What is Histamine Intolerance?
Histamine intolerance occurs when there's an imbalance between the accumulation of histamine in the body and the ability to break it down. Histamine is a natural compound involved in immune responses, digestion, and the central nervous system. When histamine levels get too high or your body cannot break it down efficiently, it can lead to various symptoms. This condition is often linked with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), where mast cells release excessive histamine, causing a range of issues.
How Histamine Intolerance Causes Symptoms
Histamine intolerance can cause a wide variety of symptoms that often make it difficult to diagnose. These symptoms include:
Gastrointestinal issues like bloating, reflux, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain
Skin reactions such as hives, itching, and flushing
Respiratory symptoms like nasal congestion and difficulty breathing
POTS is often associated with histamine intolerance
Postural hypotension
You may see stars when showering or going from hot to cold
You may experience migraines or headaches with temperature changes
You may feel better when taking anti-histamine for sleep concerns
Neurological symptoms including headaches, dizziness, and anxiety
Histamine intolerance can also magnify conditions like anxiety, depression, ADHD, and PMDD, particularly in women. You may notice your symptoms are worse around ovulation and/or in the week leading up to your period which is when oestrogen peaks, oestrogen is a stimulator of histamine.
It’s essential to understand these symptoms to seek appropriate treatment.
Why You Have a Histamine Intolerance
Many things can trigger off a histamine intolerance such as:
- Being hypermobile
- Mould exposure
- Viral exposures in particular CVD
- Poor gut health, many gut bugs can make histamine
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which impacts the ability of your body to make DAO which is the enzyme needed to make histamine
- High oestrogen and low progesterone
Treatment and Testing for Histamine Intolerance
Treating histamine intolerance involves a multifaceted approach:
Dietary Changes: Avoid high-histamine foods such as fermented foods, aged cheeses, alcohol, bone broth, beans, chocolate, citrus fruits, avocadoes, papaya, kiwi fruit, shellfish and processed meats. Instead, focus on fresh, whole foods.
Supplements and Herbs: Certain supplements like vitamin C, SAMe, ginger, nettle, quercetin, and DAO (diamine oxidase) can help reduce histamine levels.
Pharmaceuticals: Initially, antihistamines may be used to control symptoms.
Stress Management: As MCAS is often described as an "allergy to stress," managing stress through techniques like meditation and gentle exercise is crucial. Testing for histamine intolerance often involves measuring histamine in the blood. The test you need to ask for “Whole Blood Histamine” and the levels you are looking for you between 0.4-0.55. Anything around 1.0, starts to flag an issue for me.
Watching Symptoms: To the above, you can just start monitoring your histamine levels and see if this helps with your symptoms or start with keeping a detailed food and symptom diary can help identify triggers.
Remember it takes 3 months to clear histamines but ongoing management, understanding triggers and why it started in the first place will bring you much needed relief.
Much Love,
Megan
