Histamine Intolerance Helpers

You need help. Here it is. 1) Start with an antihistamine. I take Cetirizine or Fexofenadine. Others may prefer Loratadine. Take daily as directed for best results. Occasional use is not as helpful here. 2) Add Famotidine. This is very well tolerated by most people. Take once a day in the morning, or as directed for best results. (I strongly prefer this to a PPI, or proton pump inhibitor. PPIs reduce stomach acid too much over time, and tend to cause issues with digesting food and absorbing nutrients). If you prefer to skip this step, or take on days you think you may require it, that is your decision. 3) Add a DAO enzyme to your regimen. This is the STAR of this show. If you do nothing else, do this. I like NaturDAO. It is vegan and has a good strong dosage. Do not be afraid of this. You have heard of Beano for beans and lactase for lactose (dairy sugar) intolerance, right? Enzymes are powerful and safe. Enzymes are what your body already uses. DAO is the enzyme for histamine overload. If your histamine load is causing allergy-like symptoms, you are most likely low in natural DAO. This is most often because of your genes. In most cases, if supplementing with DAO does not work, it is most likely because you are either taking too small of a dose or you are not taking it regularly just before meals three times daily, as directed. I suggest addressing this as the most probable cause first before saying it does not work. (Or you may have a less common issue with your genetic anomalies. If you believe this is the case, genetic testing for gene SNPs is your best bet. This is rare but possible.) Don't expect miracles overnight. Give this time. It may work right away. If you are really overloaded with histamine, it may take longer. You should see improvement within two weeks, probably much sooner. The DAO does not build up in the body. The histamine will build up if you don't have enough natural DAO or don't take enough DAO enzyme to degrade that excess histamine. 4) Google the SIGHI list. https://www.histaminintoleranz.ch/downloads/SIGHI-Leaflet_HistamineEliminationDiet.pdf It is a free downloadable .pdf file that you can refer to for low histamine foods to eat. Do not randomly stop eating most food. You will end up with nutrition deficits. Try eating very low histamine foods for two weeks. Do you feel better? If so, you are on the right track. 5) Change the way you eat. Add ONE food you miss back into your meals. ONE. This includes drinks or meds too. Pick only ONE. You will or will not see a reaction. Why one? So you can isolate the ONE thing making you feel unwell. I never said it will be easy. Stop eating this food or drinking this drink or taking this med (work with your doctor if it is a prescription) for now if it makes you feel unwell. Keep in mind that you may be able to eat a small amount of something you have a bad reaction with once in a while. (Not allergies to foods - avoid those.) But you may not even want it anymore. Keep adding foods back in one at a time. I strongly suggest you ask Google or Siri if your med, food, or drink is a "DAO blocker." Go through all of your meds, one at a time. Make sure you spell it right and search the brand and the generic. Speak with your doctor if you need to change to a different med that does not block your ability to generate natural DAO enzyme in your body. I cannot stress enough how crucial this is. Look for reliable websites like PubMed, Cleveland Clinic or Verywell Health for more info. Don't believe everything you hear or read from an individual. Their experience may be different from yours. Health conditions, over the counter meds, prescription meds all affect outcomes. Gut biome variability also affects outcomes. H. Pylori? Get that treated. SIBO? Get that treated. You can be miserable from taking a med that blocks your DAO when you need that DAO! I recently had bouts of dizziness, auras, feeling like I was going to faint, and I was even actually falling over. I also had terrible nosebleeds that were not just from dryness. I never want to go through this again. My joints hurt so badly I felt like I had advanced arthritis. It didn't make sense because that would have developed more gradually. I stopped taking taking naproxen sodium. The very med that was supposed to help my pain. NSAIDs taken daily can cause bleeding and ulcers. I now take quercetin with bromelain. The bromelain helps me with swelling. If my blood pressure is fine and I haven't been eating too much salt, this is what I take for swelling. I also added iron + vitamin C to my supplement regimen. Do not take this unless you need it. Iron helps oxygen get to where it is needed. Iron does not absorb well when taken with coffee, tea, many healthy foods, or other antioxidants, so I take it with water on an empty stomach with a vitamin C tablet, which helps the iron absorb well. If I take the famotidine, I wait at least one hour. Vitamin C must be consumed daily, humans do not produce it. It is water soluble and leaves the body quickly. Daily supplements make sense if you can't have citrus fruits. I take 500 to 1000 mg a day. There are many forms available. Ascorbate, liposomal C, and even a version derived from tapioca are often better tolerated by individuals sensitive to acidic foods or histamine. But any form that works for you is okay. So take the time to look those meds and foods up, please, it is worth the time. And it may be the med or food you never thought it could be that is the very thing that is blocking your DAO. Try to eat very high histamine foods ONLY occasionally and ONLY if you really miss them. Or skip them altogether. Everyone is different here. You need to tailor your food intake to foods that work for you. Try to be positive. Try to focus on what you CAN eat vs. what you can not eat. Your success is up to you! Don't try to pick just one of the above, They work best together. What is more important than feeling better? Nothing! Purchase everything you need below. One antihistamine, Famotidine, and a DAO enzyme are the basics. Get started today! Scroll down to see Histamine Intolerance Helpers that work, all in one place: