histemine intolerance FAQ

Histamine intolerance occurs when your body has too much histamine. Too much histamine can affect things like sending messages to your brain, releasing stomach acid to digest food in your stomach, and enhancing your immune system to respond to injury or allergiy.

Histamine intolerance may cause many symptoms, including gastrointestinal symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and gas; general symptoms like migraine, headache, nasal congestion, sinus pain, fatigue, itching, hives, and irregular menstrual cycles; and more serious symptoms like swelling, high blood pressure, anxiety, dizziness, and irregular heart rate.

Your body produces histamine. It also produces an enzyme, DAO, that breaks down histamine. If your body has a problem producing DAO, you may develop histamine intolerance. There are many things that may affect DAO production, such as eating too many foods that contain histamines or foods that block DAO, having a genetic mutation, taking certain medications (like acetylcysteine, metoclopramide, propafenone, dihyrdalazine, or amitriptyline), or having IBS.

Histamine intolerance usually stems from an

Making changes to your eating pattern is the main way you may be able to fix histamine intolerance. Taking antihistamines may help reduce short-term symptoms. Some research suggests that taking DAO supplements may help, but more research is needed.

Histamine is a natural chemical that helps your cells communicate. It plays a few important roles in your body, including managing your sleep cycle and supporting your brain function. But it is best known for its role in allergies. Allergies happen when your immune system overreacts to things such as pollen and mold. Your immune system might mistakenly think that these things, which are usually harmless, could be threats to your body. To defend against the so-called threats, your mast cells (a type of white blood cell) release histamine. The histamine tells your body to launch an allergic reaction. Seasonal allergies are often the cause of histamine production in the body, but foods can also contain this chemical.