Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion General Message Board for Ankylosing Spondylitis and Related Diseases Claritan D

Hi Folks,

It's been a while since I last posted. I had an observation I wanted to ask others about to see if any of you have noticed the same thing I have.

My pain flared up really badly Monday and Tuesday of this week. I was so stiff and sore I could barely move. And I was terribly fatigued. It felt like I had the flu only without the flu. Because I have a major presentation to give this afternoon I popped a Claritan D this morning. (Poor man's Adderall.) And right now I feel like a million bucks. The pain is largely gone. Then I thought back to this summer when I took Claritan D for three weeks during a particularly bad period of allergies and I remembered the same thing - that my pain and fatigue disappeared.

I did a dive into the Internet to see if I could find anyone else who'd noticed that Claritan D can help with pain and I only came across one link ... a place called Straight Dope where there was a thread discussing it. Nothing at all from the medical community on this.

What I wonder about is ... is it the D or the antihistamine that's helping me? It could be the antihistamine because histamines DO cause inflammation and swelling. But then it could also be the D, which is a stimulant. When I was on Adderall a few years back I noticed it always helped me with my pain. Better than any pain reliever I ever tried. So is it one of those two things or both of them? And is there anything to Claritan D helping me that could point to an underlying cause?

I was just curious if anyone else had ever noticed Claritan D (or just Claritan) helping with their chronic pain? I suppose the next step for me is to try just a plain or Claritan, without the D, and see if I have similar results.

My AS always flares up when my seasonal allergies flare up. My theory is the seasonal allergies trigger an inflammatory cascade. So I take non-drowsy antihistamines similar to Claritin prophylactically during allergy seasons. (Note that I have absolutely no evidence, other than my own lived experienced, to support my theory.)

Claritan-D (in contrast to plain Claritin) also contains pseudoephedrine. I've read one animal study that concludes pseudoephedrine may reduce inflammation by inhibiting TNF-a production.

So, yeah, maybe your theory holds water. That said, pseudoephedrine is a precursor of methamphetamine. It can raise blood pressure and damage the heart. So I don't think it's a safe long-term solution. I can't take pseudoephedrine at all because it increases my heart rate and makes me jittery -- like drinking 6 cups of espresso jittery.

I hear you about it probably not being a long term solution. I may just take it when things get really bad like they did earlier this week. Luckily, the D in Claritan D doesn't make me jittery at all. In fact, in a way it calms me down because it makes me feel like my old self. I'm relaxed when I'm on it.

I think it's more of a discussion point with my doctor. Although ... that rarely goes well. Years ago when I mentioned Adderall helping my pain my doc didn't want to hear it. I wasn't trying to scam him for more Adderall, just trying to give him a clue to help figure out what was wrong with me. But I think doctors are so used to patients trying to get "fun pills" like stimulants and opioids, that they automatically shut you down when you bring something like this up.

So I conducted a little experiment on myself. On Thursday and Friday I took Claritan only ... no D. The pain returned. This morning, I took a Claritan D. The pain was gone about two hours after I took the pill. So it's definitely the D that's relieving my pain. Which squares with my previous experience of Adderall taking away my pain and also jives with that study you cited.

When I took Humira (which also inhibits TNF production) my pain relief was nearly instantaneous. As in I had results the very next day. Which, from what I understand, isn't unheard of but very unusual. So it's definitely the TNF that's causing my issues. But I was so sick and nauseous when on Humira, so I'm reluctant to start taking it again.

I feel like I need something that does what the Claritan D does ... inhibits the TNF production, but not to the extreme extent that Humira does. Is there something that inhibits TNF production only a little bit? I don't know what that drug is. Otezla maybe? I'd have to research how that particular drug works. All I know about it is that it's a pill and that there are no routine lab work requirements when you take it.