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Low histamine - how strict?

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Posted 10/7/2020 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
Heyo,
So I've been thinking that my skin symptoms are actually probably MCAS caused by bartonella, as I have dermatografia (scratch on skin causes red streak which disappears in few mins), weird papular/web-ish rash that changes in redness/visibility almost constantly, but baseline still well visible. Hot environment usually makes it more noticeable.

I'm now starting a low-histamine diet with antihistamines to see if it makes an effect.

Now here's the thing: I heard that even exercise releases histamine. Do I really need to limit that? I'm already stopping lemon detox for this test so exercise is really the only thing that keeps me feeling like a person.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Posted 10/7/2020 10:43 PM (GMT 0)
Everyone's worst triggers for MCAS are different. I can eat a pile of tomatoes and lemons and be fine, but a sip of kombucha flares my MCAS terribly.

They also vary in intensity based on your overall histamine load. When your overall histamine load is low, then you might not react to a trigger. But when little triggers build up, then you will be more likely to react. Like if the weather is mild, I have very little stress, my diet has been very low-histamine, the ambient air is free of allergens and toxins - I can take a hot shower and be fine. However, if I take a hot shower when I am stressed, have been active, just ate a medium-histamine meal, and am sneezing from pollen - then I'm going to be pretty messed up by a hot shower.

So do you ned to limit exercise? Might be a good idea to limit at least cardio exercise while you figure some things out. Eliminating as many triggers as possible for a while can be helpful to get your body to a calmer mast cell baseline. Do what you can, though. If exercise is how you manage anxiety, for example, then it might not be something to reduce unless you have to.
Posted 10/8/2020 10:03 AM (GMT 0)

saraeli said...
Everyone's worst triggers for MCAS are different. I can eat a pile of tomatoes and lemons and be fine, but a sip of kombucha flares my MCAS terribly.

They also vary in intensity based on your overall histamine load. When your overall histamine load is low, then you might not react to a trigger. But when little triggers build up, then you will be more likely to react. Like if the weather is mild, I have very little stress, my diet has been very low-histamine, the ambient air is free of allergens and toxins - I can take a hot shower and be fine. However, if I take a hot shower when I am stressed, have been active, just ate a medium-histamine meal, and am sneezing from pollen - then I'm going to be pretty messed up by a hot shower.

So do you ned to limit exercise? Might be a good idea to limit at least cardio exercise while you figure some things out. Eliminating as many triggers as possible for a while can be helpful to get your body to a calmer mast cell baseline. Do what you can, though. If exercise is how you manage anxiety, for example, then it might not be something to reduce unless you have to.

Thanks a lot for the informative reply, very helpful!
Yeah, makes sense that accumulating histamine is the problem.

Wish it was easier to identify if it's a certain trigger. My symptoms are there pretty much all the time and they don't really "flare" with any foods etc., only temp. changes make them more visible.

I've had cold urticaria in childhood before this infection mess, so maybe I had a vulnerability already.

How long did you need to keep avoiding triggers to notice any change?

Thanks again!
Posted 10/8/2020 2:26 PM (GMT 0)
When I discovered I had MCAS, I had been eating a lot of fermented foods every day, including starting every day with glorious kombucha, so I was "histamined" pretty much all the time except when I first woke up. I noticed a difference right away when I stopped eating fermented foods and started taking curcumin and quercetin. Low-grade symptoms will creep in when I ease up on the dietary restrictions, do too much, am under stress, have hot weather, and/or experience environmental irritants or allergens.

That said, a close friend with life-long low-grade MCAS (and no Lyme) got poison ivy once and was in a crazy MCAS flare for several weeks. For a month, she could not eat or drink anything, including water, without immediately breaking out in hives and falling asleep.

If you are in a severe flare, then I'd say it will take a few weeks of complete avoidance to feel better. If not, then it could be fairly quick.
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