COVID "long-haulers" may have finally found relief in inexpensive, over-the-counter drugs. Small studies suggest over-the-counter antihistamines can relieve long COVID symptoms
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.
In this latest study, both women who recovered from long Covid took over-the-counter antihistamines for different reasons aside from their COVID-19 symptoms. The first woman had an allergy to dairy which was triggered by eating cheese. Prior to her January 2020 COVID-19 infection, she was healthy and active; after, she could no longer tolerate exercise, had prolonged chest pain, headaches, brain fog, fatigue, and a rash.
The morning after she took an antihistamine for her dairy allergy, she noticed considerable relief in her fatigue and ability to concentrate. But in the next 72 hours, when she wasn't taking an antihistamine, her fatigue and brain fog returned. The woman self-administered diphenhydramine and observed an improvement in symptoms once again.
Over the next six months, she noticed many of her other symptoms — like the rashes — were improving as well. Now, she reports she's back to 90 percent of her pre-infection functioning ability, including exercising 1 to 2 hours 5 to 6 times a week.
The second woman, who was similarly active and healthy prior to COVID-19, likely contracted COVID-19 from her child who was unwell with COVID-19 symptoms. While a PCR test came back negative at first for COVID-19, she was clinically diagnosed when she developed chills, shortness of breath, chest pain , and a fever. At first, her symptoms persisted for three months. During the course of this time, she also suffered from Covid toe, abdominal pain, and rashes.
Nearly 13 months after the onset of the infection, she substituted her usual allergy medication with diphenhydramine. The next morning, she also noticed a significant relief in her fatigue and brain fog. Since then, she has been taking 25 milligrams of diphenhydramine at night and 180 milligrams of fexofenadine in the morning and is back to exercising and feeling better. Both fexofenadine and diphenhydramine are common over-the-counter anti-histamine drugs.