MC and Histamine

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Jan 28, 2012 2:24 pm

Susan,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check with the local pharmacies.

Gloria

wekee · Post by **wekee** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:18 pm

Wow to all this information. I too have had allergies all of my life. I was given shots at the age of 1-3 for several food and pollen allergens. My mother stopped the shots at the age of 3 or so as I was giving her a hard time. I remember being sickly often all my life until I thankfully found Zyrtec. It really was a life saver as I could once again breath and sleep. When it was $2 a pill my husband used to complain, but I always reminded him how I used to keep him awake. I have been taking benadryl at night on top of my Zyrtec for the past year due to the intercystitis that was mainly just keeping me from sleeping. I could sleep as I was getting none with the IC. This was when I was still consuming some gluten not knowing what was wrong with me.

I have come in and out of remission with the IC - Most often it seems to be from eating out and dealing with cross contamination. I also can feel a flare with tomatoes, so I stay away from them now almost all the time. I had read a lot on the mast stem cell information related to IC.

I find this very interesting how we all have allergy issues.

The last time I was tested - I had a difficult time getting off of Zyrtec to be tested. I came up mildly for a pine and for mold. I suspect if I had been off of the Zyrtec more than a few days that I would have tested positive for me. This was probably about 10 years ago. I was going to get tested again last year when I was in the process of figuring it all out. I again could not get off the Zyrtec and so I ditched the testing. They were going to test by blood, but I was in the height of miserableness, seeing several doctors and figuring it all out....my allergist was not my top priority.

I had the genetic testing for DQ2 and DQ8 through Quest and came back negative. It really irritated me as I thought for sure I would have something finally in writing. Of course I know I have gluten intolerance big time, the IC, and now the microscopic colitis. I understand that they all tie together significantly. I am thinking though I should do the Enterolab testing.

Is the Enterolab genetic testing rated higher than others? And I have read that other DQ genes could come into play, so there are others who have been diagnosed with celiac disease even with negative gene testing.

I have cut out dairy finally and have tested myself a couple of times. I now note increased congestion with dairy. Who knew?? Is this something new or have I had an issue all my life with it? I can remember being a kid and being miserable everytime I had milk - tummy ache, which my mother contributed to nerves.

I am also now working on soy removal.

My MC has not healed, but it is still just a once a day thing for me. It is more my bladder that is still more of a concern for me, but I am not giving up on either.

Thank you again for all the helpful information you all share.

Wendy

Post by **tex** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:57 pm

Wendy wrote:Is the Enterolab genetic testing rated higher than others?

They use a DNA test developed by the Red Cross. (All the other tests are their own proprietary tests). I don't know if their DNA test is any better or worse than any other, but they do at least also test for the other gluten-sensitive genes, (not just the celiac genes), and their price is roughly half of what most of their competition charges for a similar test.

EnteroLab's stool tests for food-sensitivities are definitely far superior to any other food-sensitivity tests available, as far as accuracy, dependability and repeatability are concerned. They're really the only game in town, for the basic food-sensitivity tests, such as gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, etc.

Tex

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:17 pm

Wendy,

IC is pretty much considered a mast cell problme. Have you tried the low histamine diet?

Mary Beth

wekee · Post by **wekee** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:35 pm

I have not though I have cut out a lot of what is on there. I love avocados though.

I have cut out most processed meats and only on occasion use the gluten free no sulfite/sulfate Hormel luncheon meats.

I am going to print it out and work on it to see if that will further heal me.

I am going to look into doing the Enterolab testing for the food intolerances. I only did the genetic testing thinking it would be useful to have for family and our kids, but I do believe now it has to be marked somewhere on me and they all need to watch out no matter what. The genetic testing makes no difference to me - there is no going back. The food intolerance test would be helpful, but I also am good at tracking foods/journaling so I may be able to figure it out also on my own as I did with gluten and the tomatoes.

Thank you!

wekee · Post by **wekee** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:37 pm

By the way - Tex - I love the quote.

I might have mentioned in a previous post, but my gastro told me I should be able to have a regular beer every once in a while. I was shocked.

draperygoddess · Post by **draperygoddess** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:26 pm

my gastro told me I should be able to have a regular beer every once in a while

What part of "gluten intolerant" doesn't he understand?

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:10 am

Well its been just about 3 weeks since starting this trial of antihistamines and I have noticed some very encouraging results.

Like many that have posted on this topic, I have had allergies since I can remember, and as a child had allergy shots for about 3 years. For the most part except for some minor seasonal allergies I had not had any issues for years.

Just this past 5 months that all changed and a wide range of symptoms appeared from a runny nose with watery eyes, to feeling tired all the time, foggy brain and increased D. In looking through the symptoms and comparing notes with Gabes, we came to the conclusion this is most likely due to allergies. We both had a similar history of allergies from a young age.

What we have been doing is trying differrent H1 and H2 antihistimes which included Claritin (Loratidine), benadryl and ranitidine (Zantac). Gabes found the Benadryl too sedating even if taken at night, and I had problems with it making me jittery and agitated.

Claritin and Benadryl affect the H1 histamine sites and the Zantac affects the H2 related sites. Refer to my first post in this thread for a chart that outlines what symptoms are related to H1, H2 etc...

The Claritin appears to be well tolerated and has significantly helped with the runny nose and watery eyes and did help with a sinus headache that we both had been dealing with. Just recently in trying the Zantac I noticed a significant improvement in overall fatigue, D and concentration. Gabes has noticed that it has significantly improved the quality of sleep and has helped her GERD significantly and helped her energy levels and improved concentration.

Overall this has been a real eye opener that histamine can play this big of a role in how we feel. The difference is night and day.

The next steps will be to look into a low histamine diet and avoid histamine triggering foods. I will have to look back at some of the earlier posts to gather that information together.

Once the histamine is under control through diet and meds, I would like to look into more natural means of dealing with the systemic histamine issues. I do wonder has anyone here had any experience with DMO, Histame, methylation techniques or Sam-E for control of excess histamine symptoms. The goal is to be able to rely on diet and these types of more natural treatments for the long term control of histamine levels.

One question of have for Tex is that it is documented that chronic high levels of histamine result in permeable blood vessels resulting in cross membrane leakage and foreign matter exchange. Could this mechanism be a fundamental part of leaky gut?

Thanks again for all the great posts and information

Joe

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:51 am

Joe wrote:One question of have for Tex is that it is documented that chronic high levels of histamine result in permeable blood vessels resulting in cross membrane leakage and foreign matter exchange. Could this mechanism be a fundamental part of leaky gut?

Apparently, Joe. See this post and the accompanying article:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14131

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:17 am

Joe,

I believe that Gloria is right on target with her observation. You should find the thread that she cited, (and the article that it is based upon), useful.

That permeability works both ways, of course. Not only does it facilitate the ability of undesirable elements to contaminate the bloodstream, but it also allows those contaminants to more easily be deposited in various tissues, (organs, joints, etc.), all over the body, which can be like supercharging a reaction.

Tex

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:26 am

Joe,

Norton Greenberger is a GI in Boston who might be a good fit for you. He specializes in mast cell issues. He is at Brigham and Women's.

Mary Beth

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:50 am

Thanks Tex Gloria and Mary Beth. Gloria that article is exactly what I was thinking. In looking at the risks of long term histamine exposure last night I found 2 articles that talked about vascular permeability, which to me seems like a great parallel for leaky gut. This more or less confirms it.

Mary Beth is that who you were in contact with?

Joe

mbeezie · Post by **mbeezie** » Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:04 pm

Joe,

Initially I spoke with him and he was very helpful - he reviewed my case and we did a phone consult. I saw another allergist when I travelleld to Boston. He has previosuly spoken at the TMS annual meeting on mast cells and GI disease. In fact, if you go to www.tmsforacure.org you can purchase DVDs from the annual meeting. I did this a few years ago and learned a ton.

Glad you are feeling better.

Mary Beth