Q. My son, age 14, has suffered from chronic idiopathic urticaria (hives) for five years. Several months ago, your column featured another person suffering from hives. He had success with vitamin C so we decided to try it.
My son is now taking 1000 mg of vitamin C twice a day. He has been able to stop two of his three medications, Zyrtec and famotidine. With his doctor’s approval, he has halved his Allegra prescription. We are so thankful!
A. We found nothing recent in the medical literature on this approach. Some research five or six decades ago suggested that vitamin C might dampen allergic reactions, but it has not been confirmed.
We are pleased to learn that your son’s hives have responded so well to this approach. Please make sure his doctor is aware of his continued use of high doses of vitamin C.
