I'm assuming this is just a test to see what you react to and you can add things back later if they aren't what you are reactive too. If so I'd be willing to do all for a while but not all of it forever. This is a long list but I'm going item by item...
-No alcohol, especially wine - I'm currently on meds that conflict so I've had to but it's only temporary, plus that last few times I had wine didn't go well, but I'm fine with whiskey go figure. -No cheese, yogurt, or other fermented dairy - I have done this for intervals in the past. I couldn't stay away, but I don't have any issues. -No pickles or olives - I can't eat these ever and I don't miss them. -No fish - I can't eat this ever and I don't miss it. I have a seafood allergy that includes most fish. -No tomatoes - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No citrus - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No berries - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No chocolate - This was the hardest for me to give up after cheese and I went back, no issues. -No lunchmeat - I'm actually fine with these but don't eat them generally. -No beans - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No nuts - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No vinegars - I'm actually fine with these but gave them up without issue before -No tea - I'm actually fine with this but gave it up without issue before -No wheat (at least I already do this one) This is the only one on the list I haven't tried to give up completely even short term. I love carbs but I tried to give up wheat for a while to support a friend with an allergy when we had been cooking together. -No leftovers - This one doesn't even make sense. If it's fine tonight what is supposed to happen between tonight and lunch tomorrow? I am seriously curious.
So short answer over all, I'd give them all up for a testing period, but not for life.
Post by twodogsandababy on Feb 16, 2014 23:56:50 GMT -5
Our friend's little boy has a rare histamine disorder, and they recently tried this diet after many other failed treatment attempts. Our friend hoped it wouldn't work well enough to have to stick to it, but so far it has. Her son is doing much better. She will eventually try to add things back in, but she had already eliminated much of the list before going to the full list.
My allergist put me on Atarax (25mg,three times a day) for 6 months. It cleared it up and most of my other allergies too.
They don't like to prescribe it (too many people fall asleep on it) but I would certainly ask to try that before cutting out all of those foods. It took about two weeks for my body to adjust to not being sleepy/cranky but then after that I was fine.
My allergist put me on Atarax (25mg,three times a day) for 6 months. It cleared it up and most of my other allergies too.
They don't like to prescribe it (too many people fall asleep on it) but I would certainly ask to try that before cutting out all of those foods. It took about two weeks for my body to adjust to not being sleepy/cranky but then after that I was fine.
Atarax is one of the 5 I'm on. I'm actually one of the lucky few who don't get too tired on it--it worked decently for a year or so, but then stopped controlling them very well, so I have to take a bunch of others in combination now.
I don't have any advice, but wanted to give you my sympathy.
I am also one who gets very itchy, but not to the extreme you do. I once had the skin patch testing on my back to figure out what might me causing the hive like reaction on my face. When they took off all the patches, my entire back was all red because I had reacted to the tape. They had to wait a day before they could read the results of the testing.
I have had red itchy bumps on my face for years now. They are itchy and look like acne. I have seen multiple doctors and not one has been able to figure out what is causing it. Thankfully, I only get 4-5 at a time so my face doesn't look too awful.
I know how frustrating it is to itch all the time. I don't think I would give up all those foods, but my issues aren't as bad as yours seem to be. If my face gets worse, then I would be willing to give the diet a try.
Post by theintended on Feb 17, 2014 8:19:59 GMT -5
I think I'd do it for a month just to know if it helps, then add things back in slowly. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't truly be able to enjoy any of those things because I'd be wondering if they were the issue. I'd rather be able to clear a few of them off the danger list and be able to make an educated decision about whether/when to eat the others.
I could probably do it. It wouldn't be fun. H and I are going sugar free now. It's really hard but doable. Just make a list of things you can eat and go from there.
Itch, without question. I mean, what on earth would you eat?
Also, why is leftovers on the list? I don't get that. And what constitutes a "leftover"? Because I can imagine some definitions covering a lot of food prepared in advance at restaurants.
So the idea is that as meats decompose, they generate histamine. So only the very freshest meats--you should really buy meat and cook it the same day and not eat it after that.
I experienced this with shrimp once. Got giant hives all over my face, and a friend was just fine. We suspect they were just slightly on the older side--not unsafe, but enough to have generated histamine that I would react to. Shrimp are notorious for that kind of reaction.
Huh, this is interesting.
Sometimes, DH gets a weird reaction when he eats shrimp... but, not very often. I wonder if this is why.
For the past two years, my mother has been having really weird, random reactions to food, and they think its a histamine issue. It's really sporadic, like maybe only once every month or two, but it comes out of nowhere. I'm just curious, did yours start randomly, and then build up more frequently?
She's got some appointment with a specialist on the calendar, but the guy was booked out months in advance, so she's been waiting for ages to see him.
So my issue is physical urticaria. It started more or less spontaneously about 5 years ago. My biggest trigger is heat--so exercise, hot showers, etc. all give me hives pretty reliably, although the condition also ebbs and flows from day to day. I am trying to figure out what explains the day-to-day fluctuations in severity, and it seems like it has to relate to food somehow, since my showers aren't hotter or my workouts more difficult. I also react to physical pressure (waistbands, jewelry, light scratches) but again to varying degrees.
I take a ton of antihistamines, which helps some but doesn't solve the problem. I also do allergy shots, which are awesome for nasal allergies, and maybe help with this, but not enough.
I test allergic to a ton of foods, but eliminating all those foods for a month didn't solve the problem. After that month, I added wheat back and it clearly made my symptoms worse, so I avoid that now. But it was too much for me to try to avoid all the allergens long term--they were things like wheat, soy, eggs, most fruits, all fish, most nuts, etc. Also all the substitutes for wheat like rice. Just not sustainable. Much like the above.
Basically my body seems to overproduce histamine in response to way too many things. The body tampers the histamine response with something called DAO. So I may try naturopathic DAO supplements to see if that helps. Maybe your mom would benefit from looking into that? It seems to help a lot of people--I've never tried (but I'm one two-day-prime away from having some).
I was thinking about this more. Once, I read that a natural remedy to getting mosquito bites to stop itching was to take the hottest shower you possibly could, and just stand there for a while. I don't remember the specifics, but the point was that the heat activates the release of the histimines that cause the bites to itch, and eventually, you drain them all out and get relief for for a few hours or a day or however long, until your body can build the histamines back up, at which point the bites will start itching again, and you start over.
You already know that heat is a trigger for the release of histamines, but it might be a bigger factor than you think. For example, have you noticed if the reactions are worse during certain times of the month or day or year? Since the body temperature changes throughout the day, and throughout your menstrual cycle, and is a half degree warmer on some days than others, I'm wondering if that has an impact. I'm seriously talking out of my ass here, as I have no idea if this has any basis in scientific fact, but I figured it was worth throwing out there.
Anyway, if you go on an elimination diet, I'd ask your doctor if it would be worth also monitoring body temperature throughout the day and month, and charting your reactions against that. Maybe it's not wine that's causing the hives, maybe its wine + workout + bad time of the month, in which case, maybe your hives would be minimized if you drink wine on certain days, stick to white, and take a cold shower.
Just a thought from this internet doctor. Hugs to you for dealing with this.
So my issue is physical urticaria. It started more or less spontaneously about 5 years ago. My biggest trigger is heat--so exercise, hot showers, etc. all give me hives pretty reliably, although the condition also ebbs and flows from day to day. I am trying to figure out what explains the day-to-day fluctuations in severity, and it seems like it has to relate to food somehow, since my showers aren't hotter or my workouts more difficult. I also react to physical pressure (waistbands, jewelry, light scratches) but again to varying degrees.
I take a ton of antihistamines, which helps some but doesn't solve the problem. I also do allergy shots, which are awesome for nasal allergies, and maybe help with this, but not enough.
I test allergic to a ton of foods, but eliminating all those foods for a month didn't solve the problem. After that month, I added wheat back and it clearly made my symptoms worse, so I avoid that now. But it was too much for me to try to avoid all the allergens long term--they were things like wheat, soy, eggs, most fruits, all fish, most nuts, etc. Also all the substitutes for wheat like rice. Just not sustainable. Much like the above.
Basically my body seems to overproduce histamine in response to way too many things. The body tampers the histamine response with something called DAO. So I may try naturopathic DAO supplements to see if that helps. Maybe your mom would benefit from looking into that? It seems to help a lot of people--I've never tried (but I'm one two-day-prime away from having some).
I was thinking about this more. Once, I read that a natural remedy to getting mosquito bites to stop itching was to take the hottest shower you possibly could, and just stand there for a while. I don't remember the specifics, but the point was that the heat activates the release of the histimines that cause the bites to itch, and eventually, you drain them all out and get relief for for a few hours or a day or however long, until your body can build the histamines back up, at which point the bites will start itching again, and you start over.
You already know that heat is a trigger for the release of histamines, but it might be a bigger factor than you think. For example, have you noticed if the reactions are worse during certain times of the month or day or year? Since the body temperature changes throughout the day, and throughout your menstrual cycle, and is a half degree warmer on some days than others, I'm wondering if that has an impact. I'm seriously talking out of my ass here, as I have no idea if this has any basis in scientific fact, but I figured it was worth throwing out there.
Anyway, if you go on an elimination diet, I'd ask your doctor if it would be worth also monitoring body temperature throughout the day and month, and charting your reactions against that. Maybe it's not wine that's causing the hives, maybe its wine + workout + bad time of the month, in which case, maybe your hives would be minimized if you drink wine on certain days, stick to white, and take a cold shower.
Just a thought from this internet doctor. Hugs to you for dealing with this.
That home remedy totally works for me. Actually I use it to manage this issue as well--I always take a hot hot shower before important client meetings. If I can force a big reaction in the morning, I can buy myself several hours hive-free. I call it "burning" and it's totally a verb in this household (e.g. "Babe, I see you're itchy, do you need to go burn?"). I do it before bed a lot too. Thank god I'm not prone to dry skin.
I actually react to cold too, so it's really more of a major change in body temperature than being warm or cold. I wear cropped leggings to my bar class and I have to walk a mile to get there--I show up with big red squares on my legs where my skin touched the cold.
I need to be better about keeping a diary of symptoms, food, and reactions. It's hard because they all overlap so much and also since I travel so much it can be difficult to control all those variables to track them accurately.
I was thinking about this more. Once, I read that a natural remedy to getting mosquito bites to stop itching was to take the hottest shower you possibly could, and just stand there for a while. I don't remember the specifics, but the point was that the heat activates the release of the histimines that cause the bites to itch, and eventually, you drain them all out and get relief for for a few hours or a day or however long, until your body can build the histamines back up, at which point the bites will start itching again, and you start over.
You already know that heat is a trigger for the release of histamines, but it might be a bigger factor than you think. For example, have you noticed if the reactions are worse during certain times of the month or day or year? Since the body temperature changes throughout the day, and throughout your menstrual cycle, and is a half degree warmer on some days than others, I'm wondering if that has an impact. I'm seriously talking out of my ass here, as I have no idea if this has any basis in scientific fact, but I figured it was worth throwing out there.
Anyway, if you go on an elimination diet, I'd ask your doctor if it would be worth also monitoring body temperature throughout the day and month, and charting your reactions against that. Maybe it's not wine that's causing the hives, maybe its wine + workout + bad time of the month, in which case, maybe your hives would be minimized if you drink wine on certain days, stick to white, and take a cold shower.
Just a thought from this internet doctor. Hugs to you for dealing with this.
That home remedy totally works for me. Actually I use it to manage this issue as well--I always take a hot hot shower before important client meetings. If I can force a big reaction in the morning, I can buy myself several hours hive-free. I call it "burning" and it's totally a verb in this household (e.g. "Babe, I see you're itchy, do you need to go burn?"). I do it before bed a lot too. Thank god I'm not prone to dry skin.
I actually react to cold too, so it's really more of a major change in body temperature than being warm or cold. I wear cropped leggings to my bar class and I have to walk a mile to get there--I show up with big red squares on my legs where my skin touched the cold.
I need to be better about keeping a diary of symptoms, food, and reactions. It's hard because they all overlap so much and also since I travel so much it can be difficult to control all those variables to track them accurately.
Wow, this all sounds incredibly frustrating. I really hope there's a breakthrough for you soon. And it is good you do not live in the water-shortage state anymore. I think some of the towns are starting to fine people if their water usage rates don't decrease by certain amounts. That would be like adding insult to injury for you.
Wow, this all sounds incredibly frustrating. I really hope there's a breakthrough for you soon. And it is good you do not live in the water-shortage state anymore. I think some of the towns are starting to fine people if their water usage rates don't decrease by certain amounts. That would be like adding insult to injury for you.
Seriously - hot showers allow me to function. I would not handle that well!
That menu would pretty much mean no mexican, which would make me sad
Right now Mexican is such an easy go-to wheat-free thing for me.
I think this menu is so impossible I should not even consider it.
I did a pretty strict diet a few weeks ago for a DietBet challenge and thought this would kill any Mexican food (which I love) my fiance and I came up with a few great alternatives which we'll incorproate regularly to get our mexican fix-
Quinoa + black beans, taco seasoning, onion, jalepeno & cilantro. We had lime juice, too, but I guess that's out for you! It was delicious! Also did a similar version -quinoa, taco meat (obviously make sure it's gluten free, or just use chilli powder + cumin + salt) with green onions + red bell peppers on top.
We pretty much use Quinoa in place of rice/potatoes regularly. Love it!
I've learned that giving up wheat isn't bad at all. But the combo of it all is so overwhelming. I hope you find a good resolution. Maybe you go see that good allergist you recommended for me? She's back in March.
Just sending my good wishes. Do what makes you feel is best.
That is definitely in my plans!
In the meantime, everyone cross your fingers that this random supplement from Amazon solves my whole life.
My allergist put me on Atarax (25mg,three times a day) for 6 months. It cleared it up and most of my other allergies too.
They don't like to prescribe it (too many people fall asleep on it) but I would certainly ask to try that before cutting out all of those foods. It took about two weeks for my body to adjust to not being sleepy/cranky but then after that I was fine.
Atarax is one of the 5 I'm on. I'm actually one of the lucky few who don't get too tired on it--it worked decently for a year or so, but then stopped controlling them very well, so I have to take a bunch of others in combination now.
How did you figure out that stress was a trigger?
Sorry for the delay in response.
We figured out it was stress because instead of that elimination diet, the doc put me on an Rx Liquid hypo allergenic diet for a week. Even on that, whenever I spoke to my mother I broke out in hives. So I kept a journal and whenever I was stressed was when the hives came. and we are talking hives as big as my hand.
The PP who mentioned heat as a trigger has now got me wondering ...
Down here in heat/humidity hell I get a rash under my bra and my underwear line during the rainy season. Big scratch the skin off type rash. But since it is always hot and it only happens when it's raining out. I thought I was allergic to some form of topical mold that grows on the skin.
I keep that under control by taking fexofenadine (they don't sell atarax down here).