I have been suffering from rashes, hives, burning itchy skin, lack of strength and a few other ailments. I could no longer train at my max capacity and my health began to slide.
I first suspected it this was a result of an allergy or allergies. My diet and routines are fairly consistent so this should have been a no brainer. I watched and catalogued the times I would break out with hives. Breakouts were anywhere from 10% of my body to 90%. Usually, it ran 75% coverage.
So here is the list I found that caused my hive breakouts:
Heat
Cotton clothing
bumps
working out to hard
sawing lumber
toothpaste
ginger (oh fuck no, not ginger)
spinach
all salad dressings
melons (not fucking melons too?!)
protein powders
wheat
grains (WTF!!!!)
legumes
bamboo sheets
silk sheets
i guess beds in general
You get the idea. But it was never consistent. I even fasted for four days, water only. Then I had nice light salad with some vinaigrette and BOOM!!!
So off to the doctor I went. Four months of testing went by and several grand in cash only to find out...I am healthy. My doctor gave me a referral to a psychologist. Fucking A!!!
Then I started my own research. My basic problem was that I had allergic reactions to everything, but not all the time. Rather fucking frustrating if you ask me.
First question to answer was, is this truly an allergy or an intolerance. Folk get the two confused and once it goes all internet becomes really goofy. An Allergy is a reaction that is immediate, or within 30 minutes of contact. Intolerance is a build up. Intolerance is described as the following; imagine having a cup you fill. As the cup fills, no problemo. Once the cup overflows than BAM!!! There is your "allergic" reaction.
So what am I intolerant too? Glad you asked, Histamine.
Histamine? Yes, Histamine, a compound the body needs to regulate almost everything. Well...crap. When my Histamine cup overflows; symptoms start with joints heating up, skin becomes itchy and then the searing hot hives begin.
Where does this stuff come from? Well the body produces some and the rest comes in the form of food. All food has some level of Histamine, but as the food decays, the Histamine levels rise. To combat high levels of Histamine, the body uses DAO to digest and flush it out.
I know what you are going to say, just take anti-histamines. Nope, nope and nope. I did try this and was up to three 24 tablets a day to combat this. It made matters worse. I found the hard way of course. By creating more of an imbalance, by body reacted by created more histamine. Well suck.
So having studied Chinese Medicine, I know the best health is to bring the body back into balance. I started with the DAO supplementation to help clear Histamine to were I can eat and maintain my failing health. Try to stop the downward slide. DAO supplements are a tad expensive and finding the right dosage is tough. (Still cheaper than a trip to the ER due to ripping your torturous skin off).
No go. I did not notice anything even when I was at twice the recommended dosage. So I quit that experiment.
So I researched for which foods are high in Histamine. I both love and hate the internet. I love that eventually you can find the information you need. Hate the fact that there are so many potheads out there spouting off their empty opinions about things. After 100's of articles and dozens of list showing the high values of histamine, I came upon a simple gem of information.
All food contain Histidine. Histidine is an amino acid we do need to create Histamine. As food decays, the histidine breaks down into Histamine. The longer the food sits before ingesting, the more histamine it will have. Like freshly picked spinach, has almost zero Histamine (hence why some list have omitted it.) You pick it and eat it a week later, it is loaded with Histamine. BAM, here comes those damn hives after a spinach salad.
So even when buying from the stores, you have no way of knowing how long this food has been in decay. That spinach could be a week old, may three. Huge consideration when buying your food (blindfolded of course).
Here is a link to give you some more basics of how screwed you may be. Histamine intolerance or what am I getting myself into.
I backed up to square one and started over. I wrote out my fantasy diet for recovery from workouts, prepping for workouts and for making it through the day without choking people (very important for my dwindling social circles).
The panel said I should be healthy, but the extreme case pointed out I was extremely FRELLED!!!
I looked back through my life as I considered this the end to my warrior ways and saw how the Histamine intolerance had always been there. With the exception of living in Oregon. Why did I feel at my best then? I worked as a banquet supervisor, so I had access to fresh food. I mean fruit and veggies maybe three days off harvest. I also lived between two fisherman. They always loaded me down with fresh seafood. My meals were maybe four days after harvest. So I had a constant source of fresh food (low histamine). But also, my diet was very high in Omega-3s. Two to three times higher than government recommended levels (not something I would recommend as the gospel).So I started taking Omega-3 supplements to enhance my diet. I started with recommended and then went up to 6 grams of fish oil spread through the day. Less than two weeks I was hive free. I could add back into my diet and increase my health and stamina. I have since then switched to hemp oil and reduced to 4 grams a day. I will increase when I feel the histamine markers rise (in my case, the inside of the skin on my wrist start to heat up and itch).
I have been nearly hive free for four years now. They do occasionally rear their angriness when I am stressing out, eating poorly and forget my omega-3 supplements. But I can regain my balance within a day or two.
Now, I'd love to say Omega-3 supplementation will cure everyone of their ills. But you should do your own panel of what you eat and see where you stand. Here is the current Gov Standard for eating NOM.
I am willing to bet most folk do not meet these standards, and if you do, you are probably not meeting your own standards. I know we all run to the doctor for help when the SHTF, but they are only interesting in treating afflictions that make them money. There is no money in Histamine Intolerance. The only way to treat it, is through proper diet.
Imagine not suffering from hives, or migraines, or fibromyalgia or a large host of other imbalances due to something as simple as Omega-3 boosts. I put in the time due to being mortal hurts. I prefer to be back to my old self (or new self now) and continue my path of ascension.Good luck.
