Histamine Intolerance Symptoms

Histamine the Common Cause of a Variety of Symptoms

One of the (MANY) things that makes nailing down histamine intolerance and sensitivity so frustrating is that not only are the symptoms inconsistent from person to person but even within the same person. One day you may be anxious and itchy, the next day suffering from stomach pain and nausea. Your symptoms seem mysterious and elusive.

In the meantime, you are getting scared, depressed, and frustrated.

Review this list of symptoms and start to keep a symptom journal or diary. This will be key in getting some clarity and becoming more organized in this process.

Stomach/Digestive

Acid reflux
Bloating
Chronic constipation
Diarrhea
Feeling full quickly (early satiety)
Food sensitivities
Gas
Heartburn
Irritable bowel syndrome
Nausea
Stomach pain
Vomiting

Skin

Acne
Angioedema- swelling beneath the skin, in the tissue, and mucous membranes.
Edema-especially around the eyes and mouth
Extreme reactions to insect bites or stings
Flushing or redness
Hives
Hyperpigmentation
Inflammation
Itching
Psoriasis
Rashes
Skin sensitivity

Head

Ear-ache
Flushing
Headaches
Migraines
Sinusitis
Vertigo
Watery eyes and nose

Other

Anxiety
Asthma
Brain fog
Chronic fatigue
Dizziness
Insomnia
Joint pain
Low blood pressure
Panic attack
Rapid or irregular heartbeat (pulse)

Side Note:

A common phenomenon patients describe is an extreme panic attack or what feels like a heart attack.

One of the symptoms of excess histamine is known as a vasodilation effect.

So what does that mean in simple terms?

The excess histamine widens the blood vessels -this is part of our immune response it allows protective antibodies to get where they need to quickly. But in this case, there’s no true emergency to get to but the vessels are wide open and with little resistance from the vessels your blood pressure drops, to keep up the heart has to beat faster.

So when a nutshell—

your heart starts to race,
you get flushed,
you feel your heart pounding in your chest
your blood pressure drops
you feel dizzy, lightheaded, and anxious

and you feel like you’re having a heart attack it is a real and scary event.

The best thing is to stay calm, sit down, close your eyes and breathe slowly through your nose. If you have a mantra calmly repeat it to yourself while doing your breathing.

I understand and we will get through this. You are not alone.

Caution: Do not jump in head first!

If you have several of these symptoms this does not equal a diagnosis of histamine intolerance. Making assumptions is not particularly useful or helpful and can delay your recovery.

First, check-in with your doctor to rule out underlying health issues.
Also, you may need to see an allergist to check for food allergies or environmental allergies, or intolerances.
Do not change any medication you have been prescribed until you have talked to your doctor, this could be very dangerous.
Starting on an elimination diet may make symptoms WORSE if there is an underlying health issue that needs to be addressed first. One of the biggest problems I see is people dive into things headfirst and change too many things then we had no way of knowing what worked or didn’t work or why.

An example of this is, you have a red itchy rash on your face, so you consult Dr. Google for possible causes you spend hours online researching and decide that tomorrow you are going to:

Change your face soap
Change your laundry detergent
Buy all new fragrance-free make-up
Get all new make-up brushes
Get a water filtration system
Change your diet
Change your toothpaste
Stop wearing perfume and fragrances
Buy an air purifier
Buy a new pillow
Stop using hair spray
Take Benadryl once a day

You go to the doctor and say, “I did all these things and in 2 weeks my rash was completely gone! So what was causing the rash? Can I go back to my old routine?” No one will know the answer because when you make 12 changes in 24 hours there is no way to unravel what helped and what didn’t.