A slide backwards :(

[humbird753]

Has anyone ever heard of a natural supplement called "D-Hist"? Not sure if I read it correctly, but it appears it would help reduce histamine production.

Paula

[Jazi]

Has anyone ever heard of a natural supplement called "D-Hist"? Not sure if I read it correctly, but it appears it would help reduce histamine production.

Paula

I've been reading up on it recently and it seems to get a lot of good reviews. I was considering purchasing it, haven't done it yet though.

Rotating your diet was mentioned in this thread... how does one rotate when they eat the same foods daily?

[wmonique2]

Paula and Joanne,

I believe that D-hist is DAO which is also Histame (which you can find online for purchase). DAO or Histame purges the body from the excess histamine. And you have to take it before each meal.

Joanne---good question there. I pondered to about that one too ;-)

Monique

[Jazi]

Hi Paula

The only thing I could think of rotating is to eat my lunch at dinner and my dinner at lunch, lol. Everything is the same, every single day! I added pistachios and watermelon and my belly is in an uproar.... which do I discontinue??

DAO, I read that on here, yet another drug for me to research. I really hope my computer at home gets fixed soon!!

Can one take an antihistamine and dao together? What testing is involved to see if you have a histamine reaction?

Sorry Leah for taking this thread of course, see what you started??

[carolm]

Ladies, the only rotation I could figure out was that I just made sure I didn't eat the same food 2 meals in a row. So if I ate beef and carrots at noon, then I'd have chicken and potatoes at night. The next morning I ate something other than chicken and potatoes.
Since then I've added turkey so I can expand a little. At times when I'm not all that hungry a meal may be a bowl of Rice Chex and some almond butter, maybe with a small serving of fruit.

I know it's not as effective as allowing 2-3 days in between foods but it's the best I could do with such a limited diet.

Carol

[wmonique2]

Joanne,

You discontinue both--------the pistachios and the watermelon. They are both very high in histamine and nuts are not exactly friendly to us.

At the beginning of this thread there is a list of high histamine foods that Jean posted. You need to take a look at it. Believe it or not, there are some foods that are low in histamine that you CAN have. In the nut category, almonds have low histamine assuming that you can handle nuts in the first place. Life (with MC) is a bitch..

Monique

[ldubois7]

Joanne,

Enterolab suggested protein powders and soaked nuts as alternatives to meat when there are multiple food issues.

I only can eat 4 meats (turkey, lamb, venison, bison). I make a weekly meal plan, and try not to eat the same two meats two days in a row. I do have the same breakfast, protein pancakes, because I react to almost every food. I snack on macadamia, pecans, or hazelnuts because I am grain free, and I can't eat almonds, so, it is difficult to bake anything. I rotate my cooked veggies, too...and it is only squashes (butternut, acorn, zucchini), carrots, spinach, asparagus, right now.

I took avocado out of my diet and am doing better without it. I think it's worth trying to remove 1 food item for several days and see if you feel better.

Just my 2 cents worth (as Tex says.... )

[MBombardier]

Here is a thread talking about rotation diets with a couple of good links. http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... p?p=119675 In the beginning, and if your gut is in an uproar from a flare, you can't rotate foods, just eat the ones you know are least upsetting. But when things calm down, it can be a good plan.

The MRT test is an excellent tool for learning what foods we can eat on up to the ones we should probably always stay away from. It is an IgE (allergy) test versus an IgA (intolerance) test.

Gloria is our poster child for rotation diets--she always eats foods in rotation.

Pistachios, cashews, mangoes are in the same family as poison ivy, according to one of the links on the thread I have posted here. I think I just figured out why I am having such a hard time right now. Pistachios are usually a go-to food, but with the seasonal allergies, they aren't. I had forgotten. That's why a "winning the poo" diary is such a good thing to keep.

[tex]

I added pistachios and watermelon and my belly is in an uproar.... which do I discontinue??

I agree with Monique and Marliss. As far as watermellon is concerned, precious few of us can eat watermellon without problems while we are still recovering, and some of us can't tolerate them after we are in remission. Watermellon contains a lot of "user-unfriendly" chemicals/ingredients, not the least of which is the high fructose content.

Can one take an antihistamine and dao together? What testing is involved to see if you have a histamine reaction?

Histame is not exactly DAO. DAO is an enzyme normally produced by the body. It's primary function (as far as we are concerned) is to purge the bloodstream of unused (residual) histamine that remains in circulation.

Histamine is used by the body for controlling many essential body processes. For example, it tells the parietal cells in the stomach to produce more acid in order to facilitate digestion, as soon as we begin to eat. That's why histamine levels increase when we ingest food. For many of us though, the increase promotes symptoms, either because the increase is excessive, or too much residual histamine is already in circulation.

Normally, some of the histamine produced is used to attach to histamine receptors at various sites in the body, to trigger normal body functions. That histamine is used up, and therefore no longer available in the system. The rest of it remains in circulation, until it is purged (primarily by DAO) from the system. People who are DAO-deficient (which apparently applies to many of us who have an IBD) are unable to successfully limit the amount of unused histamine in circulation, so the level continues to build up, and as it does, the likelihood that the excess level will trigger adverse events, continues to increase.

Histame is a substitute for DAO. Like DAO, it purges the body of excess histamine. Histame is not an antihistamine. That is to say, it does not block histamine receptors to prevent histamine from activating them (the way that an antihistamine would do). Therefore there is little point in taking it before a meal. IMO, Histame should be taken first thing in the morning. That way, as we become active, and our circulation increases, it should have maximum potential for purging residual histamine from the system. Of course, the dose can be split up and taken at multiple times of the day, if desired.

Antihistamines can be taken either first thing in the morning, or before each meal, depending on whether slow-release (24-hour) types are used, or antihistamines that last for only 3 or 4 hours. However, if one of the older antihistamines is selected (such as Benedryl), since the early formulations tend to induce drowsiness, they are probably best taken before bedtime. Most of the newer formulations, such as Claritin, Allegra, etc., are non-drowsy. For anyone who has classic allergies to certain pollens, the histamine released due to exposure to pollen is additive to histamine produced by the body for it's normal functioning, so this compounds any mast cell problems that we might be having related to MC. It's possible that in some environments (depending on the nature of the allergens to which one is exposed), taking an antihistamine at certain other times of the day might be advantageous, but if pollen is a trigger, then most antihistamines work best if they are taken before pollen counts begin to rise for the day (as the dew dries by mid-morning).

As far as I am aware, there is no reason why Histame cannot be used in combination with antihistamines, because it's mode of action is very different from antihistamines. Note that many allergists prescribe the use of antihistamines at levels up to 4 times the labeled dosage, for medium to long-term treatment regimens (many months), when treating severe mast cell-related symptoms, such as a chronic rash or hives. So dosages well above the labeled treatment are obviously safe. There is a limit though (definitely do not take 8 or 10 times the labeled dose, because that can lead to a life-threatening event in some cases), so it's generally prudent to limit a treatment dosage rate to no more than 4 times the labeled dose. As with all medications, use no more than is needed for efficacy.

Tex

[Gloria]

IMO, Histame should be taken first thing in the morning. That way, as we become active, and our circulation increases, it should have maximum potential for purging residual histamine from the system. Of course, the dose can be split up and taken at multiple times of the day, if desired.

The instructions on the Histame bottle are to take the Histame within 15 minutes of eating. I take it right before or during my meal with avocado. Since it is a capsule, it would be difficult to split it up, though not impossible.

Gloria is our poster child for rotation diets--she always eats foods in rotation.

I do eat my foods in rotation, though not as precisely as I did when I ate more foods. I began the rotation as part of the LEAP diet used in conjunction with the MRT test results. Once I realized that I couldn't eat most of the green non-reactive foods, I configured my own rotation diet. I listed the foods I could eat, grouping them into meat, vegetable, grain, nut, and fruit categories. I can tolerate 3 meats so that became my structure. I have a turkey day, a lamb day, and a pork day. Using my groups of foods, I allocated each of them into one of the three meat days.

For example, today was my turkey day. I ate turkey sausage for breakfast, turkey soup for lunch, and a turkey burger for dinner.

When I could eat asparagus, I would use it in my turkey soup and again with my turkey dinner.

Since I can only eat two vegetables, I don't eat a vegetable on my pork day. Instead, I eat avocado on that day.

When I was able to eat a larger variety of grains, I made muffins using a different grain for each meat day. That is how I was able to determine that I reacted to amaranth, buckwheat, rice and quinoa. I realized that I was left with just one grain: corn, and had to give up yeast breads. Presently, I use corn flour and almond flour for my muffins, waffles and pancakes. I no longer can rotate my grains/flours and I eat both corn and almond flour every day in one form or another.

I have the same situation with fruit. Avocado and mango are the only fruits I can eat, probably because they are both fairly low in fructose. I am testing rhubarb in the muffin I eat on my lamb day, and so far, so good. I have tested low in potassium, so I eat mango every day in the form of washed, dried mango and more recently, homemade mango jam. I make the mango jam using Clear Jel, so that I can greatly reduce the sugar. It's more the consistency of a custard and is delicious. I use it on my muffins and dip Fritos Scoops in it for a snack.

Now that I can't eat asparagus, I have to use cauliflower in my turkey soup. My turkey day follows my lamb day and I eat cauliflower for dinner on lamb day. Since I eat the turkey soup for lunch the next day, it's not 24 hours, or a whole day later, so I feel comfortable eating cauliflower in the turkey soup. I do the same thing when I eat pork sausage for breakfast on my lamb day, because it hasn't been 24 hours since I ate pork the day before. The LEAP program dietician told me I could do that.

I'm going to try to post one week of my diet so it is easier to understand. I've been printing these menus for over three years now.

[wmonique2]

Carol,

Did you gain weight on Elavil? I did. Like 5 lbs which I hate because I am not used to be that size. Also, since on elavil, I have more brain fog. I forget people's names and words. It's amazing. I use mnemonics now to try to remember names. When I went off of it the first time around for the reasons I mention here, the memory and weight gain ceased immediately. I went back to my weight in no time and the memory returned.

Monique

[carolm]

hi Monique,
I can't say that I've noticed any ill effects from Elavil. I'm on 10 mg. which I think is probably a low dose. I was starting to gain a few pounds back before I started Elavil but I've been weighing and I seem to be staying the same. I definitely don't have an increase in appetite. In fact I have almost no appetite most of the time.

I had plenty of brain fog from LC and being weakened, but that's improved once I started absorbing nutrients and sleeping better. I find Elavil to be potent though. The times that I add just 1/2 tab-- another 5 mg-- and I can feel the difference, and if I take it too late at night I have the 'drug hangover'. It wears off about 11:00 or noon. I do better when I take it between 7:30 and 8:00. I"m stunned that other people take 50 or even 100mg. I wouldn't be standing.

What was your dosage?

C.

[wmonique2]

Carol,

I was taking 10 mg until a month ago when I was having more symptoms so I added another half-pill. so I am taking 15 mg.

I don't have more appetite, just gaining weight. I take it a 5:30 pm. When I take at bedtime, I can't wake up until noon the following day. I'll be completely drugged. I tried at 8 but that was too early for me. Now it's like somewhere between 5-6 pm. I am eating the same because I am not a big eater.

Like you I am very sensitive to it. I wish I didn't gain any weight. I just hope I don't keep gaining. I could settle at my current weight which will be OK. I know I would rather be like I am now than have those symptoms again. that's a no brainer...Unfortunately the anti-histamine didn't cut it for me. Maybe I should have taken a larger dose...Tex mentioned that docs prescribe anti-histamine four times more than the one a day than I was taking...And I love that I can sleep. No more insomnia. That's the beauty of that drug.

Monique

[carolm]

Monique, there are times in the last couple of weeks when I have a little gurgling and I've 'experimented" with taking a couple of Benadryl to see if it has an impact. I've only done it twice so my results are inconclusive. I couldn't tell if it was the Benadryl or if it just stopped on it's own. I'll have to try it a few more times to be sure. I'll let you know how that works.

Carol

[gluten]

Hi Leah, I have read all the posts on this thread for many days. How are you doing and have you improved since you posted this topic? Jon