Short of breath with long COVID, somewhat better after an antihistamine
- Condition
- Long COVID
- At worst
- Not stated
- Ill before improving or writing
- 11 months
- Last post
- Apr 2021
In their words
- Condition: Long COVID
I've been struggling with SOB since May 2020
In context ↗ - Now: Somewhat better
that suddenly made me feel quite a bit better although not 100%
In context ↗ - Began after: COVID
I've been struggling with SOB since May 2020
In context ↗
Summary
Posting in r/covidlonghaulers, this user developed shortness of breath in May 2020; lung and heart tests were normal. In hospital, bronchodilators plus an antihistamine brought 85-95% relief, but the antihistamine was dropped on the doctor's advice. Symptoms eased over summer, then flared badly around March 2021, when accidentally taking an antihistamine showed it, not the bronchodilator, had helped.
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What they tried
What they credit
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- anti-histamine · Helped
I ended up feeling better or at least 85-95%ish directly following the pills
In context ↗ - bronchodilators · No change
Both the doc and I thought it was the bronchodilators helping but ended up being the antihistamine
In context ↗ - anti biotics · No change
Tried inhalers and all sorts of anti biotics/meds to no effect.
In context ↗
Approaches: H1 antihistamines
Their path
They say too little about how ill they were at each step to draw it on the severity scale, so the steps are listed as they describe them. Dates are when they posted.
| When | What happened | After |
|---|---|---|
| May 2020 | shortness of breath beganI've been struggling with SOB since May 2020In context ↗ | |
| 2020 | severe issues began; hospitalised two days for testsI only really noticed severe issues month 4 onwards ... I was hospitalized for 2 days for tests and got 100 drugs | |
| 2020 | bronchodilators plus antihistamine eased breathingEventually doc decided to try give me some bronchodilators in conjunction with an anti histamine and that suddenly made me feel quite a bit better although not 100%In context ↗ | H1 antihistamines (unspecified) |
| March 2021 | breathing flared up badly, felt like suffocatingRecently it flared up ridiculously badly about a month ago and again I felt like I was about to suffocateIn context ↗ | |
| April 2021 | found the antihistamine, not the bronchodilator, had helpedTurns out that it was the anti histamine that had actually made me feel better and not the bronchodilatorIn context ↗ | H1 antihistamines (unspecified) |
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Breathlessness
I've been struggling with SOB since May 2020
In context ↗ - Mast cell (MCAS) & allergies
I'm quite allergic to mosquitos and when I get bitten my body goes into overdrive with welts
In context ↗
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