24 Symptoms - Do You Have Histamine Intolerance?
Histamine Intolerance?
Hey you guys, today I will share 24 signs & symptoms of histamine intolerance and how I just recently found out that I even already as a child had symptoms for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome or Histamine Intolerance!
Check also my YouTube Video on this! :)
First of all -
what is the difference between Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Mastocytosis and Histamine Intolerance?
Histamine and other inflammatory elements are contained within a mast cell, which are in many locations in your body. The mast cells then release these inflammatory elements as needed by the body to fight infection, to help wound healing or to fight any other substance the body sees as an invader. The problem arises in some people when we either have too many mast cells or mast cells are just leaking too many of these inflammatory molecules into the body and wreaking havoc in our system.
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) happens when immune cells called mast cells are over-reactive, sending out too much histamine and other inflammatory elements.
Mastocytosis involves inappropriate mast cell activation AS WELL AS an increased number of mast cells.
Histamine Intolerance is when your body has too much histamine. There are 4 major pathways in the body that breakdown histamine. The 2 primary are Diamine Oxidase (DAO) and Histamine N-Methyltransferase (HNMT) - also called methylation. The lesser known 2 pathways are through Acetylation, a detox pathway and hydroxylase. Most people with histamine intolerance have difficulties to break down histamine, which results in too much histamine in the body and therefore the symptoms I am gonna talk about below.
In case you struggle with histamine intolerance and you would like help - check out my free guide “3 Steps to Master Your Histamine Intolerance”.
So now… to explain why the symptoms can vary so much, I will dive a little deeper into the question :
What exactly does histamine do in our body?
Mast cells are found in tissue, in particular in epidermal cells of the skin, in histamine-storing cells of the mucous membranes, in bronchial tubes, the gastro-intestinal system and the brain. The highest histamine concentrations can actually be measured in the Hypothalamus.
In our body, histamine fulfills various functions as tissue hormone, neurotransmitter and messenger substance. At a molecular level, histamine exerts its actions via an activation of histamine receptors H1, H2, H3 and H4. Histamine acts then by binding to target receptors.
An activation of H1 receptors is primarily responsible for the allergy symptoms triggered by histamine. These include itching and pain with hives and flush. In the central nervous system, histamine is involved in triggering vomiting and the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle via an activation of H1 receptors. H1 receptors also play a part in regulating the release of hormones such as adrenaline. Histamine is a messenger substance active in inflammatory processes and burns, and furthermore boosts the release of additional inflammatory mediators. Besides, it seems to play a part in the regulation of body temperature, the central control of blood pressure and pain perception.
H2 receptors are involved in the regulation of gastric acid production and bowel movements. An increase of gastric acid production may be interpreted as a component of histamine-induced immune reaction. A rapid transport of the intestinal contents leads to diarrhea and may also be seen as an immune response. A stimulation of H2 receptors also leads to an accelerated or stronger heart beat as well as dilation of smaller blood vessels.
The H3 receptors are primarily found on cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems. Via H2 receptors, histamine has a regulatory influence on noradrenergic, serotoninergic, cholinergic, dopaminergic and glutaminergic neurons by blocking the release of neurotransmitters in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Thus it inhibits the release of the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, noradrenalin and serotonin as heteroreceptor. In this way, histamine influences indirectly the activity of these neurotransmitters. Through these mechanisms, the H3 receptors play a role in the central regulation of hunger and thirst, the circadian rhythm, body temperature and blood pressure. Furthermore, these receptors are said to be directly or indirectly implicated in the pathophysiology of neurological pain, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and ADHS.
H4 receptors are involved in the targeted migration of immune cells to sources of histamine. This is why it is assumed that these receptors play an important role in the recruitment of leukocytes during immune responses, in particular in allergic reactions.
As you can see, Histamine is involved in various body functions and therefore the symptoms can be very very confusion. There are hundreds of different symptoms and therefore, I will now focus on the symptoms that were the most remarkable for me.
SYMPTOMS
To make it a little easier for you to follow, I put them into categories. Before I go on - remember: everyone is different, and what applies to me, may not apply to you.
General
Heart
Lungs + respiratory
Digestion
Hormones
Brain + nervous system
Skin
GENERAL:
When I first had the feeling there was something wrong with my body, I was just overall not feeling well, I was very tired, I had fatigue and I just felt like there was something wrong with my body. Also, I started to feel cold all the time, had chills and sometimes, especially at night, was sweating like crazy. As we have learned, these symptoms go along with an H1 receptor activation, as these seems to play a part in the regulation of body temperature.
HEART:
Then what I experienced, was heart palpitation and heart racing, especially directly after food and/ or when I wanted to sleep. There were countless times when I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn’t, because my heart was pounding like crazy. As we have learned, these symptoms are triggered by a stimulation of H2 receptors, as this leads to an accelerated or stronger heart beat.
LUNGS + RESPIRATORY:
Going over to lungs and respiratory. This was one of the most annoying symptoms on earth and I had to use nasal spray all the time at night, just to be able to breathe. My nose was totally congested. ALL THE TIME, Sometimes more, sometimes less and mostly at night. This symptom even stayed when I switched to an anti inflammatory and anti histamine diet and I could only get rid of it when I switched to a raw vegan diet.
This symptom is triggered by histamine docking to H1 receptors, because it is primarily responsible for the allergy symptoms triggered by histamine.
DIGESTION:
As histamine is heavily involved in our digestion, we can have many symptoms in that area. One I had very often, especially when eating really high histamine food is nausea, as well as diarrhea and / or constipation. One other symptom was having heartburn. As we have learned, H2 receptors are involved in the regulation of gastric acid production and bowel movements. Therefore, it can easily happen that we have either too much or too low stomach acid. With stomach acid, it is very important though, that we find out whether it is too high or too low (for example with the baking soda test), before we dive into something like H2 receptor blockers or stomach acid blockers. Having enough stomach acid is VERY VERY important. Our stomach acid protects us from all kinds of bacteria, viruses, and pathogens. When I had stomach cramps from an inflamed stomach, and the doctor gave me stomach acid blockers, I luckily said - HELL NO THANKS! Because that would have made everything worse. Instead, I started to drink flax seed slime to heal my gut lining. YES you heard right. Flax seed slime. ;) It worked wonders, and soon my stomach was healed. Now I do take lemon water every day on an empty stomach to enhance my stomach acid.
HORMONES:
One common symptom is PMS and hormonal imbalances. Histamine intolerance can be triggered by for example estrogen dominance alone. What I also experienced was aggressiveness and huffiness. Yes, my boyfriends had a really hard time with me. ;) And another symptom is sleep disorder. Still, when I have histamine symptoms, I just cannot sleep in at night, which is a very annoying symptoms. Here H3 and H1 receptors come into play, as they do influence neurotransmitters, hormones and the circadian rhythm.
BRAIN + NERVOUS SYSTEM:
This one is a big one. I had many symptoms in this area.
Migraines
Brain fog
Forgetfulness
Feeling of hopelessness and being in a funk
Sensitivity to smells / light (smoke, cleaning products, perfume, candles)
Restless legs
Difficulty to concentrate
Short term memory issues
Trouble with attention
I guess this is H1 receptors but I am not 100% sure myself.
The next one is a very very big one too, and this is where I just realized recently I already had histamine or mast cell issues as a little kid:
SKIN:
I remember when I already had very itchy skin when I was little, that was triggered by a Nickel allergy - I would have allergies to my earrings - I guess they were not all Nickel free yet when I was little and I’d have an allergy on my pans buttons. Now I only wear gold and silver earrings and I guess buttons are just not made of nickel anymore.
I already always had a very high sensitivity against stitches or bug bites - bug or flea bites would swell cup like crazy. I remember me having humongous sizes of bites instead of other people who would have them in tiny sizes. We had chickens at home and I would easily get flea bites. They would swell up like crazy, too. And I still am very sensitive to any kind of bug or mosquito or whatsoever bite.
Then - clothing. Wool, tags on clothes would itch like crazy, and chemical laundry detergent. Not that I know I was sensitive to especially laundry detergent when I was little, but now it is definitely so, even the smell.
Flushing - red face and ears. When I was together with friends, I would always get this extra hot face and my ears would be red like crazy. Ok, there may have been alcohol involved sometimes.. ;)
Adhesives. Also already when I was a kid - I would get crazy itching from adhesives on band-aids. I guess they have improved the formula, so I don’t have that anymore, but that was also a sign of mast cells going crazy.
The last thing, which still bothers me these days, especially in the heat of Alabama, is urticaria. There are many forms of urticaria - physical for example and then aquagenetic, cholinergic and exercise induced urticaria. I especially have the heat sensitivity, which is also called cholinergic urticaria. When my body gets hot or I get sweaty, my body gets itchy like crazy. Also, the pressure sensitivity, which makes that I can “write” on my skin. Although all other histamine symptoms have pretty much faded, this one is still an issue.
Ok that’s about it about the symptoms! :) It’s already a pretty long list, BUT there are people out there with a much longer list, especially when they have Mastocytosis or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
Healing Histamine Intolerance
I now have healed 95% of my histamine issues and continue to heal. Healing is possible and I will definitely go in depth about this topic in any other blog post soon. :) Until then - stay tuned!
Check out my free guide “3 Steps to master your histamine intolerance”!
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