Meat Intolerance and Menopause

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tex
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Re: Meat Intolerance and Menopause

Post by tex »

Hi Martha,

About 12 years ago, I was incorrectly diagnosed with Parkinson's disease by a neurologist. I started taking a highly recommended (by the neurologist) drug which was new at the time, called Azilect, which is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). The neurologist didn't bother to warn me to avoid foods that were high in tyramine, so at the time, I was still eating things like cheese, and Sriracha hot sauce, which is fermented for months. Within less than six months, I began to have high blood pressure events of unknown origin. Unknown, that is, until I read up on MAOIs. One day, when I got to the emergency department of the hospital, my blood pressure was something like 240/110 mmHg, and didn't want to come down.

Unfortunately, it takes over 35 days (if I recall correctly) to get Azilect out of your system after you stop taking it. About a week after the visit to the emergency department, I was back there with the symptoms of high blood pressure and massive colonic bleeding. I told them to remove my colon if they couldn't stop the bleeding, because both my father and an uncle had bled to death in a hospital because of an apparent genetic defect in the males of our family. I was losing blood faster than they could replace it, and once you replace over half your total blood capacity, your body will begin to reject your blood, because it doesn't recognize it any longer. In other words the bleeding will be self-perpetuating, no matter what you do to try to stop it. In my father's case, for example, the surgeons removed half his colon, but he had received 113 pints of blood by then, so the bleeding never stopped. In my case, they had to end the surgery sooner than they wanted, because my troponin levels were going up, suggesting that my heart was running out of blood, and they were afraid I might go into coronary arrest. They had already given me about all the blood that they dared, so they couldn't give me any more, without exceeding my tolerance/rejection limit.

Fortunately, I managed to survive, but I blame the Azilect, and more specifically, the neurologist, for not warning me about the MOAI risks, that caused me to lose my colon, and almost lose my life. Anyway, my point is, tyramine issues, and MAOIs, are not for the faint of heart.

That said, the question in your situation is whether or not your problem is related to tyramine, or to something else in red meat, because theoretically, at least, plain red meat isn't particularly high In tyramine — It's processed meat, or processed red meat, that's connected with the tyramine problem. You might find the article at the following link (or similar articles), useful.

https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-high-in-tyramine#1

if, in fact, you develop symptoms from plain, unprocessed, red meat, I still believe mammalian meat allergy is a possibility, but I agree that your symptoms do indeed sound like a tyramine issue.

As a side note here, the ridiculous part about my whole ordeal that almost ended in me dying on the operating table, is that I don't have Parkinson's disease, anyway, so it never should have happened. Like so many others, I almost became one more iatrogenic statistic. I've decided that the trickiest part about using medical services is deciding when you can trust their advice.

Incidentally, I believe that Sriracha hot sauce was the origin of my histamine issues. At first, it seemed to be great stuff. But after a while, I noticed that I had a histamine reaction, every time I used it. Despite the fact that I haven't touched it in over 10 years, I still have to constantly monitor the histamine levels in my food, or I'll have a histamine reaction. :sigh:

All my best,

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Erica P-G
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Re: Meat Intolerance and Menopause

Post by Erica P-G »

Hi Martha,

If anything I think it has helped me fall asleep…. So if you notice it keeping you up I’m not sure what to suggest because I think it works best between 11-1 at night. Scientifically I’m not exactly sure why, lol.
To Succeed you have to Believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a Reality - Anita Roddick
Dx LC April 2012 had symptoms since Aug 2007
crervin
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Re: Meat Intolerance and Menopause

Post by crervin »

Tex,
That is so scary what you went through! Medicine can truly kill you. Thank you so much for the information, that is awful! Sadly, I second guess every doctor that I or my family goes to. We try to avoid going if we can. When I have those reactions to red meat, I take my blood pressure to see if it is up and it never is. Two nights ago, I ate salmon to get away from chicken and turkey and I had a dull headache all day along with sinus congestion. My gut is still rumbling through the night and I have had some itching. I didn't eat meat yesterday in hopes to overcome it without taking zyrtec. That is why I believe it is histamine issues opposed to tyramine issues. The last time I ate red meat and had a reaction, I ate a very large steak. I buy the meat from Food City, so I know it is aged before I buy it. I never eat any processed meat, like luncheon meat. I did try Boar's Head turkey a couple of months ago and got those same symptoms, still not as severe as red meat though. I am going to call a local butcher today to find out how fresh his meat is, if it is grass fed beef, and what day would be the best to come by for fresh meat. I am trying to rotate my foods so that 1 day out of 3, I don't eat any meat. I just hate my symptoms are getting worse instead of better! I blame it on menopause truly....I don't want to survive on antihistamines because who knows lifelong what those will do to me. I just don't know what meat to eat anymore :shock: I so need a farm :lol:

Erica,
That is great that you can sleep while taking those! I toss and turn all night as it is now, those pills made it worse :sad: I am so glad to hear that you have found something that helps!
Martha E.

Philippians 4:13

Jul 2008 took Clindamycin for a Sinus infection that forever changed my life
Dec 2014 MC Dx
Jul 15, 2015 Elimination Diet
Aug 17, 2015 Enterolab Test
Dec 2015 Reflux
Sept 2016 IC
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tex
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Re: Meat Intolerance and Menopause

Post by tex »

Martha,

I agree that those symptoms sound as though they're related to histamine reactions, rather than tyramine reactions. And aged beef would have a higher histamine level than fresh beef, so I believe you're on the right track in trying to resolve this problem.

We're lucky here to get a break from most pollen levels during the summer months. But giant ragweed is doing especially well this year with all the summer rains, and it will start blooming at some point during August, to kick off a new pollen season that will last until about May or June.

I wonder if some "new" meat, such as duck, or goose, or rabbit, would be worth a try. I'm guessing you've already tried venison.

Tex
:cowboy:

It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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