Graphic from Healthy Pixels: The Many Faces of Histamine Intolerance (well worth reading)
Almost a month ago I blogged about Histamine Intolerance, a widespread and under diagnosed condition. I have been preoccupied with this topic, and have since heard from many readers who recognize themselves in the widely inconsistent and variable symptom picture that can be associated with it.
Please read my first post on the subject, as well as Freshness Counts, on the blog Diagnosis Diet, by my esteemed colleague, another Boston psychiatrist with a curiosity about the relationship between food and health, Georgia Ede, MD. This will provide a good background.
Histamine Intolerance can be used as a frame work to understand the connection between many different symptoms, and to provide an understanding of the way that they are linked by a common underlying pathophysiology. For instance in my own case, “What is the relationship between depression and anxiety, insomnia, hypotension, constipation, tinnitus, easy bruising, and dry eyes?” Answer: They could all be manifestations of excess histamine in the body. Histamine intolerance flies beneath the radar of most doctors, and can easily result in a misguided treatment approach.
Syphilis used to be called the Great Pretender because it could present with such variable and diverse symptoms, that doctors often missed the diagnosis. Histamine Intolerance is a modern day Great Pretender.
Take my housekeeper Sandra. She had been suffering from a mysterious syndrome that had been getting worse. It began with migratory arthritis; first her elbow became massively swollen. After that resolved her knee was affected, then her wrist. Next it switched to migratory myositis, with bizarre painful swelling of her triceps, and then her forearm. Then she began to be afflicted with hives, and other odd skin lesions. The final symptom was an agonizing muscle spasm of the side of her back that would come in waves like contractions of the uterus during birth. She could not sleep and was completely debilitated.
The doctors gave her pain medication, steroids, muscle relaxants, anti-convulsants, nothing helped. She had been following a GAPS-like diet, which was my two cents, but with no relief. I continued to research on the internet, and came upon a site called The Reluctant Raw Foodist , which was written by a woman with severe Histamine Intolerance who had similar symptoms to Sandra. Sandra began to follow a modified version of her protocol, and the terrible spasms which had been continuous for three weeks resolved in two days. No other symptoms have returned. This was 2 months ago.
Prominent psychiatric symptoms can be the presenting complaint of a patient suffering from Histamine Intolerance, with anxiety, panic and insomnia. Unfortunately food sensitivities are still not part of the vocabulary of most psychiatrists. It is still the very unusual psychiatrist who asks a patient about diet, when trying to make sense of the current symptoms and history. The most common treatment modality offered by psychiatrists to the anxious patient who is not sleeping is medications.
It is interesting to note that some anti-depressants and anti-psychotics have prominent anti-histaminic side effects, such as blurring of vision, dry mouth, sedation, headache, dizziness, increased appetite and weight gain, to name a few. When a patient tries to discontinue the drug, symptoms of histamine intolerance can manifest, such as profound insomnia and anxiety, and it can be difficult to come off the medications. Monica in her blog Beyond Meds writes in detail about her experience of the terrible aftermath of psychiatric polypharmacy in a valuable post entitled Multiple Drug Sensitivities.
I would like my readers to understand that I also prescribe psychiatric medications to some of my patients, and believe that they can be very useful in certain situations. But if a patient has gut dysbiosis which has resulted in food intolerances and sensitivities that are expressed as anxiety, depression or insomnia, it may be that if they would modify their diet and supplement with probiotics, that there would be no need for prescription medication.
This is equally true for people who are carbohydrate intolerant. The average American eats between 300-600 grams of carbs a day. A healthful amount would be around 60 grams for many people. Excess carbohydrate consumption can often result in decreased energy, depression and anxiety. When a patient is motivated to take on the hard work of dietary change, then that is clearly what is indicated, and not prescription medications. The general lack of awareness that psychiatrists have of the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and diet results in very poor care of patients and a great deal of harm.
The cook book author and blogger at the Low Histamine Chef, Yasmina Ykelenstam , believes that healing Histamine Intolerance depends not only upon eliminating high histamine foods, but upon including foods which are naturally anti-histaminic and anti-inflammatory. She is coming out with several new cookbooks, one with a Paleo perspective, which reflect this philosophy. Herbs such a thyme, holy basil and greens such as amaranth are just a few of the foods she highlights on her blog.
Have you heard of a connection between histamine intolerance & retroperitoneal fibrosis?
Have any Dr’s noticed that many of the symptoms of severe Antidepressant Withdrawal are almost the same as MCAS/ HIT? I have dealt with severe withdrawal even after reinstatement of meds but it wasn’t until I treated myself with the MCAS / HIT protocols that nearly all my symptoms vanished! I just wanted to share this as I believe either I’ve always had MCAS, and that SSRI’s were masking most of it, and going off unmasked MCAS. Or that SSRI Withdrawal caused MCAS. Either way I just want more Dr’s to know protracted SSRI Withdrawal can potentially be treated with MCAS/ HIT healing protocols.
Thank you for writing. I think you are right. It’s an important insight.
I came off Gabapentin in 2013 after a suicidal compulsion developed. I was ‘treated’ with Benzodiazipine, Olanzipine and Venlafaxine. A year later I withdrew from these meds – I now believe I had/have protracted withdrawal syndrome. To get me off the Benzodiazipine, my GP increased Nortryptiline, I believe to a level I was unable to tolerate and I was also on other seretogenic meds. I then believe I may have had Seretonin Syndrome (I also developed Long QT Syndrome, other heart problems and liver problems). I was also diagnosed with Functional Dystonia (which I think is Drug-induced Dystonia. Today, I am also wondering if I have MCAS because I have become allergic to anything and everything – food, most drugs, chemicals. These symptoms certainly fit with mine. I have joined an online group and am trying to find a doctor to diagnose it. I have had ME and Fibromyalgia for 30 years, which, not surprisingly have worsened. I can identify with absolutely everything that Monica describes. How on earth can one explain this all to doctors who refuse to listen to your ‘truth’?
It sounds just awful. I would recommend finding a doctor who is literate about treating mold toxicity. Many people suffering from fibromyalgia have mold toxicity as the root cause. It is also intimately linked with MCAC. If you go on the website for the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness (ISEAI) you can click on the HELP link and find a mold literate practitioner in your area. https://iseai.org/find-a-professional/
Hi Amelia,
I too seem to have developed Mcas after Ssri WD. Can you tell me more about your issues? What symptoms did you have? How are you treating your Mcas?
I find it very interesting people have developed MCAS after being on ssri’s. I have never heard of this possiblity until now. I was on SSRI’s my late teen and early 20’s and came off them at 25. I’m now 35 and haven’t been on any medication for 10 years however the last 10 years developed many health issues. Random hives, autoimmune issues, POTS. They tried to recently have me try gabapentin and cymbalta for nerve and back issues but I did not after so many horrendous experiences on SSRI’s and anti depressants
It’s horrific. There is such a low bar for prescribing these medications and the long term consequences are potentially devastating for some. Physicians are not educated about this and often do not realize the potential serious risk.
Have any Dr’s noticed that many of the symptoms of severe Antidepressant Withdrawal are almost the same as MCAS/ HIT? I have dealt with severe withdrawal even after reinstatement of meds but it wasn’t until I treated myself with the MCAS / HIT that nearly all my symptoms vanished! I just wanted to share this as I believe either I’ve always had MCAS, and that SSRI’s were masking most of it, and going off unmasked MCAS. Or that SSRI Withdrawal caused MCAS. Either way I just want more Dr’s to know protracted SSRI Withdrawal can potentially be treated with MCAS/ HIT healing protocols.
Hi Amelia,
I too seem to have developed Mcas after Ssri WD. Can you tell me more about your issues? What symptoms did you have? How are you treating your Mcas?
I agree with you, HealingHistamine.com author has specific knowledge in cooking and wants to apply that to help with Histamine Intolerance. Though it does help, its actually a small part of healing the root of the issue. Thanks for the great post.
Matt Sikora
http://endsickness.org
The author Yasmina referenced above passed away this week at age 43.
That is truly shocking and so sad.
do supplements derived from products that are on the histamine producing list have histamine in them? e.g. bromelain ;processeed from pineapple
I don’t know the answer.
There are histidine containing foods, and lists can be found online. Make sure the source of your information is reputable. Histidine is a precursor to histamine. Therein the connection lies. Also large doses of B vitamins, such as B5, B9 (folate/folic acid) and B12 seem to be leading culprits in the over-production of histamine, in people mega-dosing on such vitamins. If histamine excretion is slow, or if there is such an excess of histamine in the body that the body cannot naturally eliminate histamine in a timely and efficient manner, then one will suffer the effects of histamine intolerance or sensitivity. Symptoms include heartburn; frequent throat-clearing; brain fog; exercise intolerance; and, as was so in my case, a sudden relapse into a mental state of susceptibility to anxious thoughts, with lowered ability to dismiss them, (I speculate this to probably be as a result of having “brain fog.” It is relevant and conceivable to think that anxious thoughts may be harder to dismiss in such an altered mental state as histamine produces). I was once anxious (not about anything too bizarre, but I will not post any triggers here. There is always a way out, however. I suffered with anxious thoughts, much like a type of OCD, on and off for years, which was worse when generally frustrated by life’s course).
With respect to vitamin B “mega dosing” – don’t. Go slow. Even cases of rather extreme tingling and numbness in hands and feet have been relieved with 3 weeks of b-complex therapy, without need to buy individual B vitamins and mega dose. In my case, I started self mega-B-dosing in therapeutic response to symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. Great results, with muscle tone returning, (shirt seems popping), and tingling (etc) decreasing. However, I am now at the point where I have successfully jacked up histamine to a degree that I cannot eliminate it fast enough. Low body temp, tachycardia (unrelated to PN), heartburn, migraine, itch, congestion, dyspnea (difficulty breathing), are all manifestly present, especially after dosing with B9 and B5 (pantothenic acid). My course of treatment as of today is 5-12mg promethazine (as Phenergan); a limited course of 10mg PO daily B6 (never prolong use of B6. In as little as 2-6 weeks, irreversible peripheral neuropathy may, and probably will, result, especially when taking 40mg or above daily). B6 and copper are required to make diamine oxidase (DAO) in the human body, which counteracts excess histamine. It is perceivable then that high histamine caused by histadine foods and B vitamins has lowered DAO, (hence, has lowered B6 level and copper levels), in my body, and the bodies of other sufferers of histamine sensitivity. And I will be having my copper level tested. When supplementing copper, make sure that it remains in balance with zinc. The ratio is 1:10 or down to 1:15, copper : zinc. Do not overdose or mega-dose with copper, as it will lead to oxidative stress caused by the Fenton process.
As a sub-note the DAO system is one that regulates histamine in the body. The other system is the methyltransferase pathway. If there is some physiological issue causing a partial block to the methylation cycle, then excess histamine may also be present.
As a final note, the amino acid methionine (found in protein shakes meant for dietary supplementation, even body-building; also available in isolation in pill form), may also help the body to process histamine.
(Information including advice on B vitamin and other forms of supplementation presented here is intended only for my personal use. Information here presented is meant as a guide and not intended as a prescription for anyone else. Please consult with a trusted health care provider, with regard to any health issues and their management).
It is so very nice to see my post turn up on this site 🙂 Thank you for spreading my information.
One reason why high dose b vitamins may upset the balance is that most are in their inactive form and need to be methylated before being used, which will use up valuable methyl groups that are also necessary for histamine deactivation. Without proper methylation, homocysteine would build up and sam-e would get depleted…and sam-e is a powerful antihistamine.
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In 2012 I decided to give up my anti-depressant and eat real food. Shortly after I stopped taking it my joints swelled up, I became lethargic, and later developed hives on my arms and legs. The hives developed into a very itchy eczema. It was horrible. Conventional Dr gave me steroids which made me feel drunk. Holistic doctor charged me a small fortune and put me on parasite meds which did not make me feel better. YOU are the first person to mention my symptoms related to giving up my anti-depressant – and Histamine intolerance as a possible culprit! I went back on the anti-depressant (not because I was depressed but because my brain was less foggy and I felt more organized. – Now I see that was possibly due to the anti-histamine effects!) I was recently put on an anti-biotic for Pneumonia – After I finished the prescription I started taking heavy doses of Bio-Kult, thinking I’ve been doing the right thing in repopulating my gut! I’ve suffered from awful headaches, my joints are swelling again, and the head fog is very thick today. I’ll stop taking the biokult immediately and check into some histamine relief eating!
Thank you!
As someone who has had a histamine intolerance my entire 43 years of life, I highly recommend doing just that.
There will still be high threshold hard times…. but you will regain a majority of your previous pain and foggy days life. ♡
I just made some (runny) yogurt using a capsule of “Probiota Bifido” histamine safe probiotics from Seeking Health. It took 9 hours overnight on a warm spot on the stove. I put the milk in a small jar with a lid and set it in a bowl of warm water and then put a towel around the whole thing.
The yogurt does not taste as sour as the usual yogurt, but its still nice. I like to think that this way I get a whole lot more probiotics that I can use without all the histamine.
I’ll keep you posted on whether it seems to agree with me or not.
My thinking too as stated previously is that I could possibly make a kind of sourdough starter with this same probiotic capsule using sorghum flour and water also set in a warm place overnight.
Any comments? I saw nothing about this at all on the internet except for one person here on this site who said she made her own kefir. Kefir has never agreed with me, but yogurt has…at least in the good ol days before all the massive doses of antibiotics.
I am hoping this helps since I am tired of having such a restricted low histamine diet and want to get a little radical to help heal and improve gut flora if I can.
I just found the person I originally was trying to refer to: Sarah from two months ago. She was actually thinking of making her own probiotic safe yogurt as well as soured veggies. I’d love to “converse” with her!
I am currently weaning off Zoloft and have been having lots of anxiety. I also have other histamine intolerance symptoms like puffy eyes, itchy eyes and nose. I also can’t tolerate red wine. Would a DAO supplement help with this? Do you think this will gradually get better as my body gets through the withdrawal or will it be something I battle the rest of my life?
I do not know enough about your situation to comment. It would not hurt to try a DAO supplement to see if it would provide relief. But with histamine intolerance, there is a need for healing of the gut. Over time it is likely that your withdrawal symptoms from Zoloft will lessen. It would be worthwhile to check out The Walsh Research Institute’s practitioner’s page and to see if there is someone in your area who could help you figure out if you have an imbalance that could be helped with a supplement protocol.
William Walsh has written about heavy metal toxicity. After lifelong health challenges and symptoms becoming worse I paid $120 to my MD to have this test run https://www.doctorsdata.com/resources/uploads/sample_reports/Sample%20Report%20UT.PDF. Mine was provoked with 300mg DMPS & 500mg DMSA and I collected for 8 hours. Lead result was 38 s/b less than 2. Thallium and Antimonium also were high. Nickel, barium, cadmium, etc. were the high end of normal. An old porcelain mug I drank hot water from may have been leeching lead and maybe my tub also. I had mercury fillings replaced 10 years ago but have other metal in my mouth. I hope everyone knows about Hal Huggins. I have learned a lot…
Glad I found this site, I have been suffering with asthma like symptoms for 3years, I have done all of the tests and seen all of the specialists with no answers. I have been taking benedryl as an antihistamine for the past 2 years which seem to give me some relieve to my symptoms, is it possible I have a histamine intolerance? My doctors and family think I have anxiety, but I know it’s something else, my throat also seem to get tight after eating certain food. I was wondering if fish oil would be ok to use as a supplement, I tried it once for six day and on day six I had sever breathing problems, but I also had my ducts cleaned that day as well so I’m not sure if I had an allergic reaction to the dust, I’m scared to try the fish oil again, not being able to breath is a scary situation, if there are any forums I can discuss these issues I would appreciate a link to that website, as well as any advice anyone has with personal experiences close to mine. Thank you everybody in advance
I recommend looking on my website at the tab that says Walsh Approach. Many people who have severe reactions such as yours are under methylated, in addition to having a leaky gut. I would recommend finding a practitioner on the website of the Walsh Research Institute’s Walsh Practioners Page who is in your area and get tested. Hopefully that person would also have some expertise in terms of healing the gut. Anti-histamines are not a good long term solution. They are linked with the development of dementia. It would be much better for you to get at the root of the problem if possible.
I would just like to mention that carefully selected probiotic supplementation can help, but you have to be careful. Some strains elevate histamine levels, some are neutral in effect, and others may actually RAISE histamine levels.
Histamine-degrading bacteria are said to be: Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium lognum, Lactobacillus plantarum, and some soil-based organisms. (But, extreme caution must be exercised with SBOs. Small amounts can actually have an anti-depressant effect in a person with a healthy colonization of resident gut flora, but they reproduce rapidly when not competing with other bacteria, so if your gut flora is depleted, SBOs can cause SIBO – Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.)
Histamine-neutral bacteria include Streptococcus thermophiles (found in many yogurts) and Lactobacillus rhamnosus (which has the added benefit of naturally raising levels of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter that reduces anxiety).
Histamine-producing bacteria (which can have other benefits for those NOT dealing with histamine intolerance, but should be avoided by us!) include Lactobacillus casei (present in many multi-strain probiotics and most yogurts), Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.
L. plantarum 299v (available as Ideal Bowel Support from Jarrow Formulas – I’ve tried another brand and had to take FOUR capsules instead of one to achieve the same effect, so just go straight for the good stuff!) has literally changed my life, completely eliminating my lifelong IBS in two weeks. Kombucha tea has helped greatly with my dairy intolerance. BUT, when I started eating lots of yogurt, suddenly things went bad. Now I know why – L. casei and histamine intolerance.
If you make your own fermented foods and forgo wild fermentation in favor of sterilizing containers and then introducing selected strains, they can be of benefit, but if you’re suffering from both histamine intolerance and gut dysbiosis, don’t just use all probiotics indiscriminately. I have made my own brine-pickled vegetables using my L. plantarum capsules for the lactic acid fermentation, and I had reasonably good results there. I’ve read that L. plantarum can even be used to make yogurt, so I may try making my own, histamine-destroying yogurt at home! No more L. casei for me!
Thanks for the post, Sarah. Appreciate the tip on Jarrow Ideal Bowel Support.
We’ve been making our own yogurt (no dairy, no sugar) for the past few months using canned coconut milk and our own probiotics (FloraBaby is great too!). Yogurt maker was very inexpensive and found on Amazon. Easy to do and much healthier than store brand yogurts.
I really like the idea of making my own yogurt using histamine safe probiotics. I could use local unpasteurized milk as a base for instance.
In the past, yogurt was the only fermented food I could tolerate. That was before I developed this massive case of histamine intolerance. I used to make huge vats of it. But using a yogurt maker with individual jars with tops is a brilliant idea in the case of histamine sensitivity, IMHO!
Other question–perhaps I could do the same to create a kind of yeasted bread? i.e., use the same probiotics for that?? Years ago I used to practically live on my own sourdough bread and pancakes… This was of course before I had so many massive doses of antibiotics!
I do not know the answer. I do not recommend gluten grains for anyone.
Who said gluten? I am using sorghum flour instead. Even rice seems to be inflammatory for me these days.
I just sent you another post about making histamine safe yogurt. I’d love to correspond to Sarah and compare notes on her efforts with histamine safe yogurt and fermented veggies from her own histamine safe probiotics.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your advice regarding probiotics.
I have started taking a new probiotic just weeks ago, and now I am wondering, am I doing the right thing for my stomach with this. I hope you can help, the probiotic contains; Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11, Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell-52, Lactococcus lactis ssp Rosell-1058, Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175, Bifidobacterium Lactis Lafti B94, Bifidobacterium bifidum Rosell-71.
I have developed histamine intolerance about 6 months ago, during the beech pollen season, I am very allergic to beech pollen and a lot of nuts, fruits and vegetables because of it. I also have ibs, which I have had for most of my life. Because of those 3 different food intolerances my diet has been extremely limited these 6 months and a dietitian has recommended taking probiotics for a few months.
Do you think this supplement is doing my stomach any good?
Thank you so much for your help.
Hi I am investigating a sulfation defect I have which seems to merge with glutamate and histamine intolerance and causes all the usual problems (migraine, depression, fatigue). But I’m not suffering as badly as most folks seem to be and one reason I suspect is that early on I addressed very aggressively my low stomach acid. I think this has straightened out the gut dysbiosis and killed other things that had no business being in there, and has helped me with better absorption, too. I tend to suspect that the stomach may be at the root of all these problems. I still have to use mastic gum about twice or three times a year to keep H. Pylori in check, and I am still on the hunt to figure out this sulfation/glutamate/histamine thing, but it helps to be as well as I am due to the stomach and gut no longer being a constant problem to deal with. Just hope this may help someone else. I read the book Why Stomach Acid Is Good For You.
Thanks for doing what you do.
I tried Drs. Vinitsky and Solimon, both in Gaithersburg Maryland. Both have pros and cons. I am now trying Wendy Meyers, a functional medicine practitioner who is very knowledgable. You can find more info on her at the link below. I highly recommend her. She is SO responsive and gets back to me with any questions I have immediately. This is priceless, and yet she does it for free when you do her mineral balancing program. She was even super responsive and helpful before I did the program.
http://www.liveto110.com/#_l_52
EI,
May I ask if how your experience has been working with Dr Wendy Meyers on high histamine issues? She seems like a great FM doctor. I’m new to understanding this inherited disorder.
Any other resources you’ve to suggest are much appreciated!
Thank you.
Jill
I am not familiar with Dr. Myers.
If anyone knows of a forum where Histamine Intollerence is discussed please let us know. I feel very isolated about it and my family just thinks i’ve lost my mind. Of course, that’s how they are about me in general so nvmd.
I’d just love to chat with others dealing with it. Share latest info, etc.
Mellony
There’re 3 facebook groups that I know of:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/histamineintoleranceprivate/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lowhistamineAIP/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/103494953891/?fref=ts
I hope this helps.
I’m using a dietary supplement called Daosin! Makes it possible to be back in life and I’m confident to use daily to eat whatever I want. No more problems with having headache or stomach cramps! Recommendation
Just wanted to let you know that the Twinlabs Allergy C is made with regular gelatin caps. Some of us with histamine/tyramine issues react to gelatin–as I did. I used the Allergy C for over a month before discovering/realizing it was made with the gelatin caps. I reacted badly to it, but at first didn’t know why or what it was that I was reacting to. I just assumed since it was recommended on the Low Histamine Chef it would be fine. But perhaps she isn’t as intolerant of gelatin as I am. And perhaps you too?? Similarly, I react to bromelain, even though its supposed to be safe. I seem to be that reactive to histamine/amines! Instead I use the nettle/quercitin mix or just quercitin by itself. I also eat a lot of apples, garlic and green onions. I am fortunate in that regard since many have difficulties with the sulpher in the garlic and onions — however they are also very high in quercitin.
Thank you for sharing all of this very useful information. There is so much to learn about all of this, and it’s so great to get the benefit of others’ experience.
I have my suspicion that my histamine issues are stress related and possibly psychologically induced. In the past I have had TMS (http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=2) pain on my knee for 2 years that went away once I realised the source of it. And those pain issues seem to have been replaced by histamine issues. It’s either that or my immune system is in overdrive because of having high stress levels for a long time and it’s got used to overreacting.
There seems to be a big connection between stress and histamine for many, as well as many other auto-immune conditions. I wish you peace and ease in 2015.
I have had histamine issues for a long time, at least since 2009. Before that I was diagnosed with IBS in around 2003 or so. Symptoms kept changing and became stronger but I thought it was just IBS. I also suspected I had issues with gluten and I was on and off gluten for many years.
Anyway, about 2 years ago I went low carb and after 9 or 10 months I started to feel very tired, I felt dizzy, I had no energy. I thought it was probably that very low carbs didn’t agree with me so I started to introduce some gluten free bread in between meals and things appeared to improve. I also had some blood tests done just to make sure everything was ok, after all I had had anemia twice in the previous 5 years for no reason. They came back normal.
While this was going on I was taking megadoses of vitamin D3 (80000 units) for a vitamin D deficiency I developed while living in Paris. The third dose was around the time I felt very tired but had already started to introduce carbs into my diet and felt I was improving.
After the third dose of vitamin D I started to react to all sorts of foods: tomatoes, cheese, cured meat, kefir, sauces, basically anything that wasn’t bland. I didn’t connect the dots then. I did some research trying to find out why I was having all these reactions and I decided I had become histamine intolerant and I put myself on a low histamine diet.
While on the diet I felt fine, I had no symptoms, but as soon as I introduced something high in histamine I had a reaction. After 3 months of this I decided to give magnesium supplements a go. I read somewhere that magnesium is necessary for the production of DAO. I had nothing to lose, magnesium was readily available at the chemist and everything I read said it was a safe supplement. I must admit I didn’t expect it to make any difference.
I started to take magnesium and for the first couple of weeks I didn’t notice much but I decided to keep going and finish the box. By week 3 I was able to eat many things without any reaction so I finished the box and bought another. I couldn’t believe it had worked, that I found a “cure” for my histamine intolerance.
I did some research on magnesium and I read that megadoses of vitamin D can deplete magnesium stores. Then I realised that the last dose was just before all my reactions started to happen, and that the low histamine foods didn’t have much magnesium in them.
I stared to believe that my problem was magnesium depletion.
The magnesium also made me feel a lot better mentally, less anxious, more stable. It actually made me feel better than I had felt in many years. I kept thinking back to the times in my life when I had digestive issues and thinking that maybe low magnesium was the culprit then since they were usually related to stressful events, either real or in my mind.
This honeymoon lasted for a few months and included an international move and change of jobs, usually a very stressful event for most people. I was thrilled.
But as it turned out it was too good to be true. I had a flare up 4 weeks ago, after I changed magnesium types from oxide to citrate. Magnesium citrate gave me joint pain and I developed digestive issues again. And so did Magnesium chelate.
So I put myself back on magnesium oxide and it seems to work again.
I don’t know what is causing my intolerance. I’ve always eaten very healthy food, always prepared from scratch, lots of vegetables and fruit. I’ve always had a healthy weight, I run 3 or 4 times a week, I have enough sleep (actually magnesium helps with that too), I’m working fewer hours, I seem to be doing all the right things.
I have read that histamine intolerance may be caused by leaky gut. I actually had an Igg test around the time I was feeling very tired which confirmed wheat is not my friend. And I had 5 other intolerances, all of them just over the limit. They were cranberries, which I also knew didn’t agree with me, aloe vera, cola nut, mussels and plums. So I would think that is a low number of intolerances out of the 200 foods I was tested against and in all cases it was just over the “avoid this food” limit.
I’m inclined to think that my problem is inherited. My mother has had digestive issues all her life. She thinks she can’t tolerate fatty foods but when she tells me the list of foods that don’t agree with her they are also high histamine foods.
Anyway, I hope this information is another little piece in the histamine intolerance puzzle.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
This experience of yours with magnesium oxide is pretty amazing! I have never tried it out. But it seems worth a trial. I take the citrate, why not the oxide instead??
I am so glad to hear you are on the mend again.
It also goes to show that whereas having enough vitamin D is important, having too much simply is too much!
Clearly we are all different. Which makes resolving these conditions very individual.
I eat a semi paleo diet, but with white beans and sometimes yellow split pea rather than so much meat. I only tolerate wild caught frozen salmon sometimes. Ditto with organic fresh chicken. Beef and lamb etc. are out of the question. And I certainly don’t eat any fermented foods.
I call my diet semi paleo since I am off all grains again and eat lots of veggies. I use zucchini and rutabagas and sometimes winter squash for starch. My kidneys and bladder really do not like the grains very often at all, even sorghum flour.
I think we often have a variety of reasons that we need to eat low histamine foods. Your experience with the magnesium oxalate vs citrate and having too much Vit. D definitely point that out.
Thank you, Angela, for your thoughtful comment. I, too, learn a lot from readers who comment. I would be very curious to hear about the results that you get from the new program. It makes sense, but the proof will be in the pudding. Please write again and let us all know. I completely understand about all the expensive and repetitive testing. Sometimes it seems to me that the whole person can get lost in the focus on laboratory results. There is a great deal more that needs to be understood about the relationship between gene mutations and clinical picture and treatment. Just because a person has a mutation, it does not mean that they will be symptomatic. It’s a brave new world, and I believe that often we have so much information, but we don’t really understand its significance. Much remains very mysterious.
Many blessings for 2015.
I imagine that perhaps it is a very individual matter, which form of magnesium is better absorbed. I have a colleague who had excruciating leg cramps at night, which she tried to treat with magnesium. Only when she switched from one form to another, did it take effect. I cannot recall which preparation was more effective, but it illustrates the point.
I’ve heard Magnesium Bisglycinate is the best and easy on the digestive tract. I used to take citrate but I like this much better. You should google it. We prefer the Naka brand. Another brand we had smelled strange, almost like mold.
When you say easy on the digestive tract, what do you mean?
I’m no expert but I’ve heard magnesium can cause digestive tract upsets, one being diarrhea. I’ve also read that magnesium bisglycinate is better absorbed than other forms.
For people who suffer with constipation, that laxative of magnesium is a great side effect. I use it for that purpose in my practice.
And then I’ve heard that Magnesium Threonate powers the brain. But I’ve read that Magnesium Bisglycinate is better for deficiencies. It’s said that Magnesium Threonate is good for Alzheimer’s and the healing and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases.
As mag oxide is supposedly poorly absorbed, perhaps it is that less magnesium is better for your particular condition. A partial dose of magnesium glycinate might have done as well.
It seems that you can control your dosage with the mag oxide you know, good for you on discovering this.
Dear Teresa.
Just wondering how your are now. I read your entry with interest. I have been following this forum for awhile (thank you, Dr. Tsafrir!) and have been diagnosed with SIBO and Histamine Intolerance (have been EXTREMELY ILL) as well as low Vitamin D. I’ve had so much going on with this issue for the past 4 years, but I wanted to specifically address the magnesium issue. Here is my experience with Vitamin D, magnesium and calcium. My Vitamin D is very low (14 ng), so my doctor wanted to elevate it. I could not handle mega-doses so we started on 1,000 mg a day. I had to discontinue as it lead to major headaches (I already had headaches, but they became more unbearable). After much research, I discovered that if you get a headache from Vitamin D, it means that your magnesium is too low. So, I did an experiment with magnesium (I think it was citrate powder). Well, I experienced unbearable joint pain. So, I tried the spray magnesium from the Dead Sea. Same thing! After much research, I found out that if you get joint pain from magnesium, that means that your calcium is too low! I actually figured my calcium was low because I am on a dairy-free diet (along with low-histamine, gluten-free, migraine free, etc., etc.) . Anyway, with the SIBO, my doctor figured that even if I was eating Vitamin D, magnesium and calcium, I may not be absorbing it. (We’re trying to eradicate the SIBO, but at this point I get such a die-off that I can’t tolerate treatment–we’re trying to make my body stronger.) So, I went to a patch of Vitamin D3 (5000 IU) and Magnesium (250 mg). I tolerated that well. But, I was thinking that my calcium/magnesium wasn’t being balanced with just one, so I added another of Vitamin D2 (2000 IU), Calcium (1000 mg) and Magnesium (250 mg). I am also tolerating that well. My doc and I had high hopes for a big Vitamin D boost, but after 6 months, it had only risen to 15.5 ng. So, what to do??? Just this minute, I tried a D3 cream (10,000 IU)–and guess what???–after one application rubbed into my arms, I had a histamine surge–panic attack, adrenaline rush, burning ears and chest–either from the Vitamin D or one of the ingredients. So what to do? Not sure, but I wanted to add to this discussion. I’ll continue my patches, because it did raise my Vitamin D some, but any advice out there? I can’t go and sit out in the sun because that raises my histamine, too. Dr. Tsafrir, your site is so very informative and I thank you so much. I’ve been dealing with this SIBO/histamine issue for a long time and very much appreciate the information I have found here. This whole thing started suddenly during my perimenopausal years. I’m through menopause now and the problems are still continuing. For three years, I had no idea what was going on with me. Most of my symptoms are neurological and I had seen a dozen doctors. Almost a year ago, the histamine reaction was the clue I needed to see that this was a digestive issue. So, knowledge brings hope. Best wishes, love and prayers to all who are meandering along this winding path. Truly, Elisabeth
Dear Elizabeth, I am so sorry to hear all that you are going through. It sounds so hard. Have you heard of the Paleo Auto Immune Protocol? I wonder if there is a food that is triggering your immune system. A colleague of mine has a daughter with severe histamine intolerance. She had been very helped with Histame before meals. Others have said that is not a good strategy. It’s also quite expensive. The bottom line is healing the gut and implementing practices that support that. I wish you all the best.
Thank you so much! You have a wonderful site and I appreciate your advice and best wishes. I’m wondering if anyone has both SIBO and Histamine Intolerance. Most of the information I see “out there” treats one or the other. One life plan and food list that helps SIBO, adds to the histamine load and one life plan and food list that helps histamine intolerance, kicks up the SIBO. I’d love to correspond with others who have this combination. Thank you to all. Truly, Elisabeth
Hi Elisabeth. I’m 38. I have autoimmune disease with gut dysbiosis that includes a low FODMAP diet for SIBO as well as a low histamine diet for my histamine intolerance. I don’t know what to eat, and I am lost as to why I’ve had no healing in all these years of restrictive diets and supplements.
Well, Its hard to comment without knowing the whole story, but healing is about so much more than restrictive diets and supplements. There is a big psycho-spiritual piece as well. Emotional healing, spiritual healing. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to still feel ill after having done so much.
Hi Elisabeth
I have stopped having magnesium oxyde for a while. I’m becoming convinced that having supplements all the time may not be such a good idea because of all their interactions.
I use the sun for vitamin D. Just in small doses but it’s working better than taking D3. I’m no longer deficient.
As far as histamine intolerance goes I feel better since my vitamin D is normal and that’s why I stopped magnesium too.
I’m gluten free and eat certain groups of food only from time to time auch as oranges or tomatoes. Otherwise I try to have a varied diet. I usually don’t eat processed foods and cook everything from scratch.
After fixing my vitamine D deficiency I’m also reaffirmed in the idea that stress is my major trigger.
Stress can be from internal and ouside forces, physical or mental.
I guess having deficiencies puts stress on your body. I certainly felt more anxiety more often while I had low viamin D levels and low magnesium. It was quite amazing to see how much better I felt emotionally when my D levels went up temporarily after a D megadose though I don’t recommend D megadoses to anyone.
And having health issues that need police work such as histamine intolerance is a major source of stress, which only makes things worse.
You could try meditation and yoga or tai chi, some calming activity as well as vigorous physical exercise such as running. Even gardening. Anything that calms your mind and body should help.
Anyway, let us know how you do.
Yes, Teresa, my plan is to get my Vitamin D up, too. Unfortunately, I can barely sit outside since it kicks up my histamine symptoms. My understanding is that oral Vitamin D won’t be absorbed very well if one has SIBO (me!). (I have both SIBO and histamine intolerance.) I’m trying the patch, but that doesn’t seem to make that much difference. So, my plan is to order a tan-through swimsuit and go out in the sun every day, even if I can only tolerate 10 minutes at a time. You can read about these swimsuits at cooltan.com or Amazon-Kiniki brand. They let in 50% of the sun’s rays–hence Vitamin D. I’m gong to order the skimpiest one I can so that my bare skin will get 100% of the rays and any part that’s covered at all will still get 50%. Then at the end of summer, I’ll have a Vitamin D test and see if this method worked at all. I think if I can get my Vitamin D levels up, some of my other issues will improve as well. Best of luck to everyone!!!
Hi All,
It’s been awhile since I’ve written and would like to update everyone. Thank you so much for all of your advice. I’ve been taking it all under advisement. I would like to address the Vitamin D issue again, as I feel that this is a big part of my problem. Unfortunately, I have not been able to raise it. The Vitamin D patches were worthless, as now my Vitamin D is back to 13. Also, lying in the sun did not go well, as I developed major migraines after only 4 days. I continued to add magnesium spray, but that lowered my blood pressure greatly (70s over 50s sometimes), causing extreme dizziness. So, I had to not think about this and concentrate on the histamine and SIBO. However, by not addressing this properly, I feel that both the histamine and SIBO are getting worse and I’ve developed so much bone and joint pain and burning, as well as so many headaches and internal vibrations and weariness, balance issues–you name it–I’m so dysfunctional– that I’m looking at the Vitamin D again. I discussed the fact that I can’t seem to take magnesium without my blood pressure going down with my doctor and she ordered the following for me, which may help some of you: Potassium Magnesium (aspartate)–not aspartame, I made sure. She said that this type of magnesium does not have the property of lowering blood pressure. So, I’m at it again. I just received it in the mail and I’ll start taking it tomorrow morning. Then I’ll add the Vitamin D again and see how it goes. She also prescribed Vitamin C for me (my blood tests showed extremely low levels) and B-12 (this is borderline low). I think I made a big mistake in how many foods I cut out–whole food groups. I only eat 4 or 5 foods now and that has lead to multiple deficiencies. But, I think we’re all in the same boat. What are we to do if the food is giving us so many debilitating symptoms??? I’ll look into the Vitamin K, too. Also, the discussion about the probiotics is very helpful. My doctor says that I will not get a handle on the histamine and the leaky gut until I can eradicate the SIBO from my system. She also feels that I may have dysautonomia and is willing to refer me to the Stanford (CA) specialty hospital. I really don’t know how I got into this mess–I was very healthy before all of this started–well, I thought I was healthy–probably things were building up and then they just all exploded during the menopausal years, kind of like having a heart attack–everything seems ok until your chest explodes. I feel like my whole body, head and life has exploded. I hope many people on this site are finding their answers. I really appreciate all the discussions. They’re very helpful to all of us. Big hugs to you all! Truly, Elisabeth P.S. I’ve been doing a lot of meditation and spiritual work and that truly helps. Also, I’ve been trying to elevate my serotonin level with positive thinking, communing with nature, sun in my eyes, de-stressing and whatever else I can do without medication. I think this has actually helped my whole being quite a bit. So, that’s good news!
By the way, this is just the Vitamin D part of my story. I have a whole other story about the symptoms from Histamine/SIBO and how this whole situation started. I just want to make clear that I realize that this is a Histamine discussion; I don’t want to sway it from that. I just want to tell my Vitamin D story in case anyone else has this issue and we can help each other. I am getting quite a strong feeling that Vitamin D deficiency might be a precursor to IBS/Histamine Intolerance/SIBO/maybe Low Stomach Acid and other digestive problems. In my case, I truly feel that if I can raise my Vitamin D that the other issues might be helped as well. Thanks for listening!
Elizabeth
Sorry to hear you’re still having so many problems. Not that mine are gone completely but I’m more convinced that, as well as stress, (peri)menopause and the hormonal fluctuations that come with it are to blame for a lot of my histamine issues. I still have magnesium oxide every day, which seems to be what it has helped me most, and I go out in the sun for 10 minutes every day if I can – or longer in winter.
I agree that reducing the number of foods is not good in the long term as it seems to upset the intestinal flora -or at least it does when you cut down some foods like the ones that are high in fodmaps for instance, according to some research I’ve read. And it makes sense.
Stress, bad diet (even if it’s not by choice), not enough sun exposure, environmental pollution, lack of social connections or reduced social interactions opportunities, among other realities of the 21st century, seem to be a lot to take for some, I think, more sensitive people like you or me.
I hope you get rid of SIBO and gradually you get better. All the best.
Dear Teresa (and Judy, too, and all–thank you for this website),
Thanks so much for responding. You have had such good advice and I’m so very glad that you’re feeling better. Here’s my whole story–sorry if it’s so long, but it has been a long journey! My whole entry into digestive mayhem started when I was peri-menopausal and suddenly with no warning experienced a stroke-like situation while on vacation. Suddenly, without any warning, I felt a quick lightning bolt pain in my right forehead, my eyes darkened, the right side of my face went numb, I was suddenly very disoriented, I had a panic attack in my chest and could hardly breathe and I had vertigo. I was rushed to the ER. I was in the hospital for 5 days and was told that I did indeed have a stroke. Prior to this, I had already been feeling so much menopausal anxiety and this situation started a huge fear going in me that I couldn’t turn off. They gave me stroke meds, anti-depressants, etc. which just made the whole thing worse. My head was completely dead, could not think at all, had unbelievable panic attacks all the time, endless migraines, electric shocks in my head, feelings of bubbles going all through my body and so many, many more terrible symptoms. It wasn’t until I got home (one month later) and had more tests that is was determined that I didn’t have a stroke and was taken off all the meds. Everybody expected me to recover completely. But, the symptoms continued horribly, day after day, and I was in so much fear that I was going to die any minute. After three very long years of this, I had my first histamine reaction which landed me in the ER on three separate occasions–about a month apart. It was at this time that I wondered if my issue could be digestive (I had already had MRI, CAT, EEG, blood tests–thousands of dollars worth of everything we could think of–and everything came back normal). I can’t tell you how much panic I had during this time–norephinephrine was swirling through my system like there was no tomorrow; it was unbelievable (I lost 70 pounds). I think my head and my digestion just totally shut down. Looking back, I think that it was due to menopausal hormones, extreme anxiety, possibly catamenial epilepsy and then the hospital misdiagnosis and wrong meds just propelled it. Also, I think my Vitamin D and maybe my magnesium were already low. In any event, after three years, I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful Integrative MD in town who specializes in digestive disorders (she herself has celiac). She listened to my story–the same story that I had told 3 neurologists, 2 internists, 4 ER doctors, an acupuncturist, a chinese medicine specialist, probably forgetting some; I made the rounds–and said that she has heard similar situations!!! Mine was extreme, but she had other patients with extreme cases, too. She tested me for SIBO and I tested SKY-HIGH, for hydrogen, but especially for methane–one of the most extreme cases she had ever seen. She feels that the SIBO lead to the Histamine Intolerance and the Leaky Gut and that Low Stomach Acid also plays a role. I have tried to eradicate the SIBO and have horrible die-off symptoms. I actually get much worse than I am now. That was over a year ago and now it’s four years later that the whole thing started. But, back to the menopause issue, I finally think that my hormones ARE settling down (started premenopause by 2 years and now I’m postmenopause by 2 years) and that is very good news. I am not nearly as panicky. I am actually thinking more clearly than I have in years. I still have the Histamine Intolerance and the SIBO and probably Low Stomach Acid and Motility and the dozens of symptoms that go along with these. And the Low Vitamin D, and possible Low Magnesium which I started with and the other malnutritions I’ve added to the list by not being able to eat much of anything, but now that things are settling, I think that I finally have a chance to make a difference and actually help my health. Now that I can think better, I can make a plan. When panic arises, I can tone it down, which is something I could never have done in the beginning. And I can think again–not as well as I used to, but so much better than I could and I can actually start to make a plan. So, one thing at a time. I’ve already started on a more uplifting attitude and ways to raise serotonin. Vitamin D is next. Hopefully, this new Potassium Magnesium will help so my blood pressure doesn’t plummet. When my body becomes healthier, I honestly believe that my digestion will improve as well. The histamine will be easier to control, the SIBO will be easier to eradicate, I won’t have so many headaches and the dozens of other maladies that I have had these past four years. Many women say that menopause is a new beginning and I certainly believe that is very true. Some women sail through and some barely limp, but it’s what we learn and the fact that we can change our ways if necessary and become more accepting of ourselves, our lives, others, the world, the spirit that brings us through to a better life on the other side. Before I started to go through this, I had no idea that so many people were suffering so much every day. My heart has truly opened and really will never be closed. Even though I have always been a compassionate person, I have so much more compassion than I ever did before–for others, for myself and close people in my life including long-ago childhood wounds that are still a part of me. (I have a very good therapist who has been a Godsend). All of these challenges have expanded my mind and spirit in ways that it seems like I needed and has helped propel me on a path which I believe, in spite of the difficulties, is healthful for my soul. I’ve realized that I’ve held much of my emotions inside which has built up over the years and has made me physically ill. Meditation and letting go is so important! I’ve met many truly wonderful people over the Internet during this time and I hope that one day I will be able to help people with my story as other people have helped me. Thank you to all of you. You’ve kept me going. Much love.
Truly, Elisabeth
Elisabeth,
You’ve gone through a lot in the last few years but you’re still determined to get better, that’s the spirit! I’m sure you will get better, it’s a matter of time.
Keep going and keep us updated. I will too if there’s anything new to report.
All the best.
Thank you, Teresa. I’ll keep everyone updated as I go. The good news is that we’re all still alive!
Hi Elizabeth,
I have a son on the spectrum with huge gut/anxiety /acne/red ear breakouts. After taking quercetin with bromelain, realized that the bromelain could be the major culprit. Will try a phenol-breakdown enzyme today. Probably No-Fenol. Prayers and blessings to you. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Marisha
Hi Elisabeth, just wondering if you’ve tried vitamin K2. It’s also very important with the D3, Mag, Cal balance. I’ve heard that D3 can pull calcium from your bones so you also need to take K2. There are 2 kinds, Mk7 and Mk4. Mk7 is for your artery health and keeping the calcium out of them, and Mk4 is for bone health and keeping the calcium in them. So they are both important. I couldn’t find one with both until recently which is AOR. Also you might want to look into Magnesium Bisglycinate.
Take care,
Janet
Dear Elisabeth,
Thank you for your information on histamine surge and your own experiences, as I recognize some commonality in your and my experiences. I now have some leads to follow up in order to improve my health.
Thank you greatly,
Estelle
Hi Teresa, Just read your blog about histamine intolerance and wondered how your diet is going and if going back on mag oxide helped again. I, too, can only take mag oxide which I started 10 years ago after a kidney stone…never had one since. Recently I started on the histamine intolerance diet as I have sensitivities to all the alleged culprits, so we will see if I can restore some needed sleep and weight loss. I’m very interested in learning all I can about because my adult daughter has had crippling arthritis in her hands, depression, allergies, and weight issues so I hope this diet will prove to be beneficial. Good luck and thanks for your informative blog.
Hi Jenny
I’m still on magnesium oxide. Occasionally I stop it for a week or two but I always feel better on it. I haven’t been able to find anything negative about taking magnesium long term so I’m hoping it is ok. My doctor wanted to do some blood tests when I told her I had been taking it for almost a year and the results came back fine so she said it was fine for me to continue on it.
I’m not longer on a low histamine diet. While it helped me find out that I had a histamine issue at the time, the diet is hard to follow and I felt only better while I was on it. What it really helped me was to find out what the cause of my high histamine levels was and address that as well as I could.
I found a lot of good information on sites such as The low histamine chef and Chris Kresser as well as this site, thank you Judy, that helped me deal with excess histamine. They taught me about the importance of a stress free life, eating healthy and highly nutritious whole foods, and the importance of your gut flora.
I hope you find some answers to your health issues.
Hi There,
I am newly discovering I must have a histamine intolerance.. especially since I started working with a GAPS practitioner who put me on ACV, kraut, homeopathic remedies with etoh in them, and dgl which I just learned blocks dao enzyme.
I am having trouble tolerating a lot of foods.. and digestion.. promblem is that I need digestive enzymes to help.. but cant tolerate them because of gastritis.. I came off zoloft after 13 years and have since developed all these GI problems..
I need to find something to coat my gut.. do any of you know if mastic gum is high in histamine??
By the way.. I know Wendy Myers.. she is a sweetie .. she is not an MD..but a good knowledgeable Nutritional Balancing practitioner.
I do not know the answer, but perhaps someone else does. Its interesting that the digestive issues began after stopping Zoloft.
Hi, This Summer I tried the Paleo diet
(big mistake!) in which I started having shortness of breath attacks in which I later found out (no help from Docs who label anything they don’t understand as “anxiety” and found it to be silent acid reflux. But it hasn’t stopped there. I also have the worst, debilitating Rhinitis which I went to an ENT and Allergist which they did NOTHING. None of the sprays they prescribed worked or anti histamines. I got the whole “There’s nothing I can do” (cant they teach you in med school NOT to say that phrase?) Then I start breaking into hives every time I eat. I did some research and think I may be on the right track with the histamine intolerance. I just need someone to guide me. Some of the foods they say are OK are not OK and vise versa. I’m around the Boston area if you could suggest a practitioner? I feel my quality of life is consumed with nasal/sinus swelling (like breathing through a narrow straw most of the day), the hives and the anxiety. Any input I would appreciate as well. Yes, I’ve already looked at the links provided below, the low histamine chef seems to be charging for every little thing.
Thank you, Erin
I heard of a naturopath in Cambridge who is supposed to be very good. Her name is Dr. Shibley. I have no direct experience with her, but heard good things. Here is her website http://www.integrativeholistics.com/index.html
Maybe she could help you. I am sorry to hear what you are going through. It sounds awful. Some people cannot tolerate all the protein that is part of the Paleo diet because of elevated ammonia levels. But there is probably an issue of gut dysbiosis that is underlying the whole thing. I hope Dr Shibley can be helpful. There is also a another place in Waltham called the Rothfeld Center that is supposed to be very good. Here is the website. http://rothfeldcenter.com
This sounds exactly what my problem was. It started after a bought of insomnia, where I was prescribed ambien. After a month of taking it, one day I woke up and I had the biggest darkest circles and puffiness. It got worse and worse, and I found I could no longer drink alcohol or even take pain pills after surgery because it would cause an immediate sinus infection and hives. Now I see a nutritionist, and I take DAOsin or HISTDAO on a daily basis. It helps a lot, so hopefully if I need surgery again, I can take a pain pill without a sinus infection. It got so bad though that I did need sinus surgery, you may need that too. Good Luck.
Hello! Have you or anyone else here ever tried L-Glutamine to help with gut healing with success?
I found out about histamine intolerance via Facebook of all places. I have, what I refer to as, episodes about once every month or two around my monthly cycle. I experience migraine headaches, and debilitating pain, head, neck ,back, along my ribs & under my ribcage – only on my left side. Severe purging – vomiting, diarrhea, heavy mucus from my sinuses, tightness in my chest, difficulty breathing & anxiety. I’m a total wreck. I’ve been to 2 different doctors when this is in full swing and neither one had a clue as to what was wrong with me. I’ve been prescribed muscle relaxes, anti-depressants, anti-inflammatories, migraine med and valium. I was shocked and relieved when I read about the symptoms for histamine intolerance as well as, high-level histamine foods – spot on. I plan on working with naturopathic doctor and feeling hopeful I can get this under control.
Hi Laurie,
I have almost the exact same symptoms as you. I am curious on any updates and what might have worked for you. I have just stumbled on all this.
Thanks so much,
Leslie
I have just read your post with interest as you particularly mention a correlation to your monthly cycle. My 13 year old daughter has had a variety of symptoms that no one has been able to solve that have gradually worsened over the past 6 years – mainly headaches, left sided abdominal pain after eating and exercise, diarrhoea and cramping, delayed and painful periods. Her only skin symptoms are itching on her back but no hives and an immunologist she saw commented that she had mild dermography. She gets mouth ulcers from raspberries, pineapple and tomatoes in particular. She loves pizza and chocolate which are probably her worst enemies. She definitely is at her lowest just before and during her periods. She has tried an elimination diet but there were no obvious direct links to foods that she reintroduced as far as we could tell. Unfortunately any sports or exercise give her left sided abdominal pain which makes activities and hobbies limited. She has had two endoscopies and colonoscopies and seems to be a mystery to the specialists (3 so far) that we have been here in the UK.
Can you tell me if you have tried out any particular medicines or probiotics that have helped.
This sounds so hard for a thirteen year old girl. I would consider getting her tested for biochemical imbalances with the Walsh perspective. I wrote two blog posts about Dr. Walsh’s work. My most recent post was about pyroluria which I learned about from him. In the case of your daughter, I would be particularly suspicious about elevated copper, which is often associated with symptoms that are sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. Please write again with a follow up, so we all can learn.
Is standard blood work able to assss elevated copper? I had spoken with a company of new supplement who stated elevated copper can cause and show itself many ways, including symptoms which look like chronic Lyme, mold, autonomic dysfunction.
According to the Walsh method, we measure serum copper but also a carrier molecule for copper called ceruloplasmin. That is necessary in order to know how much is bound and how much is free. I don’t know about the similarity particularly with mold and Lyme. Both of those conditions can present in so many different ways that it does not seem to be adding much to say it can be confused with elevated copper.
I have a friend that has a child with these symptoms, but can not find a doctor anywhere that will even look into this. Is there any good doctors in the Washington, DC area that we can point her too
Thanks for all your help….
I would check on the practitioners list on the gaps.me website and see if you can find someone in the DC area.
Hello. Never left a post on a site before so I have no idea if this will work, get read, or replied to. Anyway, here’s my piece. I have been suffering from depression/general anxiety for about 14 years now. I see a psych Dr regularly, and have been prescribed almost every type of anti depressant / anti-psychotic out. More recently I was on zoloft for 6 or 7 years. I quit taking it about 7 months ago because I really got no relief from any of them. I have always had bad allergies and recently went to an allergists where the poked my shin with all different types of allergens to see what I reacted to. I tested positive for 41 out of 42 of them. I had no idea. I have also suffered from IBS and reflux for about the same 14 years. Currently I experience a moderate to severe amount of anxiety and agitation. However, is not typical, as the symptoms are largely physical and not emotional. Mostly sensations in my head. Tinnitus and ringing/buzzing in my ears. Floating ,sinking, brain zaps, head rushing, and a tingling sensation constantly that I describe as the feeling you get before you sneeze. I have long believed that it is not manifested in my brain but triggered by something. All these symptoms seem to worsen at allergy season. Basically I am in a constant state of agitation and very irritable because of the constant sensations cycling in my head. I was just wondering if this is something I should discuss with my psychiatrist and what can be tested for. Like I said I just learned that I was allergic to everything in the last month. Thanks for any advice that could help.
I am sorry to hear about what you are going through. It sounds really hard. When there are so many food sensitivities it indicates that your gut is not in good shape. That would be the first place to focus on healing. The the principles of GAPS healing protocol is very helpful for healing the gut. These days I recommend the Paleo auto immune protocol to my patients. It may be that you are having an auto immune response to certain foods and that if you avoid those foods, that your gut will have a chance to heal. I also just recently wrote a post about a conference I attended in Chicago sponsored by the Walsh Research Institute. You might want to take a look at that and think about consulting a specialist who has expertise in treating any imbalances with supplements. I hope you are able to find some good help.
Please check out the MRT blood test for food sensitivities. It really helped our family. Our inflammation went down, it does not identify HI but it led me down that pathway. Amazing how it took many of my symptoms aways in only 6/8 weeks. You work with a professional and start from scratch on about 20 foods, and build from there.
We are now going to try some micro-nutrients supplements which we hope will help heal us.
We are now doing a colon cleanse, will continue to cleanse to remove candida and then a parasite cleanse. Our last one will be a liver and gall bladder cleanse.
There has to be a way. Good luck. Calle
Dyrmakr, you seem to have the symptoms of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome. Brain zaps, etc. is what happens to people when they discontinued their antidepressant too quickly. Check out the website “surviving antidepressants “or http://www.beyondmeds.com. And search for antidepressant withdrawal.
Dr. Vinitsky in Gaithersburg Maryland understands methylation though he prescribes way too much folic acid. Aside from that, he may be able to help with testing. He ordered tests that no one else was willing to do. But my daughter still has the skin and allergy issues so we went to Dr. Nadir Soliman also in Gaithersburg who does homeopathy and auricular acupuncture. We have yet to start the prescribed homeopathic treatments but I’m hoping it will help. Feel free to email me: [email protected]. We live in Reston VA.
I am moved at the way my readers help each other. Its really beautiful. Thank you.
Thanks for all your help. I passed the info to my friend.
Have you had any luck with Dr. Soliman? I tried both Vinitsky and Soliman without luck…wondering where to go next. Thank you.
Thanks so much for this information. I’m just learning about this now b/c my doc had mentioned my ige results were very high. I’ve had multiple symptoms and I’m definitely go to try the histamine approach. I was wondering what kind of tinnitus you had? Was it the pulsatile or whooshing kind, or was it more of a ringing or buzzing? Also, how severe were your dry eyes? That seems to be my worst symptom, it started when I was 34 really bad and is almost debilitating. I hope this histamine approach helps as I had no clue about this issue! Thanks again for the info!
I guess I would describe my tinnitus as a sort of high pitched mosquito like sound. My dry eyes were not severe enough to create ulcerations or pain, but the ophthalmologist had to put plugs in my tear ducts at one point to try and increase the moisture. I had Lasik surgery 15 years ago and they could not do it before they got my eyes less dry via the plug procedure. I am right now at a truly remarkable conference where I am learning about nutrient deficiencies/imbalances that can cause all of these symptoms. I will be writing about it, when I feel like I understand it a bit better. Its really great information and I think may help with my tinnitus and dry eyes and yours as well! All the best to you. Keep the faith. I think there is a way to help this.
Just want to comment that I have just bought one of the Low Histamine Chef’s books (The Anti Diet) and am impressed with her idea to eat lots of juiced and blended vegetables with a good amount of antihistamine herbs and veggies as well as apples to make it tastier (and increase the quercitin content). Zucchini is good as an antihistamine too–while giving you the carbs one needs. Already I am liking the effect! So far I am still using soaked, cooked beans (I always pour the water off after and rinse it before freezing in small containers). I also learned from her e-book that corn based vitamin c is usually a no no for us histamine sensitives due to it often being fermented. She suggests using sago palm based C instead.
Dr. Tsafir, have you known anyone to overcome histamine food intolerance? I used to eat everything cured, uncured, fermented, unfermented, with no problem. No lifelong IBS, no skin rashes, no environmental sensitivities — except shellfish allergy and manageable pollen nasal allergies.
I seemed to have developed histamine food intolerance after 6 months of daily 325mg aspirin directed by my cardiologist. (Stopped the aspirin in early July.) Went on low histamine diet, symptoms went away.
My DAO must be normal, but the histamine food intolerance continues. Can this be reversed? What would it take to do this? Have you known anyone with a relatively sudden onset who recovered? Any tips?
Hi. I am puzzled. You wrote that you went on a low histamine diet and your symptoms went away. But then you wrote that your histamine food intolerance continues. A food intolerance is manifested through symptoms, so how does it continue though your symptoms went away?
At any rate, histamine food intolerance seems to be a product of poor digestive health, so when the gut is healed, the histamine intolerance disappears or diminishes. It can be overcome through attention to mind/body/ spirit in terms of managing stress, a nutrient dense diet, detoxification and simple supplementation. I wish you all the best.
Dr. Safrir, Maggie’s comment may not be as contradictory as it seems. With a low histamine diet the symptoms can disappear. This does not mean the condition “histamine intolerance” has disappeared. This can show up as soon as one eats something that’s histamine rich.
This condition may still be there, even if DAO is normal, because of a mast cell problem like mastocytosis and mast cell activation syndrome. There might be other causes, besides these, that I don’t know of. Wormgirl names a few that I am not familiar with.
I see what you are saying and its very interesting. Thank you.
On a low histamine diet, I don’t have symptoms of histamine intolerance. However, it’s been 5 months now and I have not been able to add histamine-containing foods without a reaction.
Therefore, I’m assuming my histamine intolerance continues.
The good news is that when I react, the reactions are less intense.
It is extremely unlikely I have a genetically determined lack of DAO. I ate high-histamine foods all my life with no reactions whatsoever.
I do not have mastocytosis. I’ve never had the pattern of illness associated with mastocytosis.
If you believe sudden-onset histamine intolerance without any of the other mast cell symptomology is mast cell activation syndrome, I guess I have that. Nobody knows what MCAS is, so it’s as meaningful a diagnosis as any.
Greetings, Dr. Safrir,
As a mastocytosis sufferer who spent 53 years on the planet before achieving a diagnosis, here are several conditions often missed by clinicians that can cause histamine intolerance, namely mastocytosis and mast cell activation syndrome, pheochromocytoma, carcinoid syndrome and other very important heath considerations. To anyone experiencing a connection between food and neuopsychiatric conditons, I highly recommend this article, which although a little dated is freely available: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/19547751/
Hello Judy,
I wanted to share with you how I am overcoming my issues with histamine intolerance. I know that what has worked for me may not necessarily work for everyone, but just in case I thought I would share.
I have been on the GAPS diet for the past 9 months. It has helped me tremendously and I feel like my body functions as well as it did 15 years ago. However, I kept hitting a wall with introducing any acidophilus type of probiotics or fermented foods. My body would flare up whenever I introduced these foods and I would experience all types of rashes, severe ear ringing, and burning lips and mouth. I even went to an allergist who ruled out everything she could (whatever that means) and told me that my skin is just having allergic reactions. I had to take cold showers for awhile because showering in warm water brought out these reactions even more.
Well I finally think I am moving on from these issues. I am sticking with the GAPS diet, but I have also started to include Diatomaceous Earth. After a few weeks of cleansing pathogens out of my body with DE, I am now able to tolerate some sauerkraut and I am slowly increasing the amount I eat. I truly think that my problem was due to pathogens in the gut. And I have read that some pathogens do not react well to Acidophilus in particular. So in case it helps anyone else, I thought I would share my story.
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experience. It’s generous of you. This is how we all learn. I admire your perseverance .
Hi Dorothy,
I just read your post, and I had to comment. I had read (cannot remember where) that there are certain species of bacteria (like acidophilus) that can generate high levels of histamine in histamine intolerant people. I cannot tolerate many probiotics.
I had also read that it might be good to try a couple of different single strains of probiotics that do not cause high levels of histamine such as bifido infantis and lactobacillus platarum. You have to make sure that there are no other strains with either of them.
I plan on trying the bifido infantis strain to see what happens. Again, this is what I read, so I cannot guarantee the accuracy of any of this, and I am not a doctor–just a person suffering greatly from so many foods that I have very little to eat. Anyway, I hope this helps.
I know I have candida and so I was using DE before all of this histamine/oxalate stuff came about…I just read your post and will now continue with the DE..I am seeing a naturopath in couple weeks. YAY-my first. During my worst reaction times, of dizziness, weakness, pain etc., brain fog, I dropped my usual routines. Also, I’ve been using TwinLab Allergy-C and Now brand Quercetin w bromelain and wondering right now if the bromelain is causing me to react to everything since i recently upped my dose, based on a positive review. This a.m. I reacted to my egg yolks, and buttercup squash with ghee and sipping chamomile tea. Throat/tongue swollen visibly swollen hard to swallow supplements currently. A week ago I reacted v badly to lowhistamine chef’s Green Goddess smoothie. Since then thinking I needed more Quercetin w bromelain.
It’s distressing when every food causes a reaction. May the naturopath be of great help to you. It’s not easy to sort out on your own what is linked to what. If you can find someone trustworthy, it’s great to have that support and guidance.
Thanks so much, Dr. Judy, for your reply. I awoke this morning to find it in my email! 🙂 I am feeling better since I stopped the quercetin with bromelain. I will look for quercetin with C (TwinLabs)- like low histamine chef suggests.
Thank you so much for the work you do. You are helping so many by sharing your story and by continuing to search and research with an open mind. I’ve read coffee and all tea are histamine liberators, yet you and others here mention drinking it? I miss my Persian black tea and would love to know what you think. Two sips of coffee give me an immediate stomach reaction and heart palpitations, but tea has been another story. Since realizing I have a histamine problem, I’ve only been drinking freshly grated turmeric (only sometimes available at MOMs or whole foods) or freshly grated ginger tea. As I write this, I’m waiting for it to cool, this time with the added gelatin, as you suggested in your recent post 🙂
I believe that many reactions are very individualized. See what works for you. You may be fine with tea. It makes sense to test things on yourself and alter your diet accordingly. Its not a good plan to unnecessarily avoid things that may be fine for you.
Judy,
Am following up from 6 months ago, when I wrote to you and you responded about taking Prescript-Assist — are you still taking it and with any success? I took it for several months and then took a break, thinking about going back again.
Have you had any success (or from readers) with itchy skin issues? Mine comes and goes — while the psoriasis I’ve had since early adulthood is definitely better on this diet (modified for my system), the itchiness continues. I am also not 100% compliant as I seem to go off the wagon with dairy from time to time or other foods that may aggravate (avocadoes or others). I did finally quit decaf and went back to green tea again.
is it possible to have awful reactions to any kind of oils on your skin…i get a horrific feeling from applying coconut oil , shea butter , etc. applied topically? i an histamine intolerant to many foods in addition. my symptoms include horrible burning sensations in my mouth and pains in my body……thank you as i hope to hear from you soon!
Hi. I have not heard of this, but obviously this is what is your experience so it is not only possible but it is happening to you! I hope that with proper diet and life style and heart/mind/body/spirit interventions that you will feel better soon!
thank you very much for your quick response…..i also should have mentioned to you that i do have a rare blood disorder called essential thrombocytosis…a high blood platelet count…i kinda feel that these weird symptoms are a result of this……however, it sure is quite an enigma treating the symptoms…….
barbara barrie your symptoms do not sound like histamine intolerance, rather google MCAD, MCAS, mastocytosis. Especially MCAS. Still to do with histamine, but the source differ as well as the treatment.
A lot of times when I touch any type of grease with my hands, whether animal or vegetable based, the side of my nose starts itching. Itching in that spot is a sort of annoying reaction I get sometimes, even when it’s just because of hayfever. I’ve never been able to figure out why grease/fats/oils trigger it. I can ingest it just fine and even use coconut oil as a moisturizer without problems most of the time though. Anyway, you’re not the only one who reacts to oils.
Thank you for writing. I never heard of that before. How strange! Its amazing that it has to do with touching and not eating the oil. Amazing.
I’ve never heard of it either. It’s the weirdest thing lol. It’s more likely to happen with animal fat. In fact, it’s almost always touching animal fat that triggers it. In fact, I cooked a whole chicken yesterday and as I picked the meat off the bones with my hands, I had the telltale itching on the side of my nose. Cooking time doesn’t seem to make a difference, but it did cook in the crock pot all day. Maybe it’s a histamine thing. Just odd it happens from touching and not eating.
Bodily wonders never cease!
I know this is a year old but I am the same with skin oils! I can not use ANY of them now. Olive oil, coconut, the one that is light and like your skin (can’t think of the name). I was using coco butter but after some antibiotics I couldn’t use that either. I don’t put anything on my skin now. Occasionally bison salve – sounds odd but it’s about all I can tolerate. But then I can barely eat any foods anymore either. I can eat wheat grass and golden apples and fresh lettuce, spinach, tiny bit of meat, tiny bit of rice, tiny bit of wild rice, and mascarpone cheese & sour cream. lol. that’s about it. Oh and water.
Hemp oil has omega 3 and omega 6. I use this as my supplement. I do not know if it is allowed on the HIT diet. I Have been gluten free for 5 years. fructose/fructan/soy/corn free (for the most part) for 9 months and still experiencing symptoms. I have also cut out dairy many different times with no results. obviously nothing processed and no food colorings or dyes.
Today is my first day of combining my previous diets with low histamine! Wish me luck!
I have never read anything one way or the other with regard to hemp. You will need to keep track of its effect upon you. We are all our best experimental subjects. I will be eager to hear your results combining your current regimen with low histamine. All the best.
Its good to read another article here on histamine intolerance. Thanks so much again for posting this information! I have discovered just recently that I have HIT too in spades with migraines, hives, rashes and many a sleepless night.
I thought I had salicylate and oxalate sensitivity, but as it turns out it is far more a case of histamine/amines. The culinary herbs for instance that I thought I could not have I now can have–if they are fresh and not dried. I agree with you about Yasmina Yekelstein’s blog The Low Histamine Chef — an amazing story and site. And now (like you) from from Yasmina I discovered many fresh culinary herbs are actually healing anti histamines too!
A little over a year ago I made and ate my own sauerkraut for two months–and after that I became far more reactive to amines then I ever was before. I just didn’t realize it was also in many other things besides food that wasn’t absolutely fresh. I too suffer from migraines and have since I was 18. I also have celiac that was unrecognized for many years (I thought I just had a wheat “allergy”!) which no doubt exacerbated all this mightily.
Taking extra vitamin C is helping me, and if I had true oxalate sensitivity it seems like it would not–since vitamin C can convert into oxalates. Time and experimentation will tell. I still take extra calcium before I eat legumes since they are so high in oxalates. And I find if I don’t, my joints suffer a few hours later…so it is hard to tell some of these things exactly.
I do agree its too bad most doctors and mental and other health workers are not up on food sensitivities here in the States. I am so glad to find you are an exception to that rule. As it is, I am teaching my TCM/Naturopath/Homeopathic doctor about a lot of these various food sensitivities–while he adds in his own considerable expertise.
And yes by the way, for me I can no longer tolerate fish oil. So instead I have two heaping tablespoons of fresh flax which I grind in my little nut grinder and put on my breakfast rice and very fresh plain organic yogurt in the morning and yogurt and chopped apple at night for the Omega 3’s my body needs. My doc. says I should take the flax seed the first half the month (according to the New Moon) and take evening primrose oil the following two weeks (for the Waning Moon) since I am post menopausal.
I also take Histame (for the diamine oxidase which helps counteract histamine) whenever I eat eggs or some fresh chicken I have frozen and heated up in the dreaded but less amine producing microwave… LOL! I am laughing since I always hated microwaves previously!
Thanks again–I love your site!
Bea
Dear Bea,
What a wonderful comment you took the time to write! There is so much interesting information in what you wrote. I am fascinated about the timing issue of the moon phase with flax seed and evening primrose oil. I believe that there must be many things that are like this, but in our culture we are so out of touch with rhythms and phases of the planets and seasons which inevitably to my mind, have a powerful effect upon us. What happens when you have fish oil?
I was also fascinated by what you wrote about taking Calcium before eating legumes. These kinds of associations gained through personal experience and experimentation are so important and potentially useful to others.
I have never tried Histame. But I maybe will order some. I cannot eat eggs either but maybe I could once in awhile if I took Histame along with it.
Please keep me posted about any new discoveries.
Dear Judy,
I am glad to hear you found my comments of interest, and of possible help to you!
I just made another discovery — cats claw (uncaria tomentosa) has antihistamine properties, sufficient to significantly counteract arthritic inflammation. I am already experiencing this after taking it just two days. I am also experiencing less nasal congestion.
I am also looking into various protocols against parasites, since it appears they are quite common and often contribute to food sensitivities, of which I have many. Apparently many members of the AMA do not consider parasites to be a problem in the US, however the truth is many of us have been exposed to them. Plus it is often very easy to get them. Just going out fishing and getting mosquito bites for instance can be a problem, plus drinking well water, having pets, even shaking an infected person’s hand etc., especially if you have an already weakened system.
I am thus also now taking dandelion root and wormwood, and am considering taking a tea of black walnut hulls and leaves (I can gather some near here, it being Fall) as well as ginger and perhaps some cloves (assuming cloves are OK antihistamine wise) to kill off any possible eggs.
The cats claw is also good against microbial parasites as well as a host of other conditions.
Meanwhile I have discovered its fine for me to have dried herbs again!! I am thus enjoying the delights of using some of my old dried basil and tarragon from a garden we had three years ago. I add in some fresh rosemary, red or green onion and garlic, and it makes a wonderful tasting addition to many a meal.
I discovered that by taking the Histame with the eggs, I no longer have to have them quite as fresh as I did a year ago. It used to be I could only tolerate eggs laid within 10 days of my eating them. Now I seem to tolerate organic free range eggs that are up to 3 weeks old. Again however I do still need to have the Histame with them. Its also important to remember not to cook them one day and eat them the next, due to too much histamine accumulating overnight.
My ability to tolerate fresh chicken has also increased. I still have to buy it within two days of slaughter, and then remove the skin, boil and freeze that same day. However it seems I now can tolerate the chicken being frozen a bit longer, now up to two weeks rather than just one week. I usually keep the stock its boiled in and freeze that too, and make a soup out of that and the bonier parts of the chicken. I save the heart, wings and liver for my cats since the organs are higher in histamine plus the wings are hard to de-skin.
Interestingly, what with the increased use of herbs (which make my vegetarian meals a lot tastier), I am less motivated to go buy chicken, and sometimes forgo it in a busy week due to the work of preparation etc.
I have meanwhile noticed my migraines are finally becoming less and less. I believe a good part of this is definitely due to decreased amines in my diet plus walking and doing yoga as an almost daily practice — as well as completely avoiding all gluten from the wheat family.
Just to comment, I believe that the GAPS diet, whereas very powerful and healing for many, just is not in the cards for someone like me. It was after all my decision to push the envelope and try out making and eating home made sauerkraut that pushed me over the edge a year and a half ago. I believe I had this sensitivity all along, however it got way worse as a result of my mini GAPS experiment.
I just thank the gods my fiancee and I can and do tolerate very fresh organic European style yogurt, since many with increased histamine intolerance can’t. My fiancee and I just have to make sure we eat the entire container within 3 days of opening it and we are fine with the yogurt (my fiancee has histamine sensitivity too). The yogurt in fact has become a staple in our diet since we often add it as a condiment to our yellow split pea as well as navy bean and lima bean dishes, as well as to many of our fresh vegetables. It acts as a kind of tasty sauce, especially with the addition of some garlic and olive oil.
At some point I hope to try out having colored beans and purple cabbage again without getting a migraine from the colors (figure that, eh?). Possibly by doing this cats claw regularly, as well as the anti parasite program occasionally, I will finally be able to expand my diet on that front too.
What a fabulously informative e-mail! Thank you for taking the time to write at such length and in such detail. Very helpful. I understand that we all have parasites, and its likely that some of them perform very useful functions. Thanks for mentioning cats claw. That had slipped off of my radar and I am glad to be reminded of it. Its wonderful that you are doing better and can tolerate so many more foods.
First I want to give a big ‘Thank You’ to Dr.Tsafrir for these great blogs on Histamine.
Bea Garth I really appreciated and enjoyed your posts here.
My chronic pain, for 9 months now, I believe to be Silent Acid Reflux and I think is from Histamine Intolerance. Long history but am Hypothyroid and have a history of Gluten, Nightshade and caffeine sensitivities. Been off these for years and have been eating Vegetarian, then Vegan, and now more Paleo.
Not that testing and eliminating food isn’t hard enough to do, I’ve now turned my attention to supplement questions. I found your comments by googling “can omegas from fish oil cause histamine issues”.
I have turntables, suitcases, drawers and cabinets full of supplements I have taken, or thought I might need. Some I’ve been taking for over 30 years. While I’ve been big on supplements, I really want to be well on just ‘quality’ organic (or low spray), seasonal, local, real food plus common sense things like, laughter, sunlight, exercise, breathing exercises, pure water, handling stress and deep sleep and some uncommon things like eliminating environmental toxins and lowering EMF’s around me.
If only this was easier and I did not have so many pains.
I read one comment on the Candida Forum that Histamine Intolerance inflicted folks are prone to be “thinkers” and I can certainly relate to that as I feel like I am an over thinker.
Anyway, lately each supplement bottle I have and consider taking I wonder about whether or not it is making my Silent Acid Reflux/ Histamine Intolerance and abdominal pain worse or better, is it a high histamine or worse a liberating histamine substance. I hate buying supplements or products that contain magnesium stearate, carrageenan or other additives and fillers that I don’t trust. I even changed my dessicated thyroid prescription from Armour to Naturethroid to WP Thyroid hoping for more agreeable fillers.
I have a new health friend who has been diagnosed with mast cell activation disease and we compare notes on all this and we are considering, well at least I am considering, doing Joe Cross’s Reboot Juice Fast he told about in his documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. He had chronic urticaria an autoimmune condition and was ‘cured ‘of it by juice fasting. I did juice fasting in 2011 for 17 days and I believe it helped me heal the ulcer symptoms I had had for the year prior. I am considering doing a 17 to 21 day again can report back to see the result. You sound like you have a handle on and good support for what you are trying but if interested look up
Joe Cross Reboot juice fast
http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/
I plan to do his juice recipes but I might some green smoothies w/o bananas for breakfast– (as taught by Green for Life author Victoria Boutenko http://www.rawfamily.com/ )- My friend may not do the fast because of the weight loss aspect I believe that juice fasting is very curative. And now that I can no longer take “raise the dead’ bone broth as a cure all veggie juice seems like it is a great choice.
You can rent Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix or watch it free online . I think it is 1 hour and 37 minutes and it is very entertaining and inspiring- He healed himself and helped so many others …
http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/watch-fat-sick-and-nearly-dead/
And there is a new sequel –Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead II documentary that is to previewed at selected theaters across the United States on Sept 18, 2014.
Plus Joe Cross did a very good segment on the Dr. Oz show last year
http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/new-3-day-juice-cleanse
I take the Histame product some but not at all sure if that is really helping or not.
Also wondering about cleaning with White Vinegar? – I use it for almost all my laundry and cleaning.
I also take Apple Cider Vinegar, DGL and L-glutamine when my pain is at its worst. The ACV and the DGL usually work right away and the L-Glutamine gives me a healing internal drawing feeling like a wound healing up.
It has been a year since most of the posts on here and if you even see this I am hoping that you all might have ideas to share.
Histamine study is new to me for only two months and I have many more questions than I have answers.
Health is of interest to me to support for my true passion, an even deeper study The Protocol Plan of God for my life.
I pray for spiritual and physical health for all who might read this.
Thank you for taking the time to write this helpful comment. I am sorry to hear about how much you have been through. I plan to look at the Joe Cross videos you mentioned. I have not heard good things about Histame as a regular supplement. It’s my understanding that it maybe useful in the case of the occasional excessive Histamine ingestion, like if someone drank some beers, but as a regular supplement, its not that effective and in addition is quite expensive. I do believe that a great deal of food sensitivities and auto-immune dysregulation is from stress and equal attention to mind/body/heart/spirit is the most effective approach. And in terms of the body, whatever can be done to rebalance the microflora in the gut in order to ultimately heal and seal the intestinal lining, is at the heart of the matter.
Yes Judy,
I am with you about Stress and the Brain Gut connections. Health is a mind/body/heart/spirit operation. I so appreciate your perspective.
I do not want to lean on Histame but I am new to all this and having been using it more than I want too. I also have a Gene defect that may contribute to my DOA lack.
The Standard Process product Antronex was recommended to me as being the best antihistamine to take for Histamine. Do you know of it? I took one tablet and it worked at once to dislodge some phlegm. But it also resulted in mild dizziness for the four days following so I stopped it. I will try it again with only 1/2 tablet. I do not notice congestion or sinus symptoms but the acid reflux symptoms are silent. Overall I feel dry not wet.
That reminds me I am also doing a water cure involves just drinking 1 liter of quality water first thing in the morning and eating nothing before or after for 1 hours and I think this has been helping me. Only I did not feel so good the first two days.
I also believe in chewing my water and drinking my food. And I like the idea of taking bitters or eating bitter lettuces instead of taking enzymes. But a DO put me on Enzyme Solutions Formula 32 and I was without pain for 4 days. Then on day five I had a family emergency that brought my symptoms back so theres the mind body connection!
I am also interested in Gastrazyme by Biotics Research but don’t like anything with Magnesium Stearates in them. There is my allopathic side wanting to take a pill and get better. I am about 50% allopathic and 50% holistic and you know a house divided might not more forward for infighting. Finding sources of information and people who are using both allopathic and holistic teamwork I believe is ideal and healing.
Any comments back very appreciated!
I would favor Juice recipes for medicine and instead of supplements but need to know more about that.
I have never heard anything good about taking anti-histamines. I believe its better to heal the gut through a nutrient dense anti-inflammatory diet as well as to try and limit the histamine content in foods, rather than taking an anti-histamine as a supplement.
I am not defending antihistamines but that Standard Process product Antronex is not your run of the mill over the counter antihistamine. Not sure the fillers will even agree with me. I just do not know enough yet! Will keep seeking.
Last night I found and I am enjoying your blog! Discovered GAPS and nutrition over the last year when I had the opportunity to stay home with my kids. My husband and I (both MDs) have been shocked, appalled, and thoroughly amazed at what changing our diet has done for each of us. Patients deserve this information. Thanks for staying in the trenches!
Thank you for taking the time to write this supportive message. I resonate with all of the feeling states that you describe about the ignorance of most MD’s about the impact of diet on mental and physical health. Patients do deserve this information. I am always happy when I hear of MDs like you and your husband who get it. If you are so inclined I am always interested to hear what people have experienced. What dietary changes were made and how have they impacted you?
I am adhering to GAPS, and my family follows along by default (although not as strictly). We found it necessary to eliminate dairy, although one daughter (7) has had success occasionally eating dairy now after being on the diet ten months. We have seen cough variant asthma, chronic lifelong constipation, severe allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, keratoconjuctivitis sicca (dry eyes for non-medical readers), tension headaches (although we no longer suspect they’re related to tension anymore), and many more issues fall by the wayside. Multiple prescriptions gone! We have discovered that food also plays a role in one daughter’s (9) ability to focus and concentrate. When I want to throw our new diet out the door, my husband stops me and points out all of our successes. Dietary change is hard, and I can see why it is super hard for patients and doctors to tackle. It requires a lot of time and patience. We will continue our plan; I’m very curious to see if my husband and I will be able to add back in dairy. Look forward to following along with your blog! Love it!
Thanks for taking the time to let me know what conditions have improved with the GAPS healing protocol. It’s impressive and encouraging. You are so right that dietary change is super challenging. Many people have adverse reactions to many foods. It sounds like the only thing you have had to avoid is dairy. That is a blessing. and as you say, you may be able to add it back in.
Dr. Natasha has a protocol for reintroducing dairy. Are you familiar with it?
Here is some info from Dr. NCM approach to reintroducing dairy:
INTRODUCING DAIRY OTHER THAN GHEE ON THE INTRODUCTORY DIET
On the Introductory diet ghee is permissible from the very beginning.
Before introducing dairy other than ghee, do a sensitivity test; rub a small amount of whey on the inside of the wrist before going to bed. If there is no redness in the AM, the food is likely to be well tolerated.
If there is no reaction to whey on the sensitivity test, add 1 teaspoon of whey to the soup or meat stock per day. After 3-5 days increase to 2 teaspoons a day, until ½ cup a day is being consumed with meals. At this stage add 1 teaspoon homemade yoghurt, gradually increasing the daily amount. After yoghurt introduce homemade kefir. Kefir is far more aggressive than yoghurt and usually creates a more pronounced “die-off” reaction. If there was no ill effect from yoghurt, kefir may be able to be introduced from the beginning.
In cases of constipation, higher fat dairy products like soured cream may be better tolerated than high protein dairy products like yoghurt and kefir. A GAPS milkshake, consisting of juice, egg yolk and sour cream is recommended from the early stages of the Introductory Diet.
INTRODUCING DAIRY ON THE FULL GAPS DIET
Avoid all dairy products for a minimum of 4 weeks.
All dairy products should be gradually introduced starting with 1 teaspoon for a few days and slowly increasing. If any negative response is observed, the individual is not ready for that particular dairy product and it should be avoided until additional healing has taken place.
Step 1 – Introduce organic unsalted ghee
Step 2 – Introduce organic unsalted butter
Step 3 – Introduce homemade kefir, yogurt and fermented cream
Step 4 – Introduce homemade cheese
Step 5 – Introduce mature traditional cheese
Step 6 – Introduce double cream and clotted cream
Avoid all milk and milk substitutes.
I’m experimenting with probiotics too, but I have to add one strain at a time because I don’t do well with the multi-strains.
And ibuprofen TOTALLY set me off…I find I tolerate tylenol if I must take something of that sort, but I do try to avoid them…
BUT…quercetin really helps with any inflammation and most pain is caused by inflammation…so I use quercetin as needed now…rather than as a regular supplement since I don’t do well with pretty much any supplement on a daily basis these days…in any case quercetin totally cuts pain for me…!!
Twinlab brand is really great…it’s hypo-allergenic…I reacted to one brand of quercetin that had citrus in it…
There is a company Custom Probiotics, that will tailor the strains according to your specifications. I have heard about quercetin before, thanks for mentioning it.
Really helpful to hear more about how quercetin has helped you — I am finding that too. I’ve tried the Now brand with bromelain, but am wondering if one without bromelain might be better, so am trying out the Pure Encapsulations brand of pure quercetin.
My mother had “migratory myositis” like Sandra’s. Her wrists and forearms would swell painfully. The MDs told her to take aspirin and if that didn’t work, they’d use antibiotics. The aspirin only made things much worse. And I did not want to give her antibiotics. Then a holistic practitioner told us about rutin, and sure enough, the swelling quickly went away and stayed away. I’m offering this experience because I think that quercitin and rutin are bioflavonoids, aren’t they? It’s amazing what these natural substances can do.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with your mother. Conventional medical practitioners do not know what to do with conditions like this. I was not aware of rutin, and am glad to know about it. I am sure that it will be of use to others as well. We all need to share our experiences for this reason.
I was thinking about your comment. Did your mother do nothing differently with her diet except to add Rutin?
Thanks so much for the reply — much appreciated. Good to hear you are trying out Prescript-Assist and it’s working so far — I really notice a difference taking it, so I think I’ll continue with it for now and see what happens.
In case it’s helpful, here are the ingredients of the Apex Strengtia formula, which I see now has a trace of dairy in it, which can be problematic for some:
Proprietary Probiotic Blend (30 Billion)
—DDS-1 Lactobacillus Acidophilus
—Saccharomyces Boulardii
—Bacillus Coagulans
Arabinogalactan 125mg
Other Ingredients: vegetable capsule (HPMC), vegetable cellulose.
Contains NO: wheat, gluten, gliadin, soy, egg, artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives or fillers. May contain traces of dairy protein (less than 0.5ppm).
And thanks for the response about NSAIDs — I do not like to take them but have with the headache issue — hopefully things will continue to improve on this going forward.
One other question (and I know it’s an individual situation) — do you do okay with lemons? It’s one thing in my diet I love (lemon in hot water with stevia drops) but is on the HIT list as a possible trigger. I gave up green tea and black tea (all caffeine except occasional organic decaf) as an experiment and that has really helped. Maybe reducing the overall load is what is helping the most.
Thanks again for your great information, and I look forward to staying in touch.
Its really a tricky question about specific foods, unless you identify a particular trigger like spinach and avocados for you, and its clear that you are better off avoiding them. Since it seems generally to have to do with overall histamine load, maybe lemons are something that might add a bit, but its worth it, because you love them. I seem to be fine with them. I love blue cheese, but that is so obviously off the charts in terms of histamine content, that for now I am avoiding it. I don’t think lemons have such a high level, and you also probably don’t eat an entire lemon.
Thanks for letting me know about the Apex Strengtia formula. What difference is the Prescript-Assist making for you?
So true about how individual this all is — we really have to just try things out and see how it goes. The Prescript-Assist seemed to help right away with my stomach issues, and it may be a coincidence with all the other changes, but it sure seems like my headaches have most been gone since I started on it — something has definitely changed. Have you noticed anything since starting it? And what made you want to try that product? (for me it was Chris Kresser’s article, research, and experience with it).
For me to it was also based upon Chris Kresser’s recommendation. Previously I was taking Primal Defense, and believe that it was possibly giving me a headache, I’m not sure. I have no headaches and I think that I am a bit less constipated. I am planning to increase the dosage over time and see how I do. So far I am only taking one tablet.
Interesting about the headaches — I wonder if my previous probiotics were aggravating too. Same here on the Prescript-Assist and constipation — much better. Am looking forward to hearing more how things go for you and your readers here.
I really appreciate your blog and your perspective about histamine intolerance.
I was wondering if you have had good experience or read about using a particular probiotic, since some can aggravate? I am curious about which ones people have good experiences with.
Chris Kresser recommends the Prescript-Assist formula, and I’ve tried one bottle of that, which has been good, and my naturopath recommends Apex Strengtia, but I haven’t tried that one or know how it fits into the histamine picture.
I’m still experimenting with all this, but I was having debilitating headaches until I read a post on Chris Kresser’s website about histamine intolerance and I tried eliminating a few foods at a time. Never realized avocados or spinach could be such a trigger for me, so it’s been illuminating. Headaches are definitely better, so we’ll see as time goes on.
Thank you for writing. I am so glad to hear that my blog has been useful to you.
I am also experimenting with probiotics. I also heard Chris Kresser recommend Prescript-Assist. He said he had good results with it treating constipation. I just started taking it last week, and I think that it agrees with me. I don’t know about its profile in terms of histamine production. I heard that the bacteria L. Plantarum was associated with histamine release and should be avoided. I am not familiar with Apex Strengtia. I think the bottom line is that it’s a matter of testing things out on your own system.
Its really terrific that you have been able to identify avocado and spinach as triggers for your headaches. That is a big help. I just learned that aspirin and NSAIDs can be histamine release triggers. It puts you between a rock and a hard place in terms of treating your headaches.
Please continue to write as you discover more. There is so much for us to learn from one another.
Also meant to ask about fish oil — are you able to tolerate that or have any further information?
I’ve been experimenting with that too (have tried both Carlson’s cod liver oil capsules and liquid, and Green Pastures fermented, but not sure about fermented products now with the HIT issue).
I use Carlson’s brand as well, the liquid variety. It seems fine. I have been worried about the Green Pastures fermented variety and have not been using it. But truth be told, I think it tastes so bad, that I very often did not take it before I was worried about histamine intolerance.
I can’t manage any sort of omega 3 supplement and it’s worrying to me. I did used to take both carlsons and green pastures before I discovered the histamine intolerance
Even the vegan kinds of omega 3 supps have soy tocopherols in them and I react to that too…
I’m hoping some of this calms down and I’ll gain greater tolerance.
Oh, I can have flax seed oil and hemp oil, but I’m well aware they’re not as dense…the denser omega three oils made for vegans etc all have soy…what is up with that?
It’s weird learning about vegan stuff by necessity having been paleo for so long but also very interesting…
I would definitely not recommend prescript-assist. I stopped after reading this http://fixyourgut.com/digestive-health/hso/ and felt a lot better. L. Plantarum is a pre or probiotic wich does not cause histamine increase. I suffered in 2010-2012 from two parasites dientamoeba fragilis and blastocystis hominis from eating raw meat in Istanbul (lost 12 kg!, you have to doctor yourself). Finally got cured by special antibiotics which I could get from Netherlands and Italy (where I currently live). However this lead to other gut problems like SIBO (self diagnosis). Did a special diet starting 2013 with all kinds of recommended vitamins and prescripst-assist. Felt a lot better initially in 2014. However my gut problems persisted and I did some special stool tests. Luckily no parasites. A Chinese doctor prescribed special herb tea that worked really well. End of 2014 I suffered a very severe case of fish poisoning eating sushi. Since then my situation worsened despite taking magnesium chelate, vit D3 2400 IU, kefir, fermented vegs and eating very very healthy. Did a blood test in january 2015 (kind of general check) in Italy my new home, everything ok, only was low on vit D and got a big shot. In June I suddenly developed an extreme photo dermatitis, I could not tolerate any sun or even light whatsoever – developing extreme eczema after couple of hours of any exposure. Had to stay all day inside the whole summer 2015. Dermatologists only prescribed corticosteroids and prednison, wich I very reluctantly took with no improvement except for a week. I did a densimetro test in Septembre and was found to have osteoporosis (I am 62 now). Started to take Doctor’s best Calcium bonemaker complex and astaxanthine. And lots of reishi and other mushroom extracts. It was only after I read somewhere that there might be a connection with histamine intolerance that I suddenly saw a way out of this misery. I started a histamine low diet cutting also mushroom extracts end of 2015. That seemed to work. I can now go out and work in my garden each day. I take sometimes DAO but unfortunately that does not help a lot. I can tolerate white wine not red. After reading all posts above, I decided to stop all vitamins for a while, starting today (March 2016). Only astaxanthine will stay. And I will start with L. Plantarum, bifido infantis, cat’s claw maybe. I run every week and work like hell in my 4 acres forest garden (permaculture). I used to eat everything although I do suffer from atopic eczema all my life. Some do believe that eczema is also related to histamine intolerance btw. So thank you all for your insightful comments. I hope you all do much better now in 2016.
Cheers for now, Annemiek