r/HistamineIntolerance

Hi there, I have confirmed hydrogen SIBO. IBS-C for 20+ years. Multiple healthcare providers, gaslighting, the usual. Crazy headaches this year and inconsistent reactions to food. Unbelievable distention.

I realize no one has ever suggested MCAS, histamine intolerance etc. I asked my GI for a DAO test and was told no. So I went to an allergist yesterday and she scoffed.

I’m fed up. I’ve been uncomfortable for decades. She wouldn’t entertain it. But I realize today she’s not the gatekeeper of meds or treatments. I can get an independent test (though it looks expensive) and the meds are OTC.

How important is an official diagnosis? Are y’all just bootstrapping this?

I posted here a LOT when I first got started eating low histamine. It was always nice to see success stories (big or small), so wanted to post my own-maybe it’ll encourage someone else just starting out. :)

I developed HI after my first covid infection (Jan ‘25). Perimenopause likely also played a role, but Covid really kicked it into high gear. All my symptoms were strictly neurological (you can search my user name in this sub if you want details). I also have true (IgE-mediated) food and environmental allergies-my HI didn’t show up anything like them.

I’ve eaten very strictly low histamine since about late Jan 2025. It was pretty hard at first & what I ate was super limited, but also almost immediately worth it for how much better I felt.

I use DAO (Seeking Health brand is the one I like) on occasion (eg: if I’m eating outside of my home), but not as a “get out of jail free” card to eat whatever I want (doesn’t really work that way). I also take Vitamin C & quercetin regularly.

Over the past few months, I’ve been trying small amounts of things I couldn’t eat before, and so far it’s going well. It’s pretty exciting! Happy to answer Qs if anyone has them.

I've had food and environmental sensitivities since 2018. I need Epi if I have brewer's yeast; I have hives/mouth itching if I have coconut/pinapple. My upper throat/nasal area swells horribly if I am exposed to marijuana or certain fragrances. I still used to eat plenty of other high-histamine foods like kimchi, soy sauce, distilled liquor, etc. My IgE has always been negative for any allergies despite having reactions. I have been told I have nonallergic rhinitis and food sensitivities to explain this phenomenon, but it just feels incomplete. I have been on Ipratropium Bromide spray for a little while and don't know if it's doing anything.

I started exhibiting issues with intolerance to other higher-histamine items/liberators last year, around the time that I developed Sjögren's disease, but possibly coinciding with some stomach issues. I ate low-H for a while and seemed to gain many foods back. My stomach got hit with something I ate that it didn't like again around April, and I haven't been able to eat much/somewhat strict low-H diet since. The stomach issues at that time resolved somewhat by starting DAO again, so I wonder if that's a clue as to what could be going on.

I have been tested for MCAS twice now, and nothing. I often question if everything was exhausted, but on my second allergist/immunologist now, so I'm running out of opinions/tests. This recent one did various histamine tests too, including a 24-hour urine, and nothing. Super low-h, actually, given my DAO and quercetin usage, probably. I am on Allegra and Pepcid 2x daily, azelastine, and Flonase, and all seem to only help a little.

What is the likelihood that I'm still dealing with something like HI? Any chance it could still be MCAS? How do you all tell the two apart? I see them used a lot interchangeably on here. I am waiting on SIBO results to see if that could be a factor and want to work on possible leaky gut since it seems my stomach could be a trigger. I have also lost a lot of weight, and we can't figure out why, aside from a slight decrease in intake due to dietary restrictions.

I'm still reacting when I eat histamine foods. I.e. never had issues with nuts; tried a rice crispy with trace peanuts the other day and got 2 hives, an uncommon symptom from a food I've eaten in years past. My other common symptoms include flushing, itching, shortness of breath, throat discomfort, dysautonomia, etc. Some symptoms cross over with Sjögren's, making this even more difficult to discern. Any thoughts on my situation or similar situations are appreciated as I don't even know what problem I have for sure or how to approach it atp.

Ive been following SIGHI diet for quite sometimes and it helped me a lot managing my symptoms.

But i have also noticed eating low histamine foods like broccoli, blueberries, lettuce and cucumber which are high in fiber including some almonds and walnuts which categorized as 1 on SIGHI diet, i still having flare ups from eating them even in a small quantity.

I believe someone with HIT are also need to be careful with the amount of fiber we are consuming.

Does anybody have any stimulants/wakefulness promoting agents that work for them?

I’ve tried Armodafinil and caffeine. They both give me hives, brain fog and itchiness. Especially armodafinil. Caffeine I’ve tried multiple forms, not just coffee, all the same result.

As I understand it most stimulants (prescription or not) release a lot of histamine but wondering if there are ones that work for those with HI.

Sorry i know many people are asking this but its just so hard to follow it.

Ive started a low histamine diet about 3 and a half weeks ago- sadly only after a week was i remided zero coke has in fact caffeine, so more like 2 and a half weeks of dieting.

Im also lactose intolerant and a few days ago i ate some steamed vegetables and it had sg similar to cottage cheese so that might also contribute (couldnt take lactase pills, i was only later told that it wasnt lactose free) to me not feeling better.

It was earlier that day or the next day when my migraine started and its my 6th day having it. The eczema just started around my hairline, and ive been bloated almost after each big meal (like not just since the slip up, in general).

Im just not sure if this restrictive diet is worth it if im costantly thinking about chocolate/ fast food/ my zero coke. Did that meal ruin the almost 2 weeks i did before? Should i feel better? My migraines arent as strong as normally MAYBE (well i also dont always have migranes thats last 6 day, more like headaches where on some days i have migraines) but 6 days of it on a diet like this feels crazy 😭

If you read all this: thank you so much 🙏

Tried dao and quercetin for my eczema which is caused by food intolerances - wheat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol. I tried both supplements for a week about a month apart and both made my exczema and food sensitivities worse. After a couple of days of taking quercetin and then trying a food trigger(caffeine) my reaction and skin flare was 10x as redder and had spread to my shoulders and neck when normally my exczema is just on my arms. Within 30 minutes of taking intoleran DAO - pig kidney I was itchy all over my body and had a runny nose. Does anyone know why this could be? I’ve read so much about these supplements helping other people.

I see the claim all over the internet that tea inhibits DAO. However, I have never seen a scientific paper whose findings support this statement. Has anyone ever seen such a paper? I'm not interested in statements from websites that do not cite direct evidence.

So on Saturday night it happened again for the 5th or 6th time. I had gone out for a lovely meal (big 6 course Japanese tasting menu), and had a few glasses of rosé. Then when I came home I started to feel a bit bloated and sick, I could feel something sort of pushing up at my throat. Decided to have a shower and try to calm down and then went to sleep. I woke up 1 hour later shaking and confused, not really sure where I was but I knew from experience I needed to throw up. So I went to the bathroom and made myself sick. Immediately afterwards I felt better and was able to go back to sleep. A similar thing has happened in the past. With the following combination of events
carbonara for dinner + few glasses of wine + after a day of skiing
Kebab for dinner + drinking a mix of things all day (lots of Berliner Luft) at a day festival
Chicken nuggets for dinner after the club + a mix of drinks
Now tasting Menu + rose + some Prosecco and a beer and cocktail throughout the day + swimming in a river (clean river)

I think it happened one or two more times. The pattern is always the same, big long sunny day, a bit of alcohol, big meal. Then I go to sleep, wake up pale sweaty and confused, throw it up and I’m fine. The easy answer is alcohol right? But thing is I’ve throw up from alcohol many times (I’m 20 and at uk uni and been drinking since 15) and it feels completely different. With alcohol you still feel drunk afterwards, you also usually throw up before sleeping, and you throw up because you’re dizzy and drunk. This is far more uncomfortable, my body feels painful and bloated, I don’t feel drunk at all, i haven’t drunk enough to get drunk, I always fall asleep and wake up, and I always feel fine after being sick.

I mean my reaction to alcohol isn’t great either. A few beers bloats me to an uncomfortable level and can sometimes make my heart race to the point where I can’t sleep. I almost never get a buzzy drunk feeling unless I haven’t really eaten anything. My hangovers also seem to be awful especially for my age. Likes upper intense headaches, my whole body gets swollen and red and itchy, and i feel really sensitive physically and emotionally all day, even after a couple beers where I won’t be drunk at all.

I’m a medical student and I’ve been trying to read about it but it’s really difficult to categorise this kind of thing. I can’t imagine a doctor would really have the time of day to figure this out unless I went private or asked for specific tests. I don’t really think I need a diagnosis but I want to be able to predict or prevent this a bit without having to be super restrictive on diet/alcohol unless I really need to. I’m toying with a couple ideas of histamine sensitivity, reactive hypoglycemia, thyroid disorder, wheat sensitivity. But tbh I have no clue.

I mean maybe a simple answer is I should stop drinking but that’s so boring ya know. And no I won’t go to weed instead because I’ve had terrible experiences with that too (vomiting + paranoia). I’m at a point where I really fear drinking because I just can’t predict how it’s gonna go that day, and that’s not much fun for a 20 year old student. If anyone has had a similar experience or has some advice/sources for me I’d be very grateful.

i used to visit this subreddit around 2018. Back then i was in a chronic state of disaster and helpless. i ate a standard diet with milk products which was destroying my gut.

Really bad skin issues (90% healed by today), insomnia: reliably gone for the past 3 years..

and social anxiety vanished even my posture has changed. i still get mystery gut-related mood dips sometimes that destroy my energy. But when not in a flare up i feel phenomenal in a way ive never felt before the past 2 years.

The main thing ive been sticking to is basing most calorie intake on starches. i even reintroduced gluten without any issues which is a sign that leaky gut is resolving. Also massive intake of plain beans which i believe is resulting in the butyrate/propionate boost that healed the leaky gut and skin issues.

I confirmed many times that i cannot reintroduce tomatoes, they trigger a dry eczema on the side of my nose and affect my energy. And olive oil makes me feel awful for some reason. Im still sensitive to milk products, i think its acasein allergy.

im curious to read what people have been doing that made a strong impact long term.

Hi there gang,

I'm officially giving up on healing my HIT...thought I can somehow make it happen. As an optimist at heart, I've been "fighting" this for the last 15 years.

All kinds of blood tests, all kinds of doctors, all kinds of supplements and of courseall kinds of diets. At the end, nothing helped and I always return to base.

I'm lucky enough that it doesn't destroy my entire life, as I have a relatively mild form I guess. It will sucks like hell though. Basically running my life on 60% of what I'd be capable of. :-(

Will stop the rant here...just had to get it out...

I have MCAS and HIT and I'm about to start the meds I mentioned. Thing is, NaturDao gives me bad insomnia (via MCAS) and racing mind and I'm curios if someone became tolerant after those meds.

If they won't work for me, I'll give them away for free.

Also, can't take porcine based DAO because I also have Alpha-Gal which causes a severe, long lasting anaphylaxis episode.

I've had my HI for about 10 years, and now for multiple summers in a row, I've struggled immensely with the heat and symptoms. I also feel like I get depressed from it. In the winter, I never struggle with things like this. Does anyone else have similar experiences? Everyone else I know with the same condition doesn't seem to have anything similar.

I'm mostly energy drained the whole summer and have even stopped doing some sports that I loved just because I can't really do anything for long in the sun. I track what I eat thoughtfully, but I can't seem to find any patterns, as I'm pretty strict in summer about what I'm eating and what not.

I started taking quercetin, but that takes a while to really help.

TLDR: Depressed and less energetic in summer, wondering if someone else has similar experiences, and might know something that helps.

I am trying to improve my fitness, and did a workout that was accidentally too intense yesterday. I felt inflamed before going to sleep, then I simply woke up and stayed awake for much of the night. I also got a couple hives. I’m sure most of y’all were already familiar with this-but apparently in the case of muscle fiber micro-damage, the mast cells produce lots of histamine to recruit the immune system to come help repair the cells. I’ve never experienced this on such a visceral level before! Will definitely make sure my workouts don’t get to that level in the future.

Anyone ever experienced toungue tingling? I have been having this symptom for over a week now. I am taking allergy shots weekly. I have had anxiety eye twitching toungue tingling and neck tightness.

Sup fellow sufferers of life,

Those of you who supplement beef kidney, how many capsules do you take before a meal?

Thank you 🙏

Does anybody else with histamine issues react really badly to caffeine and ADHD medication? I can't take any meds for my ADHD because I feel way to anxious and jittery and hypersensitive to it. I can't drink a single cup of tea without sort of wanting to die a few hours later because of how tense and uncomfortable my body feels, along with the anxious feeling. Wondering if anyone else is absolutely unable to consume any of these like I am or if something else might be causing this.

Over the last few years I’ve been dealing with worsening fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, rapid hair thinning (no family history), and lack of appetite. I also cannot tolerate alcohol, especially beer.

I’ve tried nearly every diet you can imagine and I’m starting to suspect histamine intolerance partially due to my sensitivity to cheese, nuts, processed meat, and beer.

I wanted to ask if there’s a good way for me to confirm this. Also, outside of the obvious high histamine foods what foods/drinks should I be avoiding? And are there any supplements I should try out? Thanks

Does anyone else have anhedonia related to histamine intolerance? I have anhedonia, an inability to feel emotions, as well as abdominal bloating. Any advice or treatment that has worked for you would be greatly appreciated.

Earlier this year, I finally figured out that I seem to have histamine intolerance after about three years of progressively worsening food intolerances.

I had basically every GI test imaginable come back normal/negative ... colonoscopies, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, thyroid, stool cultures, parasites, SIBO testing, etc. I honestly started wondering if I was imagining the whole thing.

My dietitian eventually noticed that a lot of the foods I was reacting badly to were high in histamine or histamine-releasing foods: collagen protein, ground beef, eggs, Greek yogurt, etc.

I started taking NaturDAO 1,000,000 HDU with every meal, and initially it helped quite a bit, but lately it barely seems to work.

Because I also have chronic bloating, gas and frequent bowel movements, we assumed something in my gut (possibly SIBO or dysbiosis) was causing the histamine problem.

So far I've tried:

• 20 days of rifaximin around Christmas
• About a month of InterFase Plus as a biofilm disruptor, 200 mg enteric-coated oregano oil & berberine with meals (natural sibo treatment)

None of it improved the histamine reactions. If anything, they've gotten worse.

I also saw an allergist a couple of months ago. Standard food allergy testing was negative, and I had a baseline test plus four sets of bloodwork during reactions to investigate MCAS. According to him, the results don't support MCAS.

The main abnormalities were low WBC at baseline that increased into the normal range during a reaction, plus elevated eosinophils. My allergist said that pattern made him think about some type of allergic response or possibly parasites, although parasite testing I've had so far has been negative.

My reactions to high-histamine foods can be pretty intense. Without DAO, I'll sometimes get significant swelling/tenderness around my neck and lymph node area, pressure in my head, and feel awful for about 2–3 hours before it gradually subsides.

So my main question is: Can histamine intolerance be caused by something outside the gut?

Are there problems involving histamine metabolism, immune reactions, medications, nutrient deficiencies, liver function, genetics/DAO production, chronic inflammation, environmental allergies, or anything else that can cause this even when GI/SIBO treatment doesn't help?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who had clear histamine intolerance symptoms but eventually discovered that the underlying cause wasn't SIBO or another obvious gut problem.

I don't want to keep on killing my stomach with things to "kill" the bacteria when it might not even be a stomach issue.