Histamine Intolerance

Histamine/Methylation

Ok What is Histamine? It is a chemical in the body that is mainly produced in soft tissues,   Like your skin, lungs, sinuses and digestive system.  It is one of the primary chemicals that is released in your body during an allergic reaction that causes most symptoms. 

When a person is intolerant to Histamine the body overreacts and it produces more histamine.  This even happens when foods that contain the chemical (histamine) are consumed. (These foods can include bananas, tomatos (nightshades), dairy, chocolate, wine and others) This can cause your blood vessels to dilate and increases mucus production. This leads to a runny nose, nasal congestion, coughing, skin rashes, itching and flushing a lot of symptoms that can clear a room.  

Now how did I get to discover that I had a histamine problem? Good question...  Well I was noticing that after I would eat or actually during eating I would see a rash develop on my hands right before my eyes and my husbands eyes as well.  That's how I knew I wasn't losing it and that I really wasn't seeing things.  I also noticed that during eating, actually usually the first couple of bites I would take I would start coughing, my nose would run or depending on what it was I would even have to take my inhaler.  

What in the world was happening to me?  Like i needed another thing added onto everything else I was dealing with.  Right?  

So began more research.  I think as you read my blog you will start to see how much I enjoy research.  I've always loved biology, anatomy, physiology so even though everyone around me thought I was crazy, a hypochondriac or that I obsess, I honestly just love learning about the body and the processes that take place within us.  It's also very interesting to figure out what goes wrong and why. 

What could be happening to my body that now when I eat I feel like I've been exposed to pollen or some other allergen?  Let me back up just a bit....  I've always had allergies.  I grew up in Ohio and my parents had a lot of adjustments to make around our home because I would have almost nightly asthma attacks.  They had to cover my bed and pillows with plastic.  They had to get rid of our carpeting and replace it with wood floors.  They even had to put me on antihistamines and send me to an allergist who discovered I was allergic to almost everything except dogs.  Go figure.  I may have grown an immunity to them though because we had dogs my whole life even before I was born.  Anyway, the allergist put me on allergy shots which helped with the allergens there in Ohio.  By the time I was an adult my allergies and asthma were pretty much under control.  That is until I moved to South Jersey by the Shore.  According to many doctors this area is really, really bad for people with allergies.  I wish I would have known this 10yrs ago.  Well, hindsight is 20/20 I guess. 

Back to my research.  In my research I found out about this process called Methylation.  What in the world is Methylation you might ask?  Methylation is involved in DNA synthesis, masking and unmasking of DNA, detoxification, heavy metal detoxification, nerve myelination, carnitine and coenzyme Q 10 synthesis.  Basically methylation is responsible for a lot of functions that take place in the body.  One that I found particularly interesting is the turning on and off of genes.  It made me start thinking that this is what probably happened to turn on my Celiac gene. Something must have gone wrong with my methylation process.  You see the methylation process can go wrong at times or not work properly.  Some things that can affect our methylation process can be:  

1. Genetic factors, especially variants in the mthfr and comt genes
2. Psychological/emotional/physical stress

1. Smoking and other environmental toxins
2. Diet and nutrition (including supplements), especially B-vitamin and methonine intake

Now this can all seem confusing and well, it is.  It is also a lot of information to understand so I encourage you to do your own research on Methylation.  You definately will learn a lot.  You may be asking, ok so what does methylation have to do with histamine production?  

It seems there are a number of reasons why a person may have high histamine levels. Bad bacteria in the gut produce histamine and good bacteria neutralize it, so an imbalance of gut flora could be a major factor.  (Which in my case this made sense because of having celiac disease which affects the small intestine).  

Methylation is one really big way that the body gets rid of excess histamine out of the bloodstream, so people who under-methylate (or whose methylation systems are clogged with environmental toxins and yeast metabolites- which made me start thinking of the environment around me) seem to have histamine overcrowding their system.  

There are several enzymes that can help people regulate histamine levels, so a deficiency of these enzymes is suspected to be a cause.   Two of these enzymes are amylase and diamine oxidase.  There is a lot of research that has been done in Europe on this subject.  One doctor actually developed a medication that helps with this.  (More on this later)    

Now, like I said all of this can be confusing but as you do more research and learn more about these processes it will all start to come together.  As I learned more and more I started to think ok so I figured out I have high histamine levels.  How do I lower them?  How do I stop reacting to food the way I was?  And because of figuring out that I must be an under-methylator which means my system is clogged with toxins, how do I lower the toxins in my body?  As for the toxins around me could they be affecting me as well and making this whole process worse?  More to come on this....  Look for these articles soon:  How I lowered my histamine levels and Toxins they're everywhere! 

Histamine intolerance is usually caused by a defect in the body’s breakdown of histamine, in one of two enzyme systems: histamine N-methyl transferase (HMT) and diamine oxidase (DAO). (1.) Deficiency in the DAO enzyme system, found in the intestinal mucosa, is more than likely to be one of the biggest causes of histamine intolerance. (2.) Likely there's genetic variations in the function of individual enzymes, but when the activity of either of these is insufficient, the excess of histamine can cause many different symptoms that act as an allergic reaction. Common symptoms of histamine intolerance include: (3.)

• itching especially of the skin, eyes, ears, and nose
• hives 
• tissue swelling, especially of the face, mouth tissues and sometimes the throat, the latter can cause the feeling of  throat tightening
• hypotension 
• tachycardia 
• symptoms similar to an anxiety or panic attack
• chest pain
• nasal congestion and runny nose
• irritated, watery, reddened eyes
• headaches that differ from those of migraine
• fatigue, confusion, irritability
• occasionally loss of consciousness most times only lasting for only one or two seconds
• Digestive tract upset, heartburn, indigestion, and reflux

  

Disclaimer:  Any information contained in this blog is for informational purposes only.  It is not meant to diagnose nor is it meant to promote any product or company.  I am not a doctor nor am I a homeopath. If you have any health issues that you need help with please contact your physician.

As you read this you will no doubt have a lot of questions.  Feel free to ask them and I will do my best to answer.  Like I said I love to do research and if there's anything you would like me to do more research on especially having to do with these topics I will do my best to find out for you and post it.  If I am unable to post it I can email you directly with the information as well.