Joan
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First of all, what's your dosage of H1 and H2 antihistamines and how many times/day? Sometimes doctors prescribe too little to be effective. Has your doctor mentioned ketotifen or gastrocrom?
Keeping a food and symptom diary might help. Remember there are foods on the "avoid" list that you eventually may be able to tolerate, and there could be a food group that's allowed but might cause you symptoms (e.g., grains with gluten). It's trial and error. Keeping a food and symptom diary might help.
The guidelines are usually to eliminate everything on the "avoid" list for at least 2 weeks and then see how you feel. I think a month is better. Adding one food every few days will usually tell you if it's a problem. Look at your diary and see if you can figure out what caused any symptoms you still have. Also, some foods cross-react with allergens, for example, melons and ragweed, if you also have allergies.
Keep in mind that a food might bother you one day and not the next, because your "bucket" of mast cell triggers might be more or less "full." When there are too many triggers, one little thing can cause it to overflow, i.e., cause you to have symptoms. If it's not so full, you may be able to tolerate more. Environmental changes, such as heat, weather changes, pollen and mold in the air, etc., can trigger symptoms, too.
As for pasta, check out the websites of Vegetarian Times magazine, the Food Network, and AllRecipes. They have many pasta recipes that use only allowed ingredients. I googled "pasta sauce without tomato" and found a substitute sauce recipe for tomato sauce. Don't know how good it is, though!
Most vegetable pasta recipes without tomato sauce or aged cheese are fine or easily adjusted. You can add meat or not, depending on your preference. If it calls for bacon, you can substitute other cooked meat and add salt. Try using crispy, salty, toasted fresh bread crumbs or bread cubes, tossed with a little olive oil, or toasted salted nuts instead of cheese.
Broth can add flavor to a pasta dish, too. Sometimes a sprinkle of finely grated lemon peel brightens the dish, especially broccoli and cauliflower. Any recipe you use on pasta also can be used with rice. You'll figure out substitutions, too, for example, lemon juice for vinegar, swiss chard for spinach. It's not all perfect, but amazing what you can learn to love! Try to focus on what you CAN eat, rather than what's restricted.
Last thought, have you ruled out clots causing the pain?
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