine and diphenhydramine

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Makes sense that severe illness stirs up every last item in your body

and makes what is basically inflammation and allergy that overwhelms.

But diphenhydramine? Also used as an OTC sleep aid, and it's a real knockout. And most antihistamines are no good for men and their prostates as I recall reading.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. How about we not rejoice until after a peer review or at least more than TWO

cases. I hope it's true, but dayum, two cases?

From the article "The anecdotes were obtained from Survivor Corps, a virtual COVID-19 research and advocacy organization on Facebook."

[gristy]

4. Larger study in the same article showed antihistamines to be effective in 50% of patients

...the findings align with the results of a separate study published in The Journal of Investigative Medicine, on October 5, 2021, which included 49 long COVID patients. Twenty-six of these patients were given antihistamines for treatment; of these, 19 reported to either a complete or partial end to their symptoms. Only six out of the 23 in the cohort who weren't given antihistamines reported that their symptoms improved within the same time period.