anti histamine how many per day??

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:17 am

Hi DJ - wow sounds like you went through a tough time as well - I am lucky not to have GERD yet LOL!

I did try carrots the other night but high in sugar so may bring back my candida but I may have to go there and start taking nystatin regularly so I can at least eat. Haven't tried squash yet but did try zuchinni a few nights ago so will try it again if I can find any - no stores seem to have it right now UGH! What brand of potatoe chips ???

Fat does make me a tad nauseas but I try to have 1 to 2 days a week where I will eat chicken thighs - lots of fat there! No carbs at all due to the fermentability factor which causes my IBS to go crazy right now. Did try sweet potatoes and made me sick too. Can't win I guess. This is definitely a leaky gut issue but how does one fix that???

babs

janet · Post by **janet** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:17 pm

HI BABS, I AM NOW TAKING BENADRYL STARTED TODAY, I HAVEA SPOT RASH, AND WEAK LEG MUSLES, THOUGHT I WOULD GIVE BENADRYL A TRY, FINGERS CROSSED.
YES... THERE IS AN END TO ALL OF THIS.......THAT IS WHY WE ARE ALL PULLING.
ITS A WONDERFUL FEELING TO KNOW THAT WE ARE NOT ON OUR OWN.... WE HAVE THIS FANTASTIC SUPPORT GROUP.
I CANT BEGIN TO TELL YOU WHAT A BIG DIFFERENCE IT MEANS TO ME THAT I HAVE YOU ALL MY FRIENDS ALWAYS READY TO HELP WITH ANSWERS FOR ME.

GOOD LUCK AND BEST OF HEALTH FOR 2014.

REGARDS
MARIE

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 6:59 pm

marie,
sorry to hear about your recent rash - good luck with the Benadryl!! Yes this group is a lifesaver for me as well.

Here's to a healthier 2014 may all our prayers be answered!!

babs

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 7:47 pm

I agree with DJ. We all need carbohydrates ( and some of our major systems MUST have them- like the brain and nervous system). Right now, your body is working extra hard to convert fat into carbohydrates. The conversion a strain on your body and burns even more calories. Squash, carrots, and sweet potato is a good place to start. I also eat Potato chips, but I buy Ruffles "simply" low fat chips. It is only potatoes, olive oil, and salt. The low fat keeps them from being too greasy. GO slow. small quantities. Nitrite free bacon is a good way to get calories also.

Hang in there Babs. We all know that this is a horrible disease and am sure that all of us has had the same thoughts you do. I even dreamed the other night of eating an ice-cream sundae. As you start to feel better and are able to add more foods in, those feelings lessen somewhat. I keep telling myself that I could be battling cancer instead. Can you imagine what thoughts run through someone who is fighting for their life? Perspective.

Leah

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 8:52 pm

thanks sooo much leah - no wonder I only feel good after my nightly steak!! I decided tonight to try sweet potatoes instead of yam as I finally found 1 store selling them. No issues so far and ate them an hour after my steak. Will know tomorrow how they sit in me. Will try squash next for sure. I guess I always think carbs as potatoes and breads and not squash etc. No wonder I was low low BP yesterday and crying at an mention of my illness but as soon as I had my steak last night I perked up and again tonight - I have it everynight for supper. tried to eat more of the fat this time too!! Not sure if I can find those chips but hopefully I can eat those but have to remember to eat only a few UGH!! My heart seem to be racing a bit after the sweet potatoes so will have to see what is going on with that! don't want to take an antihistamine just yet - would like to listen to what my body tells me but I guess in order to get healthy again I may just have to!

yes you are right - battling cancer would be horrible although there was a time I wish I had cancer over this - at least I would know what I had and could really enjoy eating and travelling for the bit of time I had - crazy thought process isn't it when you are down and out!!! Now that I can at least get out and about I feel alive again - missing food will always be with me though. Tonight in the grocery store I was so envious of this fat man buying all kinds of food without any issues. Although yes, he may die early of a heart attack, but you know me I was still envious. All those people buying food from the store that I cant eat LOLOL

babs

sunny · Post by **sunny** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:08 pm

Nabs... Don't have much to add, but I am sorry you are having such a hard time with eating and losing weight. I've been oven roasting veggies in coconut oil ...carrots, rutabagas, sweet potatoes and tolerating them very well and they are delicious roasted. The other day I ate the whole large rutabaga by myself! I couldn't resist, it was so delicious! I never liked rutabagas before, but this caramel ides them and makes them extra yummy. Adding these helps me to keep weight steady...I stopped losing now.
Wishing you a new year of answers and yummy food you CAN eat.
Sunny

sunny · Post by **sunny** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:09 pm

Oopsie... Babs not nabs...

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Mon Dec 30, 2013 11:25 pm

yummy! what are rutabagas - maybe I can try that next! so how do you roast them?? I am not handy in the kitchen at all hence the reason I probably am not eating a heck of a lot as I am picky and don't know how to make things taste good!!

babs

JFR · Post by **JFR** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:09 am

Leah wrote:I agree with DJ. We all need carbohydrates ( and some of our major systems MUST have them- like the brain and nervous system). Right now, your body is working extra hard to convert fat into carbohydrates. The conversion a strain on your body and burns even more calories. Squash, carrots, and sweet potato is a good place to start. I also eat Potato chips, but I buy Ruffles "simply" low fat chips. It is only potatoes, olive oil, and salt. The low fat keeps them from being too greasy. GO slow. small quantities. Nitrite free bacon is a good way to get calories also.

Hang in there Babs. We all know that this is a horrible disease and am sure that all of us has had the same thoughts you do. I even dreamed the other night of eating an ice-cream sundae. As you start to feel better and are able to add more foods in, those feelings lessen somewhat. I keep telling myself that I could be battling cancer instead. Can you imagine what thoughts run through someone who is fighting for their life? Perspective.

Leah

What the brain needs is glucose which can come from carbohydrates but can also come from gluconeogenesis, the conversion of amino acids into glucose and by fat metabolism. If a person is used to eating a high carb diet it can take a few weeks for the body to convert to using fat for fuel efficiently which can lead to a temporary feeling of fatigue and general unwellness, although this is not always the case. I have lived for the better part of 10 years on approximately 30 grams of carbs per day to keep my blood glucose levels out of diabetic range. The combination of a low carb low fat diet will get you into trouble but my diet is high fat, moderate protein and low carb. I follow Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution:

http://www.diabetes-book.com/

Jean

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:16 am

agreed Jean!! had no idea the extensiveness of my issues without eating carbs. Will start adding in squash hopefully I can handle that!! Believe me I would more carbs if my gut could handle them!!! And don't know where else to get fat from - you would think 1 steak a day would be enough LOL!
babs

Nancy · Post by **Nancy** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:22 pm

So how do you know if you are one of us with MC that needs antihistamines? I've never had seasonal allergies. Would seasonal allergies be a tipoff? Never had the cell staining of biopsied cells following a colonoscopy so I don't know that way. If taking antihistamines would help I'd try them. Right now I'm on Entocort and have done great on those since I started the first part of Nov. My 2 month course of treatment with that will be over soon. So I'm anxious to see how I do without them. I'm off all gluten, casein, soy and egg. Plus no rice, corn, oats or almonds.

lorimoose · Post by **lorimoose** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:45 pm

Hi Nancy,

I take Benedryl every evening. It was a lucky coincidence that I took them for a different reason, but then noticed my LC was better. I just kept taking them.

Lori

Post by **tex** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:40 pm

Hi Nancy,

As Lori mentioned, some members here have noticed that when taking antihistamines for other reasons, their MC symptoms improve. Others have tried them, just to see if they could notice any difference, and many have been surprised to discover that they do help.

Others have tried them because they noticed one or more suspicious symptoms during or after eating. For example, they may have noticed that within 15 or 20 minutes after eating, they develop an itch, or a rash, or they notice throat congestion, or an increased heart rate, or their nose runs, or their eyes water, etc. Sometimes those symptoms may be rather subtle, but they are all symptoms of mast cell activation (releasing histamine).

Some members have found that as they taper their dosage of Entocort, if their symptoms begin to return, they may be able to resolve the symptoms and get back on track by taking one or more antihistamines. For some of us, antihistamines seem to work as effectively as Entocort.

I kind of doubt that our GI specialists realize this, but apparently (at least IMO) corticosteroids suppress inflammation by suppressing mast cell numbers and activation. In my book, I cited a research reference that shows that corticosteroids suppress mast cell numbers, so it isn't much of a stretch to recognize that this implies that corticosteroids suppress the release of histamine. So IMO, this is basically the reason why antihistamines work so well for us (because by preventing histamine from attaching to histamine receptors, they provide the same general benefit as a corticosteroid, and they do so with far less risk of side effects). Of course this is just my theory, but it seems quite logical, and it's tough to argue with good results.

Tex

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:42 pm

Nancy, I didn't know I had histamine issues but was getting some tiny signs that occurred months after my diagnosis of MC - heart racing, hives, bump on gum after eating certain foods and I have always had oral allergy syndrome to birch it's just MC has made my sensitivities even stronger and more pronounced due to I am guessing leaky gut?? who knows. All I know is I am very sensitive and have finally found an antihistamine without corn starch - it has sucrose but have to see if I can tolerate that. Everyone is different though. You may not have a histamine issue with your MC. Most of the symptoms are noticeable.

babs

barbiem · Post by **barbiem** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 3:45 pm

also one of my newest symptoms after eating is swollen glands on my neck?? anyone else experience this??

babs