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Two case reports recently published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners by students at the University of California, Irvine, suggest that cheap and readily available antihistamine drugs could provide immense relief to people suffering from what is commonly referred to as “long COVID.”

Long COVID is clinically known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 and includes symptoms such as brain fog, joint pain, intolerance of exercise, and fatigue, which can last for months following COVID infection.

“Patients tell us they wish more than anything that they could work and do the most basic activities they used to before they got sick with long COVID. They are desperately searching for something to help them get back on their feet,” said the report’s corresponding author, Melissa Pinto, UCI associate professor of nursing. “Currently, there is no cure for PASC, only symptom management. A number of options are being tried, with antihistamines being one of them. The possibility that an easy-to-access, over-the-counter medication could ease some of the PASC symptoms should offer hope to the estimated 54 million people worldwide who have been in distress for months or even years.”

The reports describe the experiences of two previously healthy and active middle-aged women who found serendipitous relief for their long COVID symptoms after using antihistamine drugs to treat other unrelated symptoms. Almost a year later, they are still experiencing the benefits of the antihistamine medication.

The first woman took antihistamine over-the-counter medication to treat a dairy allergy; the other took the drug instead of another medication that she had run out of. Both reported improved cognition and far less fatigue.

In the first case, the woman consulted her physician who prescribed an antihistamine to be used daily; she now reports having regained 90 percent of her pre-COVID daily function. The second woman reported similar results and estimates that she has regained 95 percent of her pre-infection daily function.

Prof. Pinto told Newswise that, “Most patients tell us that providers have not recommended anything that has helped. If patients wish to try OTC antihistamines, I urge them to do so under medical supervision. And because providers may not know about new potential treatments, I would encourage patients to be active in their care and consider taking research and case reports like ours to appointments with providers so they can help create a regimen that will work. The next steps for this research into antihistamine treatment are to conduct broad-based trials in order to evaluate efficacy and to develop dosage schedules for clinical practice guidelines.”