Hello!
Iīd like to introduce myself and tell my story, which started long ago, namely when I was 9 years old (Iīm now 31). I have to warn you - neither am I a good storyteller, nor is English my mother tongue. Please bear with me
I had suffered from insomnia and anxiety even before the age of 9, but only then did I start to suffer from fatigue. After lunch, I always had to sleep in the afternoon, this is how it started.
From 12 on, I started to feel a general malaise in extreme summer heat. This is something that progressed - in the summer months I am out of order.
Hayfever started when I was 15, but nothing too serious, Anti-Hs helped.
I was sometimes flushing after eating, and when being excited or scratching my skin, I had red blotches for some 20 minutes. People used to call my attention to these hives on my neck, but I shrugged it off, cause it didnt itch & I knew they would disappear in a couple of minutes.
The fatigue & insomnia gradually worsened, but it was all explained with a traumatic childhood.
Then, 4-5 years ago, in addition to my fatigue, I started to have days with severe brainfog, I felt completely hungover without having drunk any alcohol. Doctors blamed it on depression. I knew that couldnt be true, cause yes! depression can make you feel completely drained, but it cant make you feel intoxicated, and this is how I felt on some days.
Same happened when I got a combined vaccine, only that I felt like that for whole 3 weeks... I felt so hungover I could barely manage to get through the day, but it got gradually better, thank god.
Then, finally, 3 years ago, my histamine tolerance got diagnosed, that explained it all! When I stood away from high-histamine foods, I didnt have that hangover anymore, I was so happy. I had found a way to almost feel like a normal person after such a long time. I was still fatigued, to a lesser degree, though & still couldnt take the summer heat, but that was "normal" for me.
Slowly, very slowly I started to get more & more sensitive to histamine foods, I had to cut out more & more. Alcohol is now off-limits completely, some supplements, fermented, and all histamine foods have to be avoided much more strictly than before, now also sugar, dairy and gluten started to lead to reactions, which became worse. Before, it was a slight hangover & fatigue the next day (no longer). Now it is all that, only more severe and triggered more easily plus neck pain, permanent urge to void, brain fog, severe anxiety, depression, heart arrhythmia, tight chest/difficulties breathing, that can lead up to 4 days now.
Some non-food triggers appeared the this fall: passive smoke, low oxygen, hunger (this is an extreme trigger for me) / hypoglycemia, my menstruation, hairdye, and above all weather changes affect me for days. One weather change can lead to migraine-like histamine hangovers for days. With the weather changing every 2-3 here I am mostly in a haze
Iīve been having diarrhea for more than 10 years, but that, too got a bit out of control lately... constant nausea came in addition in december 2012 (that has lessened), extreme tense aching neck muscles up to a point that made sitting impossible (slightly better again), lose "popping" joints all over my body (which cannot be explained by the scoliosis that just got diagnosed). Due to my restricted diet and diarrhea I lost close to 2 stones in 4 months... I am not having any menstruation anymore for 2 months.
I had to stop working, cause I didnt manage to push through the exhaustion, brain fog & nausea with shopping and preparing my special-food each morning, which I am heavily dependent on.
I am hardly meeting up with friends anymore, cause I have to cancel so many appointments, never knowing if my health will fail on me or not.
So, could it be that this is not histamine intolerance anymore but rather a strange case of mcas? Iīve never had anaphylaxis... I had histamine induced tachycardia, but thatīs that. I donīt have any cutaneous signs apart from the flushing, only once did I have urticaria after having smoked salmon...
But I wont eat such things anymore, I am not suicidal.
Hangover, brain fog, breathing problems, fatigue and feeling poisened are my main symptoms, but I dont have any immediate reactions. I get them 12 hours after ingesting food... only non-food triggers lead to immediate reactions.
When I read about cases of "real" masto or sever mcas, then I see that what I have is sometimes ridiculous in contrast. Yet, I cannot function anymore. Travelling or working are completely impossible...
I am grateful for each response!
Kisses, Pinkmink