Any geniuses on here who have come up with an alternative to tomato sauce? Man, I miss pizza.

Has anyone been successful with either THC or CBD? I know smoking would send me into a serious issue. But I am wondering about tinctures for THC.

Hi all,

I believe I've got a histamine intolerance, which I think I may have had over 5 years gradually getting worse.

One day I woke up with bad bloating, nausea, reflux etc, tested for h.ployri and negative, put on Omeprazole for 6 months whilst I waited for an Endoscopy which came back negative, basically palmed off and told to remain on Omeprazole, bloating got worse and nausea, then started a lot of hormonal issues and 3 years later pinned down to Endometriosis/Adenomoysis, symptoms got worse as the years went on - constant urination, pain in bladder with now looking back, certain foods and drinks, diarrhea a few times, nausea on and off, fatigue after eating, heart palpitations and racing after eating, headaches randomly, bloating throughout day getting worse at night, horrible reaction when drinking alcohol, runny nose when going outside etc (assumed it was hayfever)

My symptoms now seem to only be getting worse and I keep pinning it down to Endo/Adeno even though I had Endo removed in Dec 25, so after going down the rabbit hole of the internet, I had some blood work taken last week a full on MOT as I was bruising badly, and all my bloods came back fine, so I am trying to work out whether I have a histamine intolerance. I notice a different when I don't eat a lot of sugar, caffeine, alcohol, gluten etc, but wondered if there was a blood test or intolerance testing to determine this is the issue? I would love to get some answers and just hope that something can get rid of all this or is it a matter of taking an anti histamine everyday?

Thanks all

I'm 41 and have spent 23 years dealing with something that's controlled my social life, work life, travel, and mental health. I've never met anyone with my exact pattern. I went to GPs over the years and the answer was always the same: "you're intolerant, you're allergic, just don't drink." I really enjoy the social aspect and was never willing to write that part of my life off.

Recently I typed my entire life history and experiences of this problem into Claude Max, every detail about every reaction, every drink type, every recovery timeline, every related reaction (coffee, tea, Coke, cocaine, fast food during recovery), the whole 25 years. The output gave me the first genuinely coherent theory I've ever had. I'm not claiming anything is confirmed. But for the first time I have a glimmer of hope that I might actually be able to have a few social drinks without spending days in pain afterwards.

I'm posting this to see if anyone here recognises their own life in my pattern. I'll update this thread in 2-3 weeks after my first test event on a new regimen.

The core pattern, since age 16/17

I cannot drink alcohol on consecutive days. If I drink on Saturday, attempting to drink on Sunday produces a violent reaction within minutes: instant red face, pounding headache, system crash and an uncontrollable diuretic effect where I urinate constantly with completely clear urine until I'm dehydrated. It's impossible to continue drinking.

Even with just one night of drinking, "recovery" takes 2-4 days minimum. Post-COVID and with age, it's stretched to 5-7 days.

Even 1 single sip of wine can leave me foggy headed 24/7 for 4 days, most times 1-2 days.

No family history. My brothers and father can go on weeks long drinking holidays with zero issue.

The symptoms

After any drinking session, regardless of what I drank:

• Pounding headache lasting days
• Severe brain fog
• Anhedonia, zero capacity for happiness for 3-5 days
• Dry skin, red face, overheating
• Can't tolerate caffeine, carbonation, or rich food
• Complete incapacitation. I spend 2 days in bed after single drinking sessions, then another 3-5 days after feeeling terrible.

I've had to plan my entire adult life around when I can socialise and how many days of recovery I'll need before an important meeting or presentation.

The day 2-4 crash is the weirdest part

Most people's hangovers improve linearly. Mine don't:

• Day 1: Terrible
• Day 2 evening: I start to feel something coming back, a glimmer of serotonin, I think I'm recovering
• Day 3 morning: CRASH BACK. Worse malaise, fog, dry skin, red face, overheating, highly irritable and sensitive to noise
• Day 4-5: More of the same
• Day 6-8: Rebound back to baseline

Like the body almost recovers and then suddenly relapses. I've never seen this described anywhere in plain terms.

Long breaks make it catastrophically worse

I'm essentially a social only drinker (never drank at home as that would be just wasting a drinking opportunity without any social interaction), so during COVID I didn't drink for about 2-3 years. When I went out again, recovery went from 2-4 days now to 4-6+ days. When I was drinking sometimes weekly or bi- weekly, recovery was always shorter. Infrequent drinking is catastrophic.

Session length matters more than volume

A 2-hour dinner with 2 glasses of white wine = 2-4 day recovery.
A 12-hour day at the races and drinkng beer and wine = 6-8 day recovery.

Not linear. Long continuous sessions trigger something that shorter ones don't, regardless of actual alcohol volume.

Non-alcoholic beer gives me a 1-day reaction

Non-alcoholic beer (histamine from fermentation, no ethanol) causes a milder version of the same symptoms. So it's not purely about ethanol. It's about something in the drink itself.

It's not just alcohol

This is the part that made things click.

Coffee

Hadn't drunk it in 10 years. Tried one cup 2 years ago. Within minutes: head fog, dry skin, red face, headache. Then a diuretic cascade, urinating constantly with clear urine until badly dehydrated. Identical symptoms to alcohol recovery, compressed into minutes instead of days.

Black tea

I'm Irish! I drank 5-6 cups daily until age 32. Had to quit. Same reaction slowly building.

Coke / soft drinks

Moderate version: dry skin, red face, diuresis under the wrong conditions.

Sparkling water

Mildest version, tolerable but not comfortable.

The common thread is all of these either inhibit my body's histamine clearance enzyme (DAO) or irritate the gut cells that produce it.

Cocaine gave me the same cascade

Adding this because it's relevant data. Early 20s, could handle it with alcohol and be fine. 7-8 year break. Tiny amounts in recent years and within minutes: huge pupils, unquenchable thirst, constant clear urination, couldn't drink more alcohol without feeling like vomiting, then a complete energy crash.

Cocaine is a known mast cell degranulator. Same symptom cascade as coffee and alcohol recovery strongly suggests my mast cells are hyperreactive to multiple substances.

Food makes recovery worse, but only specific foods

During recovery days, these wreck me:

• Tomato sauces, curries, Indian food
• Burger King, GYG, any fast food
• Leftovers from the fridge
• Fermented foods, aged cheese

Fresh plain chicken, rice, potato, oats, banana. All fine to eat during recovery.

This matches histamine intolerance trigger lists exactly.

Antihistamines worked in real time

On day 4 of the worst recovery I've had in months last week, I took 10mg cetirizine (Zyrtec) + 20mg famotidine (Pepcid) + 1g Vitamin C. Within 15-30 minutes my stomach felt noticeably better. Within 1-2 hours the general gut symptoms were much better.

Then I made the mistake of eating a fast food burger. Crashed again. Took another Zyrtec, came back up. This real-time experiment convinced me histamine is at minimum a major component of my 4-6 day recoveries.

What doctors have said in the past

Over 25 years: "You're just intolerant, don't drink." "You're sensitive to alcohol, avoid it." "Everyone reacts differently." Nobody ever mentioned histamine intolerance, DAO deficiency, MCAS, or anything specific. Nobody tested anything. I just accepted it and organised my life around it.

What the Claude analysis came up with

The theory:

1. Constitutionally low DAO (likely genetic AOC1 variant). The enzyme that degrades histamine doesn't produce enough for my needs
2. Mast cell hyperreactivity. The cocaine reaction and multi-trigger pattern suggests my mast cells fire disproportionately
3. Neurochemical rebound (GABA/glutamate, dopamine) that's exaggerated and prolonged in me. Explains the "withdrawal-like" feel despite not being alcohol dependent
4. Gut permeability on day 2-4 post-alcohol produces LPS translocation, systemic inflammation peaks, this is the wave 2 crash
5. Enzyme induction explains the tolerance effect from regular drinking
6. Age-related DAO decline explains the gradual worsening from 17 to 40

The protocol I've started

I've got a full daily stack now: DAO enzyme supplements before meals, daily cetirizine, mast cell stabilisers (quercetin, NAC), gut repair (L-glutamine, zinc carnosine, butyrate, collagen, targeted probiotics, Bifidobacterium-dominant, avoiding L. bulgaricus / reuteri / casei which produce histamine), DAO cofactors (B6, vitamin C, copper), magnesium.

Event day adds: more DAO, extra Zyrtec + Pepcid, electrolytes.
Recovery days: same + L-theanine for the neurochemical rebound, low histamine diet.

I've also booked a DAO blood test. Planning MCAS workup (tryptase, 24hr urine mediators) if the protocol doesn't fully resolve things.

My drinking event test is in 2-3 weeks

I'll update this thread with results.

Questions for anyone who made it this far

1. Has anyone experienced the wave 2 crash specifically? The day 2-4 feel-better-then-crash pattern?
2. Anyone whose coffee reaction is similar from their alcohol recovery, just faster?
3. Anyone whose symptoms got dramatically worse after a long break from drinking?
4. Anyone with the non-alcoholic beer reaction? It's so specific.
5. Anyone actually formally diagnosed (histamine intolerance / MCAS / DAO deficiency)? What was your path?
6. Anyone had Ketotifen prescribed and found it dramatically helpful?
7. Australians: who did you see? Looking for an immunologist who actually understands this stuff and doesn't dismiss it.

Appreciate anyone who reads this far. I'll attach the Claude analysis in a comment for anyone interested. Will update in 2-3 weeks after the first test event.

Did Rifaximin worsen, improve or leave your MCAS/histamine intolerance unaffected?

would like to hear you experience :)

I've been struggling to get enough calories into my body due to various digestion issues for years. Fatigue and brain fog were always with me.

I've heard about MCT oil in various places many times, but each time I tried it I'd either feel off mentally or it gave me gut irritation.

A few months ago I decided to give it another try, and after a couple of weeks of slow dose increases I managed to get used to it to the point that now it only gives me positive effects. (To my understanding the initial mental side effects were due to my body's getting used to a new source of energy and a possible die-off reaction due to MCT oil's antibacterial properties.)

Now I usually take 1 tbsp of it several times per day with meals and it makes my mind noticeably clearer and my body more energetic.

It's worth keeping in mind that there are usually different MCTs in MCT oil. C8, C10, and C12 are the most common ones. C8 and C10 are the easiest to absorb and utilize, C12 is slower and also requires bile. Nowadays I usually buy C8 and C10 blends because I find them to be the most versatile.

Note on saturated fat: MCTs are saturated fats, so I also try to make sure to have enough other types of fat (avocado/olive oil, macadamia nuts) to have a better balance.

(YMMV)

I've had histame intolerance for roughly ten years but was recently self diagnosed (help from AI after putting in a food journal on the run up to a skin flare up, also tracked with historical issues). My question is, how do you spend money in addressing or treating histamine intolerance? How much do you end up spending on it each month?

I'm on a low histamine diet but I was curious if there are supplements I should take (was considering DAO) or programs out there to help. I want to avoid the issues I've had in the past (urticaria, stomach aches, bloating, etc) so any leads would be greatly appreciated.

I've been using anti-histamines and eating a low-histamine diet for a few months now and feel a ton of improvement but I still have semi frequent flare ups after eating. I've tried DAO supplements but didn't feel an instant improvement like other things (maybe I need to trial for longer?).

My question is what should be my next steps? Next medications to try? Other diet restrictions?

For context my symptoms are: extreme fatigue and brain fog, increased anxiety + OCD, flushing, high heart rate. I would say just from using anti-histamines + low histamine diet I'm like at 65% well.

Pessoal fui na alergista pedi o exame Dao e o a216 de alergia e ela disse que nenhum tem validade científica. Senti quase um deboche da minha cara e disse que o plano não cobria. Vocês que estão investigando com médicos, como foi a investigação ? Qual médico conseguiu investigar isso com vocês? Eu tenho quase certeza que é intolerância à histamina. Sai do médico muito desolada. Fazer esse exame era minha expectativa.

I’ve read a few people saying that frequently taking 2nd gen histamines (e.g. fexofenadine / Allegra) isn’t a credible path forward.

Which side effects am I risking if I take it frequently to manage symptoms?

Re. tolerance, what kind of time-span are we talking about?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom!

Hi, im getting to the end of my rope here. I cannot take any SSRI/SNRI or stimulant meds. Tried Nortripyline but it made my dissociation way worse. Scared to try amitriptyline because of that. I am in a very low, very dark place. Antihistamines make me more depressed. Anyone have any suggestions for "unconventional" treatments? I am looking into LDN (low dose naltrexone) for example. But things like a mood stabilizer etc, not making histamine intolerance worse? Thanks

I am on a low histamine diet and I'm having a hard time keeping my weight up. Is there something that is high calorie, low histamine that anybody can suggest I eat?

Hi everybody,

I am writing this as a 28M athlete, very healthy, amazing life and balance. Here is my story :

Got married, went to Punta cana for 2 weeks in an all inclusive. I usually eat very very clean at home, everything is organic, local, and I track macros. I take magnesium, zinc, creatine, and enjoy my sport to a provincial/national level (Olympic Weightlifting). I am also a biologist. Just to say that, I love my life and it was amazing, here is the story :

2 days before ending the honeymoon, I started to feel bad in my stomach (upper abdomen). I was like "Okay, it's going to be fine once back home, it's normal not to feel so good". In the plane 2 days later, the pain and discomfort started to be a bit higher. I was happy to come back home just to eat better quality food and better food choices in general. However, I had so much pleasure to let myself eat whatever I wanted in those 2 weeks.

Then, 2 days after coming back home (Canada), I had the worst panic attack, extreme anxiety and OCD flare up, literally from nowhere. (I've never had that in my life, never ever). It was debilitating. My experience in scientific field and my wife who's a nurse helped me know that it wasn't any disease, or heart attack or whatever. It was just panic. But afterwards, the absolute terror feeling, anxiety, and not feeling myself, like I was dying just kept me from living, during almost 2 months. I had better days/week, and very very bad days. But what I don't tell you, is that, I kept having my stomach pain growing. Every time I was in pain, my anxiety/panic/ocd were worse. And as soon as I felt relief in the stomach, I had a window where I could feel myself for a short moment.

My symptoms included :

- Stomach pain (very localized)

- Nausea

- Diarrhea

- Sometimes urticaria popping

Nothing else.

I started to see a GP, to check, Punta cana, and I'm originally from a tropical island so I was like, it's either H pylori, candida, any parasite, c.difficile, or a simple gastrite from everything I ate during the trip.

I was like, anyway, maybe my stomach pain or mental situation are not related, but I just want the pain to go away because it started to be so bad.

Every lab was absolutely perfect, negative H pylori, stool test, parasite stool test, urine, hormones, ferritin, thyroid, abdominal echograph. Everything was good. I was really really starting to lose hope as I was in such a bad state. My energy was going away, sometimes I couldn't eat, sometimes I was really hungry...

So I started to write everything, everything I ate, how I felt in general, I wrote everything on an excel and then, data showed that, every time I ate cheddar cheese (or any cheese), tomato based dish, lentils, pickles, or something with cocoa, I was feeling the worst and it lasted for days.

So I looked up for what was in common in all three, and ended up seeing histamine.

I started 4 days ago to check for every food I ate and avoided histamine food.

And yesterday I started to feel like myself again, but today was the best day ever. No pain at all in the stomach, no diarrhea, no urticaria (sorry I don't know how we say that in English), way more energy, and my panic/anxiety/ocd is absolutely gone like a switch was pushed.

Today, I had the result of a new lab test from my GP (who called me on a Saturday), and DAO deficiency is added to the situation for me !

I just wanted to share hope if anybody is living the same thing, as it was the worst state I've ever been in my life... I couldn't train for weeks...

I hope it says everything and my text was clear, English is my third language. And before leaving you guys : - Yes it could be the beginning of an ulcer, but the pain is going away with low histamine food. - Yes in inflammation was created (gastritis).

My Journey with Histamine Intolerance

I've had pollen allergies since my late teens. Since they ran in the family, I started taking antihistamines early on.

Around my mid-twenties, I began developing allergies to more and more foods: first pineapple, then kiwi, mango, papaya, spinach, tomatoes, most berries, chili, and basically anything spicy. Later I also started having problems with Chinese (MSG) and Indian food.

For a long time, I assumed these were severe cases of cross-allergies, since reactions to fruits and vegetables are not uncommon with pollen allergies.

But then other things started happening. I noticed I couldn't tolerate alcohol anymore. I had never experienced alcohol flush before, but suddenly it started happening, even with light beer. It got progressively worse, and I began developing blisters and bumps on my face and neck after drinking. My honest reaction: what the hell.

Around the same time, I started getting severely bloated after certain meals (we're talking a noticeable, beer-belly-level bloat). One key observation was that food I had for lunch caused no problems, but eating the same leftovers for dinner would trigger bloating. That was an important clue.

Getting a Diagnosis

After talking to my doctor, we tried an elimination diet and eventually concluded it was histamine-related. He prescribed DAO enzymes and advised me to take them before meals I knew would cause issues. It definitely helped.

Where I Am Now

I had to restructure my eating habits quite a bit, but I've found a good balance without being overly restrictive. My gut health has improved, some problems have disappeared entirely, and I can even eat certain foods again that used to trigger reactions. Small win: cherry tomatoes are back on the menu, which makes salads so much better. And oddly enough, I can enjoy a small amount of pickled cucumber too, which I love.

If You Suspect Histamine Intolerance

Try an elimination diet. You will notice changes in your body if you have an intolerance. The key step, as my doctor explained, is to deliberately eat a known trigger food after 3–4 weeks of elimination. That's when the reaction becomes most clear. Keeping a food and reaction journal also helps a lot.

edit:
One other helpful change was how I handle leftovers. Freezing them as soon as possible instead of storing them in the fridge significantly reduces histamine levels. Eating fresh is obviously ideal, but when you cook enough for two days, freezing is the way to go.

I've started drinking nettle leaf tea recently and it really seems to help a little. Are there any other herbal teas that help improve symptoms?

I've been having increasingly worse histamine symptoms in the last few years, culminating this winter with comically bad rhinoreea, but by far the worst symptom has been the neurological one - brain fog/confusion/lethargy/insomnia.

I discovered the histamine connection after i went to an ENT thinking my issue is sinusitis, she told me my symptoms look more like allergies since my nose discharge was as clear as a mountain spring.

She gave me Borenar, which seems to be an h1 ah.

I've felt human again. I could sleep uninterupted, woke up rested and i could finally think again and have some sort of motivation to do something.

I should add i did not expect this kind of relief, all i wanted and expected was a decrease in rhinorea and clearer nose.

Any way to further target h1 receptors specifically? I have started the low histamine died recently as it seems rather obvious i have some histamine issues but i love and hate how much of a difference this AH makes. Its just scary how much it changes me.

I used to be able to drink alcohol just fine up until the age of 26. I didnt abuse it, i never drank consecutive days, i think on average i drank less than once per week. I only got drunk 2 times in my late teens.

In the final moments before my intolerance set in i drank more than the former average but again, did not abuse it.

Red wine seemed to hit me the hardest . I loved red wine the most but it was the first to go, followed by the rest.

I also had to give up coffee as it was it was giving me the same symptoms as alcohol, just to a lesser degree.

To this day, more than 10 years later, i still can not drink alcohol at all. My liver is fine, i dont have diabetes or other illnesses.

For context, I am at BMI 23 and I have an unnatural, swollen belly (96 cm/37in waist circumference), that has been gradually increasing over the course of 1 year, at least. At first, I thought it was the culprits were polycystic ovaries and insulin resistance, but even with treatment for these, nothing helps.

Recently, I noticed I bloat from fermented foods (kefir), raw veggies (cucumbers and green salad), and even plain water on empty stomach. I have a clean diet for years, I don't eat sugar/chips/alcohol, I only drink decaff and only after breakfast, my meals are focused on protein and carbs.

What blood tests or analyses should I do to outline histamine intolerance or anything else that may cause this?

For many months, I've been suffering from histamine intolerance, methane SIBO and severe constipation—I can't have a bowel movement without laxatives.

Recently i took one 180 mg allicin capsule yesterday and the next day... I had a bowel movement on my own!

The negative effect was that I had a terrible histamine flush—my face was red, hot, and i was agitated. I took some molybdenum and it helped a little.

I don't know what to do now. On the one hand, allicin seems to help with my constipation, but on the other, I'm having a histamine attack.

Is it possible that just one allicin capsule has already worked?