Hi Redditors!

I’m writing this in hopes to get some understanding of my own situation and of the effect GABA has on me.

I’ve been suffering from either HIT or MCAS for a while now. Personally, I think more MCAS this time. During a strength training workout I get itchy and the next day I wake up with red rashes on my forehead. I also get a little itchy when I wake up, especially the day after a workout, and sometimes when I start earing. But literally, when the food enters my mouth or maybe even before, not after 5 minutes of eating or something.

I figured this must be MCAS, but if you think otherwise, please educate me. Because of this sub (thanks!) I started experimenting with GABA, and it seems to work very well. I started with 1,5 gram in the morning and before bed. No more reactions at all, not even during a strength training workout. The only downside is, I seemed to notice I stopped waking up with a hard one, and maybe I felt a bit less horny. A part from this I literally don’t notice anything. No sleepyness or something. The last 3 days I lowered the dose to 1,5 grams per day (so total dose split in half) and so far so good. This in hopes to wake up with a hard one again (it worked) and since 3 gram per day is apparantly a lot (is it?).

My two questions:
- the fact that taking GABA took away all my symptoms within days, what does that day about the root cause of my problem? Is it MCAS and related to my nervous system then? Or does it mean something else?
- Did anyone else experience the same with GABA and did you have other side effects and what dose did you take?

Appreciate you thinking along! Wish you a good day!

I have ADHD and years before I was treated for it via medication I was diagnosed with panic disorder, however once I started the medication I was delighted that I stopped having severe panic attacks throughout the day everyday, and only had milder ones occasionally, so that is my background.

However, I do have histamine issues (I had them before the meds but they made it a little worse) and I tried the choline potocol (a multi vitamin with folate & the right B vitamin levels, creatine, choline, TMG & glutathione mainly) and it worked a treat - however as my meds wear off (at different points in the day) I started to have severe panic attacks again. I stopped the protocol except for the multi ever other day and creatine (just 1.5g) daily and the panic attacks stopped but the histamine symptoms came back.

I then read about the role copper plays producing DAO, so I got an ionic copper drops supplement and took the recommended dose each day and it worked for my histamine and I was delighted, however just over a week into that I stared having severe panic attacks again when my meds wear off.

These are not caused by worry or whatever, they come absolutely out of nowhere. And because the copper is a totally different mechanism to the choline protocol, it seems like it is directly related to histamine itself.

I don’t know what to do. I m stopping the copper today and then I was thinking of reintroducing it minimally and gradually over time to see if I can find a level that doesn’t cause the panic attacks, but I really want to understand what is going on. My meds are still working as well as always and it took me almost three years to get the right combination and doses so I know there is nothing to change re those.

Any thoughts or recommendations re what the issue might be are much appreciated.

How many of you with Histamine Intolerance have a root canal done and how many of you believe your symptoms have started since then?

Plus if anybody got the root canal removed please leave a comment.

Hi all! First time posting on here and relatively new on my high histamine journey. As the title says, I’m curious if anybody else has researched or experienced histamine intolerance in conjunction with a negative reaction to birth control pills.

At the end of August, I (26F) started taking noreth ethin fe, a low dose combination birth control pill. I previously tried several combination pills during my teen years but stopped due to it causing depression. However, this time around, I would get lightheaded and heart palpitations around 10-15 minutes after taking my pill that would last for about 5-10 minutes. On my fifth day, I had an extreme version of that where I had a racing and pounding heart, dizziness, and felt like I was on the verge of passing out for about four hours. My brother is an EMT and I had him take my vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, etc), and he said aside from my heart racing, I was technically okay. It was an extremely traumatic event, and I still sometimes get anxiety at bedtime that I’ll start feeling bad again.

My OBGYN suggested I stop taking the pills immediately, which I did, but I’ve been having on and off symptoms since then that seem to be in line with histamine intolerance: heart palpitations, light headedness, a “buzzy” kind of headache, joint pains, nausea, and dizziness. I have gone several days to a week without having symptoms, but they always seem to come back. I started tracking my diet and have noticed (so far) that chocolate and soy sauce seem to be trigger foods for me and cause cardiac issues, but it’s been very frustrating dealing with this, as this has never been an issue before.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I’ve read that estrogen and histamine work hand in hand, and an increased estrogen level encourages an increase in histamine, which increases estrogen, and so on. But the fact that it’s now been almost three months since I’ve taken any birth control and I’m still having issues is puzzling. Anyone have any advice or similar experiences? If it’s worth anything in the hormone category, I also have PCOS, which was diagnosed about three years ago.

Better animal DAO or Vegan DAO?
Any brand in particular?

I can see HDU is different between vegan and animal why is that? Which is more effective?

Is it just me or does anyone notice an enormous difference in histamine symptoms as well as mental health symptoms between the gelcaps versus tablets?

I've been struggling for years, though some other issues were involved. Celiac and sleep apnea diagnosis within the past 3 years. Granted, part of it might be that I recently had some settings changed on my CPAP that could be helping. But I noticed a big difference getting back on Claritin. I used to do Zyrtec and montelukast at night and sometimes a Claritin in the morning, but I'd feel so off most of the time and rarely sleep great. I stopped talking montelukast awhile ago and just stuck with the Zyrtec at night, honestly forgot about Claritin cause I was sick of buying it. I found an old bottle and just popped one in the middle of the night cause I was feeling like crap and couldn't sleep. I was out within 30 min, no grogginess in the morning. It's so weird. Maybe my body just got too used to the Zyrtec and I just needed a antihistamine switch. I dunno. I have been taking a dao supplement occasionally, but rarely. But if I feel my symptoms, and especially at night cause they really affect my sleep, Claritin helps so much than anything in the past. Sorry if this sounds like a Claritin add lol, just happy to find some relief for the time being

I’m assuming it’s water retention but I’m constantly puffy. Anyone else experience this?

I read that it uses histidine to go on and create carnosine in the skeletal tissue and muscles. If that's the case then could lowering histidine for a little while help with histimine symptoms? I'm not experiencing any issues with histimine anymore since learning about this issue, but atm I'm currently dealing with a Salicylate issue that I've never had before. I believe I got it from an overdose of Birch tree oil that I made a soda with. It was really scary heart palpitations.It is very similar to histimine symptoms as well so I hope this helps anyone that may feel stuck with this. It's a couple of different avenues to go down and look at.

My body loves (safe) vegetables but I’m running into an issue with salad dressing. Can anyone give me some recipes? I’d like a variety to choose from.

By the way I can tolerate Greek yogurt.

Due to a mystery inflammatory intestinal issue (which I suspect is the main cause of my HI), any food at all can trigger a bad flare that requires a short prednisone course to resolve. Due to my condition, I can’t eat multiple times a day. As a result, my main protein and calorie source right now is a desperate attempt to get calories, sodium, and protein in one meal.

The issue is money. That meal is unfortunately not exactly low histamine. DAO works, but the amount required keeps increasing fast as the state of my intestines worsens. I’ve already found alternate vitamin and high calorie sources that are much lower histamine. The issue is protein. Due to picky eating, I only ate two meat sources before HI and they are both very high histamine so this food intolerance essentially made me full vegetarian.

For most of my life I’ve relied on dairy for protein and have developed some dependence on it. I understand at this point I probably will have to start eating meat but I can’t say I’m not concerned by how fast it spoils with the state of my intestines. Would processed chicken still be low histamine or would it be bad? I unfortunately can’t risk even slightest chance of food poisoning at all with how bad my gut is already. I even stopped consuming uncooked dairy. Or maybe there’s non meat alternatives? Idk at this point.

I’ve found that I can tolerate choline sources (eggs, specifically) tremendously better if I do not take my ADHD meds - Adderall IR to be specific.

While medicated & eating eggs, it causes tragic mood swings, irritability and borderline rage. Un-medicated, none of the above.

Anyone else have a similar experience or insight on the increased choline intolerance?

Hi! Can i get an advice of how did you know if your body has histamine intolerance or has mcas? Did you just observe your symptoms? Then self medicate and worked for you? Or did you consult a doctor?

I have reactions to most food including dairy, sugar, histamine, and gluten intolerance.

Instant oatmeal in the pouches always helps my digestive system keep moving. If I do not eat it daily, my entire system seems to just stop and then my nerves in my body start flaring and some sort of autoimmune reaction starts building. I do not sleep and pressure in my body builds.

However, I realize now that oatmeal also causes my left ear to itch. The itching stops when I do not consume oatmeal. This may be cross contamination to gluten.

This is not a matter of just switching to gluten-free oatmeal because I can only tolerate oatmeal in the little packages. When I buy the huge Quaker canister, as soon as I open it, pieces seem to just fly all over and it seems really raw and dusty and my digestive system reacts. The little packets are somehow less dusty.

1. What exactly is Oatmeal doing for me?

Soluble fiber, beta glucan, insoluble fiber, prebiotic, short chain fatty acids, butyrate?

2. What non-gluten, non-dairy, non-histamine, non-sugar food would reproduce this effect that I could eat maybe daily?

Previously I made a post about how I have felt HUGE reduction in symptoms after taking PQQ and NMN.

You can read about it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/HistamineIntolerance/comments/1xr763y/huge_relief_from_my_symptomsmcas_mitochondrial/

Since then Ive realized I cant continue taking NMN because it is just overstimulating my nervous system a bit much (Dont worry my reaction is highly unusual, I am a super high responder).

But I didnt give up and kept on experimenting with supplements that support ATP production.

I took Alpha Lipoic Acid - ALA (brand is Swanson).

On me personally, the effect is very very similar to what I felt with NMN, minus the crazy overstimulation of my nervous system. Most symptoms are gone, and I feel very very good.

Alpha lipoic acid drives glucose into cells and fuels ATP production.

The only caveat is that you need to take it with some fast carbs - fruits, rice, whatever low histamine carbs you can tolerate.

Even after having some mango and grapes, about an hour later I Felt ravenous, but after some more grapes, truly amazing feeling.

Its like my organs are finally receiving the energy theyve always needed.

Important to note: My gut still needs healing.

Today I had more prebiotic fiber than I usually do (I usually take very small doses), and it triggered a fairly big reaction.

This indicates that my gut still requires healing, but the energy distribution issue is the other factor in this equation. Trying to heal my gut is gonna be much much easier when I am feeling good and not swimming in symptoms, and can tolerate healing foods better.

For anyonw wondering: My symptoms included Depression, Anxiety, brain fog, skin sensitivity/itching, GI issues, rapid heartrate.

I simply wonder how it all correlates together... whether I first developed (or had even since childhood) mitochondrial issues which then over time stressed my gut to the point of histamine intolerance, or if my gut triggered my cells into cell danger response and caused this energy distribution imbalance.

I honestly just wonder, I am not a biologist so who knows.

However I believe there should be more awareness raised about this, about how MCAS and HIT are related to energy production, cell danger response and mitochondrial dysfunction.

It may not help everyone, but in some cases it could save lives.

Everybody is told to look into the gut - correctly so - but not everyone is alerted about mitochondrial function.

Heres a little info on it: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZQ7LJ_BOQZc

Other supplement that is worth looking into is CoQ10 (gives me bad side effects but may help you!)

Thank you for helping me raise awareness.

I would post this in the MCAS subreddit but sadly I cant, I dont have good relations with the mods there and have been banned. But I truly believe this could help so many so I invite you to reach out there if you can,

I was given a bag of Ryze Mushroom Chicory and was wondering if anyone else has tried it and if it causes a reaction.

Just curious to know, as I'm on day 2 of a round of antibiotics for an infected tooth. I'm not sure if it's the antibiotics, the infection or something else.. but wow, I'm feeling more crumbier than usual! 😕

I need some high calorie snack options and have no idea what’s a good choice that others have liked?

No ingredients other than cellulose, calcium laurate and hypromellose. I took 1/3 capsule in water approx 300 g. I timed it 2 hours before my nightly histamine dump but I started flaring after only 30 minutes. What’s up? Thank you.

I am suffering secondary histamine intolerance. Since 2024 post covid 19 ( I do belive snake venom or any venom at all) Well since that time I`ve learnt that there is something even worse than starvation is food could be your enemy or this dumb body itself

That diseae is not just about being allergic part but the unknown what may happen. I`ve grown eating anything from cheap shit from shop to oysters etc. Last night my friend had eaten fish and two hours later or so something like cereals with milk , I`d die painful death trying to even touch that. While at the same time a couple hours later since I am underweight ( gaining weight and histamine intolerance is impossible) well I `ve decided to add one spoon of ghee more and use the fat from the pan, which was fresh. So my friend was fine and me? Well I had histamine attack from brain fog to stomach pain to even heart beat over 100 for 7 hours straight. That fate even devil himself would not create something that evil. I am also saying I`ve taken 30 k hdu of dao for that meal and yet attack was upon me

I feel afraid of food guys, I feel afraid of eating anything below 0 sigh food . I have surivved pseudo-anaphylactic reactions and everytime I feel spikes in my tongue I stop eating and going to check it. I feel like nut with this diesase. I am suffering from this shit and I do not know what to check my dao is fine in blood eat I get this attacks. I wasn`t allergic to anything befor covid 19 but I feel like am allergic to anything now , my life is pure suffering

I am wondering if anyone has quit not only caffeine but coffee and decaf coffee and noticed a difference? Until recently i would have said that coffee doesnt effect me negatively but adtet really asking my body what she wanted, it was a clear, "quit coffee". So I did and my anxiety went way down, the first month was a trigger and I had worse symptoms as I was recalibrating but now i am finding a new baseline and feeling pretty good.

Still, having an occasional decaf though. So I guess I am asking if anyone has removed both caffeine and decaf coffee to better results? And how much did removing them move the needle for you?

I've been all over the place trying to figure out why the fuck I've been waking up non-stop from 12AM to 2AM, feeling wide awake without any ability to fall back asleep. When this first began, I felt adrenaline-like rushes and woke up with a high heart rate, though those two have since subsided, and now I just keep waking up at that timeframe instead.

A few sources mention dusty bedsheets can be a trigger for dumps. I NEVER had dumps at this time of the night before up until nearly 3 weeks ago when it suddenly began to happen out of the blue.

I recently took out an AC that had a shitton of dust and mold growing out of it and wondered if debris from that maybe spread across my bed and be a contributing issue.

I cut a lot of histamine out of my diet for a bit and I still suffer from this, only getting 1-4 hours of sleep per night. I also recently recovered from a cold however the congestion and ear clogging has persisted and has not gone away and sometimes the nasal congestion gets worst for no reason if I sit in bed at night

Do you take DAO to eat histamine foods or do you take DAO for safety and still avoid histamine food? How long before a meal you take it?

I take Intoleran DAO Plus capsule which contains 20,000–30,000 HDU (0.3 mg) of Diamine Oxidase, paired with 38 mg of quercetin and 20 mg of vitamin C. I take Vitamin C Liposomal both meals and Quercitin Phytosome one meal. For me I take 15 minutes before meals and helps with some symptoms however I still react badly to high histamine foods (i.e. cheese, salami, vinegar, almond, etc.). Is this normal? Or should I take higher DAO doses?

currently in week 4 of the fall brain fog period, i think due to leaf mold.

Falling so far behind at work. sitting here trying to get it together to start another day. my brain is full of cotton

DISCLAIMER: I am a high responder, tiny amounts of supplements usually affect me more than others. While this works for me extremely well, I cannot promise this will work for you. However you can try going in a similar direction to gain benefit.

I have been trying to support my ATP production and my mitochondria.

I've tried PQQ - it calmed my histamine symptoms almost immediately, but there was something even better.

NMN (nicotinamide mononucleotide, precursor to NAD+, drives energy production, DNA repair etc.)

When I first took this supplement, it was a little bit too much.

I took about 140mg, and while it dissolved almost all of my histamine symptoms nearly immediately, it also put me into a fight or flight state and triggered a lot of anxiety. I spent some time on the verge of a panic attack. However when this passed, I just felt incredible, I had tons of energy and it was as if my MCAS symptoms either disappeared, or they stopped bothering me.

For example, when I am on this supplement I can still get mild skin irritation after eating or while showering, but to be honest I really don't mind. It is completely benign, and the majority of my nervous system stays calm, energetic and happy.

After the first dose which was clearly an overshoot for me, I tried microdosing it.

Simply dissolved about 150mg in water, and took a few sips until it felt just right. I have no idea the dose, probably like 5-10mg but I have no idea really.

Be careful to get methyl donors when taking NMN - B Vitamins / b12.

The immediate histamine symptoms I was experiencing after my meal - gone, all of them. I started feeling energetic and full of life, something I haven't felt in months!

Why does this work?

To be honest I don't know, I do have a theory that it helps turn off the 'cell danger response', which happens in mitochondria, and it may have been one of the main driving factors behind my MCAS.

I am also not taking this supplement in a vaccuum.

I am taking B vitamins, sublingual B12, magnesium Omega 3, vitamin D3+k2, Low histamine probiotics, Zinc w copper and just started prebiotic fiber (helps me ground the energy from NMN).

I drink a little bit of low histamine meatstock every day to help repair my gut lining.

I am on a 'fairly' low histamine diet (although I am trying to introduce as much variety as I can, and now even having more foods I reacted to previously, such as eggs, meat and almond milk, since my symptoms are no big deal).

After a couple of days of this, I think I have started going through a die-off, where my gut is healing more deeply (again I can't be sure of this, but I think this is whats happening in my body right now to the best of my knowledge). Mitochondrial function and the gut are very closely connected.

I honestly feel amazing. I feel better than before I developed MCAS symptoms, and I am very happy.

I am sharing this because while my response seems rare (miraculous even), I hope this can help someone else. This is such a life changing supplement for me, I cannot even describe this.

If you're wondering about brands, they're both local Czech brands so if interested just find some reputable sources in your location:

Ted talk over, thank you.