Mino + Benadryl for SD?

[Conniel7777]

I was reading through articles on this site, and came across one titled

“Minocycline in Early Diffuse Scleroderma SSc – The Next Step” 

 

 

 and I found this in regards to AP for Scleroderma: 

“Antihistamine – Dr. Brown used an antihistamine such as Benedril (25 mg) with the evening antibiotic dose. The antihistamine serves to potentiate ( note: potentiate means “to increase the effect of” ) the action of the antibiotic.”

 

I have taken benadryl many times in the past for allergies; its inexpensive and short acting, and for allergies, I had to take it every 4 hours.. but I found this VERY interesting and was wondering if anyone elses AP doc mentioned this to them?

After all, Minocin is expensive, and I want to get the most out of each dose.. I will ask my AP doc about this the next time I see him, but thats over 8 weeks away…

If Dr. Brown thought this to be a good idea, well…   ???

 

Any thoughts??

PS.. I am getting ready to move, and after today, I will not have computer access for a few days, probably getting back on line to check for responses to this post on this coming Monday, August 3rd

[Lynne G.SD]

Hi Connie;
    I have been so well for so long that I totally had forgotten about that.YES,I did take Benadryl an hour before taking my night dose of mino.On the plus side it made me sleep well.I used the “Equate” brand from Wall Mart as it is half the price.
                        Lynne

[Cheryl F]

Yes, we too did the benadryl sometimes.  We also used Bromelain to potentiate the antibiotics.  I added that to Jess' protocol about five weeks into using the minocin so we could know how she would react (herx or no herx) to the mino.  The sound sleep was also a side benefit that we appriciated. 

Sure seems like one of those “can't hurt” adjuncts to the AP.  I would possibly suggest that you wait until you have a bit of time to experience the mino, and then, if you decide you want to (and your doctor agrees) try the benadryl.  Also, don't forget, even though your appointment is many weeks, away, you can always call and ask if there is any reason that taking benedryl would be ill advised.  They should be able to answer that question easily before your next appointment.

Good Luck!

Cheryl

[Little Red]

I too use and have used Benadryl more for the itching and to get a good nites sleep

[Maz]

[user=1441]Conniel7777[/user] wrote:

 and I found this in regards to AP for Scleroderma: 

“Antihistamine – Dr. Brown used an antihistamine such as Benedril (25 mg) with the evening antibiotic dose. The antihistamine serves to potentiate ( note: potentiate means “to increase the effect of” ) the action of the antibiotic.”

Hi Connie,

I don't know if this will help, but my understanding of Dr Brown's infectious theory for rheumatic diseases is that he felt it was not the organisms, themselves, causing the disease, but the antigenic substances (toxins) to which we develop a “bacterial allergy.” So, quite literally, we become allergic to these toxins and this produces allergy-type symptoms.

In the meantime, these pleomorphic organisms hole themselves up in our cells, creating a wall of inflammation as a kind of protective barrier around themselves. Ths is why it takes time to reduce the inflammation…really because the tetracyclines are not killing the organisms, but only slowing them down. They don't have cell walls like other pathogens, so bacteriocidal antibiotics don't work on them. Tetracyclines work intracellularly and go within the pathogens to block certain enzymes/proteins to slow down their growth and reproduction and this takes time. Organims like mycoplasmas, are slow to reproduce and grow and are likely more vulnerable to antibiotics at certain points in their life cycle.

So, AP slows the organisms down, which in turn gradually slows down their release of toxic substances….and this takes a good amount of time. Not only this, it takes time for the hypervigilant state of the immune system to slow down and to gradually be “retrained” to function at a more stable pace.

This is just my overall layman's take on what I have learned from The New Arthritis Breakthrough (in a nutshell) and probably why benadryl is so effective at blocking the histamines, produced naturally by the immune system to counter the attack on sensitized tissues by these toxic microbial substances.

It's late and to avoid further rhubbarbing, I'll sign off now! Hope your move goes smoothly, Connie! Safe journeys and hope the weather holds for your drive! 

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