rahaeli: ^^ that, I take them twice daily but that's for MCAS, people at regular risk are probably okay with once a day unless there's someone in the house with it, in which case 2x/day

Via @nevadawolf.bsky.social: more evidence that histamine antagonists inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication and some work on determining the potential mechanism journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

The histamine receptor H1 acts as an alternative receptor for SARS-CoV-2 | mBiojournals.asm.org In addition to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can utilize alternative cofactors to facilitate viral entry. In this study, we discov...

Ok, which brand of antihistamine? Would any be good enough? Will add that to my list of preventative measures when next wave hits.

I have MCAS and take loratidine, cetirizine, and famotidine twice daily. For COVID prevention, loratidine or cetirizine + famotidine is probably good enough.

Twice daily or once daily?

if you're high risk, or work in a high risk environment, i'd go 2x per day. if not, 1x is probably sufficient. full disclosure - i take this style of combo meds 1x per day, am not high risk, and wfh. i've also only had covid 1x in the very 1st wave in jan 2020. never since.

^^ that, I take them twice daily but that's for MCAS, people at regular risk are probably okay with once a day unless there's someone in the house with it, in which case 2x/day

Do you think it matters if you take one of each 2x/day or two of one in the morning and two of the other in the evening? I'm thinking that in the run up to going to the dentist I'll take one of each twice a day and that way if I forget a dose I'll still have taken one of each.

I do 10mg cetirizine and 20mg of famotidine morning and evening (every 12 hours). Well, actually I also do 10mg of loratidine q12h as well, you get better results mixing them than just doubling the cetirizine, but I have MCAS and so I take a lot of fucking antihistamines, lol.

Multiple doctors have told me it's okay to take up to 80mg cetirizine + loratidine combined daily without any issue, and it's okay to go over that, but if you go over 80mg/day combined you should have quarterly kidney function bloodwork done.

So yeah, I recommend 10mg cetirizine OR loratidine + 20mg famotidine taken twice a day: the cetirizine/loratidine are H1 antagonists and the famotidine is a H2, and the research points to the combination being more helpful in prevention than just a H1 alone

Thank you! Of four siblings, three of us have managed to stay novid (to the best of our knowledge) which makes me wonder if we've got the Covid immunity mutation. It might just be luck, though, so I'm still always masking indoors.

Yeah, I'm the only one in my family still novid and I'm also the only one taking the fuckoff doses of antihistamines. I was also starting to wonder if I had the mutation and then I started seeing the research about antihistamines contributing to immunity!

Huh. I’m already taking the famotidine dose for GERD. I have OTC ceterizine in the cabinet because of its antiverrucal action (one of my teenagers has plantar warts and his podiatrist recommended it). Given its action against COVID… maybe I’ll add it to my mix..

📌 and am so very thankful I started asking you and @kateviolette.com about MCAS and long covid protocols when I thought I might have had Covid last year. I've been taking h1 and h2 antihistamines twice a day ever since.

Very glad to help!

Bookmarked for dosage and generic name references.

synecdochic.dreamwidth.org/805203.html has the citations as of a few months ago! I gotta update it

Captcha Checksynecdochic.dreamwidth.org

That's exactly what I take, twice a day (along with other meds, some of the Rx). No wonder I haven't gotten Covid despite my being on airplanes and traveling/visiting family... the only time I got it was when I was in a nursing home situation for rehab).

📌

This has also been what I've heard from doctors, FWIW! (And for a while in a particularly bad MCAS flare that hospitalized me for a couple days in 2023, I was on 80mg total daily cetirizine for a couple months or so. Usually I'm on 60mg today daily.)

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