A slide backwards :(

[tex]

I have a question: can mast cell degranulation be caused by exercise?

Definitely. On a secondary level, since stress is associated with cortisol levels, cortisol levels probably also play a part, but mast cell propagation and mast cell degranulation are where the rubber meets the road.

Histamine Release & Exercise

Tex

[Nettierud]

Is it possible that the body builds up a tolerance to the antihistamines for those of you that take them and that it's not a food trigger at all that is causing some of these backslides?

[Leah]

thank you Jean!.

[carolm]

Thank you Tex. It could have been moving all the landscaping blocks (which is certainly something I don't do every day) combined with my spring allergies was enough to give me a few symptoms/ general 'gut crankiness' the next morning. As I get back to exercising I can see I'll just need to take it more slowly than I planned. Thanks too for the link-- I thought I vaguely remembered hearing that but could not put my finger right on a source.

Since then I have been able to do things, like help my daughter move, carrying things to a UHaul truck, including a couch-- which later we moved up to a second floor apartment-- and I had no trouble the next day. But my spring allergies have calmed down too and I can tell a difference. I guess this shows me what a balancing act all of this is for me (and others). I can push the limits but occasionally I'm going to slide over the edge too. I need to be prepared. Also the article mentions the connection between motion sickness and histamine. I had never made that connection before, but I have always been prone to motion sickness. I'll be more aware of that now.

Nettie-- I don't know the answer to your question. When we finally have a hard freeze I try to get off of my antihistamines-- so usually from Dec to Feb I try to stop taking them just for the reason that I don't want to get acclimated if I can help it.

Carol

[Lesley]

I have always been prone to motion sickness

Carol, you and me and poor little Licorice.

[carolm]

Lesley, I'm sorry Licorice suffers from motion sickness. How do we help our pets with that?

C.

[tex]

Is it possible that the body builds up a tolerance to the antihistamines for those of you that take them and that it's not a food trigger at all that is causing some of these backslides?

Yes. Not only is it possible to build up a tolerance to virtually any medication, but many people also build up a tolerance to certain food sensitivities. For example, many celiacs are asymptomatic to gluten. I developed a tolerance for casein (IOW, I don't show any clinical symptoms if I eat dairy products), but since an EnteroLab test shows that I produce antibodies to casein, I totally avoid all dairy products.

However, remember that developing a tolerance to a medication does not mean that the medication will cause us to react. It merely means that the medication will not be as effective (a larger dose may be required) or it may no longer show any benefits at all. In order to react to a medication we would have to develop a sensitivity to it, and that's an entirely different issue.

Tex

[Gloria]

Jean,

I hope you can determine the culprit to your gradual decline.

I only take the Histame when I eat avocado because it's high in histamines. I've been eating small amounts of chocolate a little more frequently that I should have, and I started getting some deterioration. I never have taken Histame with the chocolate, though perhaps I should have. I've stopped eating it completely to see if things get better.

Gloria

[JeanIrene]

Leah, I know you will get this figured out soon. I feel so bad this happened, as you have been so good at monitoring your diet and helping us when we have problems.

Jean

[Leah]

@ Gloria. I just ordered Histame. You said you take it when you eat avocados. Does it help? Do you also take it when you have any leftover meat or do ou just not have leftovers? I also noticed that tomato and vinegar is on the list. Do you stay away from mustard and ketchup or is the amount used so small, that it wouldn't bring on a reaction. What the heck will I put on salad now, just oil? Gosh, I'm hoping this Histame works.

Leah

[Kari]

Hi Leah - sorry to hear you're having issues :(. I'm only too familiar with what that feels like. Throughout the almost 3 years since I started working on the diet, I have had countless downturns and am finally starting to come to terms with it as a part of life. I believe my biggest problem is histamines.

My diet has been and remains very simple, but I still react. When I first tried Claritin a couple of years ago, Norman made an unexpected visit, but it didn't take long for the effect to wear off, and I started to react to Claritin. The same happened with Histame - it worked for a while, but then it turned against me. Now I'm ready to try Allegra to see if that will help.

The best I've been since starting the diet was after I got my MRT results and eliminated all reactive items. I couldn't believe how quickly I felt great. However, after some time, I started a very gradual backslide and that's when I figured out that histamines were a huge problem. It's interesting that it showed up after I seemingly had resolved all diet issues.

Anyhow, I'm generally feeling strong and well, despite not having firm BM's. They range from watery to mud to slightly firmish, but certainly far from normal. I only go once or twice and sometimes three times a day, and don't have the urgency, so I can certainly live with this. My experience is that I simply cannot control my BM's no matter how diligently I try. If anything, the more I try, the worse it gets, so I have had to learn to relax about it.

To deal with MC seems to require more patience and tenacity than anyone can expect to have, so please remember to be gentle with yourself as you deal with this chapter of your MC journey.

Love,
Kari

[Leah]

Thank you kari. it seems like i am following in your footsteps. Where I am right now, is very similar to where you are. it's livable. I am going to only take the Histame when i eat something suspicious. That way, maybe I won't get tolerant to it.
This is definitely a long, ongoing adventure. Like you though, I feel pretty good most of the time and am able to do everything I want to....except Eat!

Oxox
Leah

[Gloria]

I just ordered Histame. You said you take it when you eat avocados. Does it help? Do you also take it when you have any leftover meat or do ou just not have leftovers? I also noticed that tomato and vinegar is on the list. Do you stay away from mustard and ketchup or is the amount used so small, that it wouldn't bring on a reaction. What the heck will I put on salad now, just oil? Gosh, I'm hoping this Histame works.

I can't say whether or not the Histame helps. I sometimes forget to take it, but I don't notice a difference. However, I think histamines and mast cells tend to build up over time, and then suddenly cause a problem.

All of the meat I eat is frozen leftovers. I don't ever eat tomato, vinegar, prepared mustard or ketchup, but I do use dry mustard. I was disappointed to see that even dry mustard is high in histamines. I thought it was the vinegar in prepared mustard that was the problem.

It's pretty impossible to find a salad dressing without vinegar. I'm still not able to eat lettuce, but once I can, I'll just add some almond milk to my homemade mayo/dressing to make it thinner. I make my own mayo/dressing because I couldn't find any mayo/dressing w/o eggs, soy and vinegar. My recipe is in Dee's Kitchen. I substituted the vinegar with dry mustard to give a little "zing" to it, and use 1/4 c. roasted hazelnut oil for a nice flavor. The remaining 3/4 c. oil is either almond or walnut oil. I use it to spread on my tacos with lamb or turkey. It's pretty tasty. I also saw on Jean's list that walnut oil is moderately high in histamines, so I may have to stick with almond oil.

This histamine problem is pretty pervasive. Many foods can aggravate our mast cells, and many conditions also can. I recently had a lump on my head and wondered what it was. Even DH could feel it because it was about an inch in diameter. One day, I noticed it had gone away, but left a small scab in the center. I then realized it was probably a hive, because it also itched when it was large. I recently was gardening without a hat and the next several days had itching on my scalp. I can feel small scabs on my head in spots now, too. And I've got an itchy spot on my back - the same spot I had one last year before my whole back became itchy. I'm applying cortisone cream to it and will probably have to start adding a Zyrtec pill to my bedtime routine until summer is over. I think the mast cells ebb and flow, depending on many variables. We just have to do the best we can to minimize them.

Gloria

[wmonique2]

Leah,

Have you tried lemon instead of vinegar? Olive oil and lemon is very good and doesn't seem to hurt me...also, when I use vinegar I buy the mildest form of vinegar, rice vinegar.

Monique

[Leah]

Monique, I usually don't do well with citrus, and it is also a high histamine food, so I don't know if it's better then vinegar for me. Thanks anyway :)

Leah