This thread is AMAZINGLY interesting to me! I've been recently diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and am trying to learn more about histamine, not only because I have very limited knowledge on the subject but because it seems that so do my doctors, LOL.
So many things mentioned in this thread are fascinating!!!
I think I've had mast cell issues for a long time, although being only mildly symptomatic (sensitivity to light, mild pruritus when exercising in the cold, etc) but when I started taking the birth control pill 5 years ago, everything went to hell.
Reading the vassopressin posts made me laugh because one of my business was running a fetish shop and organizing fetish themed balls.
After the BC, I had no energy, brain fog so thick I couldn't even play videogames, riddled with unexplainable anxiety and depression, having debilitating pain, basically becoming the opposite of what I had been. Social interractions became almost unbearable, I would have to constantly ask myself "what would I normally say or do right now?"
I'm trying to learn more about histamines, hoping I can go back to what I once was. Already I'm doing much better, following a low histamine diet and identifying and avoiding triggers. The thing that helped me the most was to stop exercising!
It's fascinating to see how I react to nootropics depending on the day. Sometimes taking modafinil will "fix" me for a few hours, another time I will take it and it makes me worse. Same thing with kratom, which I love when it works because it takes the pain away, gives me energy and helps me focus, but I guess as mentioned in this thread, opioids being a histamine releaser, sometimes taking kratom will make my histamine vase overflow and I get the opposite of what I am looking for.
My problem right now is that I have trouble understanding the studies I am reading on histamine because I am but a layman when it comes to neurotransmitters, etc.
My doctor wants me to take H1 and H2 anti-histamine everyday but not only do they not do much for my main issues (anxiety, brain fog, lack of energy, and extreme edema, i.e. the clothes I wore before a shower will no longer fit after the shower) and when I mentioned this to him (he is considered an allergy specialist here in Montreal) he replied that those issues were not related to histamine, which seems uneducated to me from what I am reading so far.
So I am trying to learn more about histamine receptors through the current brain fog and see what I can do to speed up the process of getting back to my life! Any advice or information appreciated!
Oooh, forgive the long post, I got carried away and didn't re-read before posting!
Lucky for you, endocrinology is an area I'm most familiar with..
First of all, it is true that women tend to be prone to higher histamine to men; especially when on the pill or in a state of estrogen-dominance - estrogen has the action of actually increasing not just histamine production but also upregulating (increasing the amount of) histamine receptors of the H1 type; those are the ones responsible for asthma and pruritis and itching disorders...
The catch is that although histamine contributes as a part of the whole balancing act in fluid distribution - estrogen has separate effects that have nothing to do with histamine as well.....
In terms of libido and such, you could ask your doc to switch you to a combined testosterone + estrogen pill that may be less dampering on your libido - alternatively, you can get off the pill entirely and advise partner/partners to use protection...of course that doesn't always work out, lol.
I do not advise nor recommend the use of pharmaceutical anti histamines - as they tend to just worsen a lot of issues or worse yet, CAUSE new cognitive / hormonal issues to appear !
Your best bet may be to continue eating a "low histamine" diet, and adding a butterbur/rosemarinic acid supplement may help..there's one by life extension products which tends to cool allergies, anxiety and it also may actually help improve memory as it doesn't obliterate histamine or block the receptors - it merely stops your mast cells from over-reacting due to stress or hormone influence etc
I'm not sure of all the laws over there in Montreal, but You should consider discussing pill alternatives or at least combined testosterone;estrogen in the women's ratio!
Feel free to contact me for more advice via PM here,...
~JAY
Edited by Area-1255, 03 March 2015 - 12:07 AM.