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Tuesday 17 September 2013

Autism Flare-ups - News on Allergy Drugs


I wrote earlier posts about the role of histamine in summertime autism flare-ups.  I ended up using a combination of a regular antihistamine like Claritin with Ketotifen, which though also an antihistamine, is a partial mast cell stabilizer.
 
I recently found a very useful table which shows different regimens that can be used for just this problem:-
 


The table is from a paper, again by Dr Theoharides, called:
 Autism: an emerging ‘neuroimmune disorder’ in search of therapy

Rupatadine is a safe and cheap antihistamine mainly sold in Europe.  The science appears to show that it is more effective at stabilizing the mast cells involved in allergies than Ketotifen.

The problem I found with Ketotifen is that it has very little immediate effect, unlike Claritin, so I ended up using both.  By the looks of things, Rupatadine may indeed do the job of both.

The table also mentions Periactin, which is an old first generation antihistamine.  It has a secondary antiserotonergic properties.  It was trialed in Iran for autism, apparently with some success.
 
Conclusion

Not all antihistamines are the same and some have very interesting secondary effects.  It looks like science has given up on investigating this further, which is a pity; but you don't have to.




 

7 comments:

  1. Hello Peter I have a son 7 years 27kg who has done well on loratadine,Zyrtec, sodium cromoglicate.Latter two for abdominal and stomach issues.The decision would be to use Rupafin. I am thinking to cease with the Loratadine and use in its place the Rupafin, to be given in the morning .The tablets are in 10 mg would I still give a 10 mg or divided into a smaller proportion which will be tricky as they have to be crushed.if I mix the Rupafin and the sodium cromoglicate together to give at one time would this be okay?
    Reading your blog unfortunately he does not seem to do well on magnesium anymore.We are amazed at the change in behaviours with NAC and Sprout powder.Thanking you for sharing such measurable information.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think if he responds so well to mast cell stabilizing drugs and also has GI issues he is an ideal candidate to try Verapamil. This might replace all the above drugs you mention. If you want to do this you can ask direct questions to Agnieszka, who is a doctor and her details are in her guest post below:-

      http://epiphanyasd.blogspot.com/2016/03/verapamil-use-in-autism-request-for.html

      Combining Rupafin and sodium cromoglicate is not something I know about, but again Agnieszka has tried all these drugs on her son. So I would contact her and see about trialing verapamil and ask her about Rupafin etc.

      Delete
  2. Hi Peter! This is an old post, but would you be able to comment on the form and dose of Rupatadine? I went through some published papers, including Dr. Theoharides' approaches addressing mast cell activation which included Rupatadine, but they do not specify its form (i.e., tablet vs. oral solution). While the tablet usually comes in 10 mg, the oral solution is administered as 2.5 mg in children weighing up to 25 kg. I wonder if a 10 mg pill is a bit too much for a 3-year-old child weighing 13 kg? We had quite an amazing effect from Luteolin+PEA, so Rupatadine may reinforce it (as suggested by Dr. Theoharides).
    Thank you!

    Warmly,
    Madina

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sudhakar Vankamamidi7 April 2023 at 21:12

    Dear Peter, hope instead of disodium chromoglycate, can I use
    Sodium Cromoglycate https://www.1mg.com/drugs/fintal-nasal-spray-274205. Thanks in advance. Sudhakar

    ReplyDelete
  4. The effect of the oral version will not be the same as the nasal version or the eye drops. If someone has some kind of food intolerance they would need the oral version. If it was a pollen allergy they would need the nasal spray.

    ReplyDelete

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