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 antiserotonergicproperties.  It was trialed in Iran for autism, apparently with some success.

Cyproheptadine in the treatment of autistic disorder: a double-blindplacebo-controlled trial.

 
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.




 

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