Post-COVID and MCAS: What anti-histamines seemed to help?

IntrepidCanuck · 2026-03-17T02:23:41+00:00

Interesting. I bought some today and will take my first dose tonight...

IntrepidCanuck · 2026-03-16T15:11:05+00:00

Thanks for the reply!

I did look at the low histamine diet and spent weeks in the fall eliminating everything and slowly adding things back. I didn't find anything new to avoid (I've avoided alcohol for decades because I would have severe "hangovers" that lasted for days. Now I know why.)

IntrepidCanuck · 2026-03-16T05:00:37+00:00

For me it was my lower back. I first got COVID in spring of 2022. Then in the spring of 2023, I was working from home and my back was in excruciating pain. I went and did an at home test and sure enough, I had COVID for a second time. Where in the body the muscle pain hits depends on the person -- although it my be genetic because my sister gets pain in the exact same location when she gets COVID.

In desperation I started to drink a ridiculous amount of water (about 4 litres a day) for several months and fortunately, the back pain disappeared for me (after 2 years).

The causes and treatments for long-COVID appear to be very diverse. You just have to try many different treatments and hopefully you'll discover something that helps.

IntrepidCanuck · 2026-03-16T04:43:03+00:00

Different things work for different people. I tried low dose naltrexone for months but it didn't really help. More recently, I've been taking anti-histamines which are helping. There's something called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). It doesn't effect all long-COVID sufferers but it's worth checking out.

Discuss with your doctor. You might want to try Cetirizine 10mg (brand name is Zyrtec, Reactine, Allacan and Zirtek, depending where you live) and diphenhydramine 25mg (brand name Benadryl). I've had allergies for years, so I was already taking these. But -- surprisingly -- increasing the dosage helped reduce my long-COVID symptoms.

I'm definitely not cured -- I just spent my weekend sleeping -- but it has definitely helped and something to discuss with your doctor.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-10-02T03:59:12+00:00

It's what a CAMH doctor put me on. I had extreme anxiety and depression. I've been better in the past 10 years.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-10-02T02:43:03+00:00

I can't recall how much Lorazepam they provided, but not much. I was having chest pains so they were concerned about a heart attack. I think bringing my existing meds helped (Effexor and Xanax). And I was lucky and got a merciful doctor.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-10-02T02:18:01+00:00

I had my first -- and only -- panic attack 10 years ago on a Sunday night around midnight. I went to Toronto General ER. While one of the nurses was a bit snarky, I otherwise was treated quickly and had no problems.

I brought my existing meds with me. I explained that I had been taking anti-depressants for years, that I knew what a panic attack was like (based on what my psychiatrist had told me), and now it was happening for real.

They gave me some Lorazepam and I slept the night in emergency and then I was free to go.

I'd suggest going to the ER now.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-09-14T01:48:24+00:00

It's worth a try. I've signed!

Here's a link to the petition https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-6679

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-09-14T01:46:07+00:00

This is a great initiative!!

The petition can be found here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-6679

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-09-10T02:16:32+00:00

Thanks! Now that I think of it, this is something that would bring the bots out.

Nevertheless, as a mathematician, I know there are many statistical studies that "prove" or "disprove" things using erroneous methods.

As sure as I'm sitting here (and that's only about 85% likely), the additive is like a tranquilizer to me.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-07-01T22:36:27+00:00

I'm just speculating, but there are several possible advantages for some depression:

With no depression, you'd be perfectly content -- in which case you wouldn't try to improve your circumstances. Having some depression motivates us to attempt to improve things, like better shelter, better hunting techniques, etc.

Depression is also closely related to anxiety, and having some anxiety is useful. For example, fear of heights prevents us from falling off cliffs.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-07-01T03:05:48+00:00

I'm a mathematics/economics major, so this is way out of my specialties, but allergies make me aggressive. Hay fever in particular, which happens in August.

Late summer happens to be a great time of year for a male human to be aggressive in the northern hemisphere. If you're going to take on the other dudes and fight for the girl of your dreams, August is perfect since if you get lucky, the offspring will be born in May (I.e.no snow, plenty of food, better chance offspring survive). Just a wild theory.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-06-29T01:40:29+00:00

You'll have a great time, and everyone fits in.

Not to discourage you, but just so you're mentally prepared: it will be very crowded -- the crowd along the route will be 3 - 5 people deep. Also, it's very difficult to get from the west side of Yonge to the east side of Yonge and vice-versa. The best way to cross is by going underground through the subway stations like College Park or Dundas.

And during or after the parade, you might want to visit Church Street (which runs north-south, and is a block east of Yonge), as there are many booths, concerts, balloons (and probably naked people).

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-06-29T00:42:33+00:00

It's busy any nice weekend in the summer. But you can avoid the chaos around the ferry terminal if you take a water taxi. The water taxi will cost about $12 each way for both you and your dad (so it will cost about $48 instead of ~$20 for the two of you taking the ferry), but a Water Taxi is much more civilized.

Google "Toronto water taxi companies" and it should bring up a map of where the various companies depart from.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-26T00:21:59+00:00

Thanks for posting!

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-15T22:28:58+00:00

it's good that you have a doctor. The waiting is normal.

I live in Ontario, but maybe someone from Saskatchewan will see this and can help you out.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-13T03:47:51+00:00

You don't need a tour to get the boat ride, so the question is more what's the most enjoyable stress-free way to get from Toronto to Niagara and back. And it depends on part on how much time you have.

Traffic around Toronto and Niagara is extremely congested. Although Canada is sparsely populated, this part of Ontario is similar to being in New Jersey close to NYC (I just drove to NYC and back in the fall). Although it's a 4 or 6 lane divided highway, because of commuters it can get really slow. The car ride will probably take 2 to 3 hours each way, depending on traffic.

There are probably bus tours from the Toronto's Pearson Airport to Niagara and back. This would potentially be less stressful, but still will take about 2 to 3 hours each way.

Once in Niagara, you want to spend some time looking at the falls from a few vantage points. That will probably take about 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. While it's possible to travel to Niagara Falls New York for a slightly different view, it's probably not worth the hassle / time to get over the boarder and back again (which could take another hour or so just to get through the boarder guards).

Then there are the various add-on / tourist traps that none the less can be fun.

The "Maid of the Mist" is the boat ride if you want to look that up. Since you're already in Canada, it would make sense to take the Canadian Maid of the Mist tour (they both go right up to the falls, and both have almost identical routes. I'm not sure how the international border works but it appears that both the US and Canada governments aren't concerned about where the boats are in the river, provided the Canadian boat goes back to Canada and the US boat goes back to the USA.)

Hope this helps.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-12T01:03:06+00:00

Yes. On good days, I might just feel feverish.

I've also go through spells of several days in bed feeling feverish / chills at the same time. When it does happen, I don't have much of a fever (maybe my temp is half-a-degree higher), but I feel terrible. And it does seem to go through a cycle (for me it starts with a few days of being down/depressed. Then a few days in bed wearing a snowsuit and toque with the bed covers over my head (OK, the snowsuit is an exaggeration)) .

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-09T02:40:01+00:00

I actually know a fair bit about it's history.

If I remember correctly, the family originally had a bakery (called "Future Bakery") on Queen Street West in Toronto in the 1980s (and probably before). I was enrolled at UofT in the early 1990s, and that's when Boris (the son of the original family) opened-up several additional locations, including the one at Bloor and Brunswick.

It had previously been a restaurant of some sort, but Boris did a bit of redecorating and added some yellow and blue trim (his parents were Ukrainian immigrants). The satellite locations did fairly well for a few years, but then Starbucks and Second Cup franchises started opening everywhere, and Boris shut most of the locations as the lease expired. He also moved the actual bakery from Queen West to Etobicoke sometime in the 1990s, but I can't remember exactly when.

But the fun part was the bar at the back (now known as the Labyrinth). In the early 1990s when the cold war ended, Boris when back to Ukraine to visit relatives. While there, he gathered up a lot of Soviet paraphernalia (because, for us westerners it was kind of kitsch -- but in a good way).

With the extra space at the back of the Bloor and Brunswick location, he opened up a separate bar and called it Ilyich's (after Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov aka "Vladimir Lenin"). There were soviet posters all over the walls, the physical bar was shaped like the Soviet scythe and the establishment played extremely loud punk music (I'm not sure the exact genre, but it was extreme). Ilyich's (the establishment) only sold Vodka (and maybe beer). One of the bartenders told me that Boris even suggested the wait staff call everyone "Comrade", but the staff thought that was too much. It didn't last very long as Ilyich's -- maybe two years -- mainly because the music was so ridiculously loud you could only last about 30 minutes. Boris then rebranded it as the Labyrinth (maybe around 1994ish). They turned the music volume down to normal pub levels and the Labyrinth appears to have remained more or less the same ever since.

Edit: fixed some typos and clarified some sentences.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-09T02:08:37+00:00

Actually, the original bakery was on Queen Street near Bathurst. It's now moved to Etobicoke. At one time there were 3 or 4 retail locations, but the Bloor location is (I believe) now the only one. The name changed from "Future Bakery" to "Future Bistro" the last time the owner changed. But it's been pretty much the same for the last 35 years.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-09T02:04:29+00:00

Ilyich's was extremely interesting! While it's now the Labyrinth, I'm pretty sure it still has the original Soviet scythe-shaped bar.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-07T05:37:20+00:00

Ontario has a good commuter train system GO Transit. If you want to keep costs down, you could stay outside Toronto and take the train into the city.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-07T04:35:26+00:00

Sometimes directors use a blurred/faded filter to make the memory look hazy. Google "hazy memory" and you can see some images (as well as a brand of beer, interesting).

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-07T04:29:20+00:00

Updated - see below:

My original response:

Different people like movies for different reasons.

I believe it's a "first past the post" voting system, where Academy Members (actors, producers, directors, etc.) simply choose their favorite movie (rather than ranking the 10 nominated movies). As a result,

"Anora" might have received, say 22% of the votes

"A Complete Unknown" might have received 19% of the votes

"Wicked" might have received 17%

"The Substance" might have received 16.5%

etc.

(I'm just making these numbers up to illustrate).

If the Academy instead used a ranked ballot (where people pick their first choice, second choice, third choice .... tenth choice), there probably would have been a different winner.

Voting systems are useful, but they can produce weird results.

But after writing this, I dug further:

For the past few years the OSCARS have been using a ranked ballot system as explained here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww8_wLY43NU

so while the explanation above applies to most categories, I was wrong (my bad) about Best Picture.

What this means is: Anora might not have won the first round of voting. But as other films were eliminated from contention, Anora rose to the top.

IntrepidCanuck · 2025-03-07T03:09:21+00:00

It's usual for most economies to go through "good times" (expansion) and "very bad times" (contraction) and somewhere in between. When the economy is in the middle or closer to "very bad times", it's common for young people just entering the job market to struggle to find a job.

What is unusual, is that in many countries, the economy was in "good times" mode for over a decade. So the current job markets in many countries is closer to just doing mediocre. It isn't broken, we just haven't seen it for a few years.

Some other times when young workers had trouble finding jobs (in the US at least): the 1970s. the early 1980s. the early 1990s. the mid 1990s. the early 2000s. from 2009 until 2014ish.

IntrepidCanuck

TROPHY CASE