? for Tex, Polly and/or Mary Beth, re: histamine list vs MRT

[mbeezie]

Carol,

You have to add histamine restrictions on top of MRT. MRT is a blood test and mast cells (where histamine comes from) are not found in blood. When I suspect someone has histamine problems I add histamine restriction, even to "green" foods.

Sorry for my delayed response . . . only get on the forum once and while these days.

Mary Beth

[carolm]

Thanks Mary Beth, I appreciate your help. I've added Benadryl back in at night and backed off my high histamine foods and I am much better. At least I'm not aching all over, so I've seen some definite improvement.

It's good to hear from you.
Carol

[ldubois7]

Carol or Tex.............

I don't have a Walgreens, so in your research did you find any other Benadryl type antihistamine without soy?

Do you know the specific ingredient that contains soy that we should steer clear of? I do take Benadryl occasionally (pink tablet).

Is there another brand that you know of that doesn't contain soy in tablet form?

Thanks!

[tex]

Hi Linda,

I believe that the ingredient that is claimed to be a source of soy is magnesium stearate. This may be yet another case of a little education being a bad thing. While it's true that magnesium stearate is made from hydrogenated oils, as far as I can tell it's almost always made by hydrogenating cottonseed or palm oil. I'm guessing that the armchair experts who are making these claims simply looked up magnesium stearate, discovered that it's made from hydrogenated oils, and assumed that this implicates soy oil.

There are much worse claims made about magnesium stearate than that it might be made from soy. It's claimed by many, (including internet celebrites such as Dr. Mercola), but disputed by others (such as Chris Kresser), that magnesium stearate is capable of suppressing killer T cells.

Well, if that is true (as Dr. Mercola claims, but which Chris Kresser believes occurs at only at an insignificant level), then magnesium stearate would be hailed by many people who have an autoimmune type disease, as a wonder drug. Why? Because this is precisely the way that immune system suppressants such as Imuran, (azathioprine), work. Frankly, I agree with Chris Kresser, that the effect is almost surely negligible, for all practical purposes.

And unfortunately, virtually all of the antihistamines appear to contain magnesium stearate (though I will admit that I haven't actually checked the label on all of them).

Tex

[ldubois7]

Thanks Tex. I have started to become more skeptical about Mercola lately. He seems to put out info at an alarming rate & is selling everything to go with it! I haven't been reading his website as much.

I didn't notice any problem with the Benadryl yesterday, so maybe the soy is very very minimal.

[Leah]

I can't do soy and I am fine with Benadryl ( Kirkland brand)
Leah

[wmonique2]

Carol,

I've had the same questions since I got my MRT...I found out that I am sensitive to tyramine which is basically the same as histamine in term of restrictions...so I 've added to my list all the reds, yellows and histamine restrictions (in addition to low fiber).+ enterolab.

Are we gonna have anything left to eat? ;-) Maybe we'll become like cats and dogs who eat the same thing everyday...

Monique

[carolm]

Hi All, I should apologize. I misspoke when I said I added Benadryl. What I take is Wal-dryl Dye Free 25 mg. To be honest I didn't look any further.

What are we going to eat? The week before last when I stopped all vitamins and made sure I was purging all the soy I ate a soup of chicken, carrots and rice noodles in Pacific Organic chicken broth. Twice a day, every day for a week. And it did work to get things to settle down. After day 6 though I had to have some beef! I've add back in cauliflower, almond butter and occasional handful of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips, and coffee. I'm just enjoying not hurting all over.

I don't think it was my foods as much as it was the additives in my vitamin supplements that were causing me problems. I'm still eating low fiber. I won't push my luck and I figure it might take awhile before I'm really free of the inflammation the soy caused, but overall I am much better.
thanks.

Carol

[tex]

Carol,

Thanks for the update. Every detail helps to improve our insight into this disease.

And it's good to hear (read) that you're feeling much better after making those adjustments.

Tex

[carolm]

I'm still tweaking things a little. Taking 15 mg of Amitriptyline everyday really didn't get me the results I wanted (more regularity), so yesterday I decided to go back to 10 mg Amitriptyline, add a Claritin at night (I take one every morning) and instead of 25 of Wal-dryl at bedtime, taking an additional 25mg but earlier in the evening. I'm switching the focus to address histamine and allergy issues that may be plaguing me. Plus after taking in hidden soy for several weeks I figure the extra antihistamines will help keep the inflammation at bay. Plus springtime is coming to Kansas and my allergies will soon be letting me know they are here. My diet is still basic.

I'm in a slight pattern of C (will go a couple of days with no BMs then have 4 or so in one day) and I'm sure the soy set me back and probably messed up my already messed up motility. I'm hoping to find my way back to daily Normans.

thanks all,
Carol