Years ago, I was at the dog park and started talking to a woman about health. When I told her I mostly work with chronic illnesses, she said, “look up this new diagnosis out of the UK. It is called histamine intolerance. I think it’s going to be the next big thing to explore.”
That was back in early 2023 and she wasn’t kidding. I see histamine intolerance as analogous to mast cell activation syndrome. Mast cells in our immune system produce histamine. That is why anti-allergy medications are called anti-histamine.
With an increasingly toxic world, people’s immune systems are often working over time. In mast cell activation syndrome, highly sensitive inflammatory and allergic cells in various parts of the body release chemicals which can cause many symptoms.
Symptoms can include allergy symptoms but also brain fog, fatigue, headaches, insomnia, anxiety disorders, hormonal imbalances, POTS and mitochondrial dysfunction.
The diagnosis of mast cell activations can be worked up in lab work. Sometimes a person has a trigger that kicks their mast cells into overdrive. This could be from a vaccine or foods like gluten, dairy and histamine containing foods.
As with many conditions, it is important to reduce the triggers. The triggers can be stress, high histamine foods, allergens at home, chemicals at home and in medications. One of the reasons I like compounding pharmacies is that the medicines are more pure and often free of additives. In highly sensitive people, there may be reactions to fillers in medicines and it is best to have medicines as pure as possible. Even thyroid medicines sometimes contain color dyes.
There is a whole field called psychoneuroimmunology which encompasses how are immune systems, psyche and immune system are inextricably combined. Calming our minds and nervous systems can result in a calmer immune system
Part of addressing mast cell activation can be to support mast cell stabilizers including quercetin, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and certain medications.
Identifying food allergy and sensitivity triggers can decrease the allergic load.
Acupuncture can help calm the nervous system.
Balancing microbiome can help with immune system modulation.
Medications can be a step to having relief while the causes are explored. Because the causes are so multifactorial I recommend decreasing the toxic load.
If you have or suspect you may have mast cell activation syndrome, please feel free to contact me for support.