Hydroxyzine is a common and very powerful histamine blocker. Many Masto people take it. I keep it on hand for an emergency med to take if I were shocking (and my last resort before using an epi pen).

I only use it for emergency, though, and have only taken it twice ever. I take 10 mg pill, and for me it is like a sleeping pill! That is the reason I don't like it. It works great for stopping my mast cell reaction, but I feel hungover for 2 days after taking just one pill one time. Now, this could be simply my own personal reaction to the med, because I know of people who take this every day at a higher
dose!

So overall, it is a mast cell histamine blocker and it works great. The question is if you will feel great on it or if will make you feel like you have a hangover as well the next day?

Just FYI: the basic starter meds are Zantac twice/day (some take 150 mg each, some take 300 mg each time), zyrtec once a day (but may take twice if needed), and allegra twice a day (but may take twice if needed). If you take the starter meds and are doing fine, then you don't need to add more powerful ones. Take the Zantac right when you get up in the morning (definitely before eating) and take the second Zantac around 4 or 6 pm, also before eating. (maybe like an hour plus before)

Hope these tips help! (Excuse any typos. I'm writing this on my iPhone....)

Since you have no stomach pain (yay! Many of us do!), and the Zantac makes your stomach hurt, then the Zantac doesn't seem very logical. I wonder if you became super strict about avoiding triggers (especially food triggers), if you could control your GI issues through that? There are a few of us who can do minimal meds and control symptoms through adjusting our everyday behavior. I fall into that category. Now because food is such a big trigger for me, I would have to reduce my variety of foods greatly, but I tend to feel rather well until I eat. I know what to avoid eating (the list is long), and if for some weird reason I had no meds, I could probably get by if I was extremely careful about what I ate and drank. Now, I still want my meds, because they also help prevent my skin from feeling itchy and like it is burning. The bottom line, though, is that you might do okay if you kept a food diary to learn what your food triggers are, and then ate very carefully. Avoidance of triggers is just as important as the meds, and many people seem to forget that.

JM;
Deb is right as usual. My former allergist prescribed Hydroxizine at night because then it would help "knock me out"- the itching from chronic hives kept me awake ALL night.  Deb, I think that's good advice about what extra meds we can take. Ive been looking for a post about that for days !   I try to write stuff down, & keep it somewhat organized, but it helps to see it from time to time.
lori

I use to take Atarax (hydroxyzine) and it worked great for about a year except wow did I gain weight like when you take steroids.  The first couple of days I was so tired but by the 3rd day or so I was fine with it.  It takes time for your body to adjust to it.