Low histamine diet anyone?

[Pippidoeswhatshewants]

I have some form of urticaria where the rash never goes away. Currently having lots of tests done and I am on 2 Telfast a day. It makes the itching bearable - just. The itching always gets worse after dinner. That might be because I then sit down and can concentrate on the itch, or because what I have for dinner makes it worse. Probably a bit of both.

I have looked up low histamine diets, and basically have to completely change what I eat and drink. Everything I have on a daily basis in high in histamines or a histamine liberator.

Would anybody like to join me in my quest?

I will cut out tea from today and stick to 2 coffees a day.
Chocolate and nuts will also go as of today.

I've had Ryvita with boursin for lunch. Boursin not being the best choice, but I have nothing else in the house that I could possible have with it.

This weekend will be dedicated to writing a manageable list, going through all of my usual family recipes and making a meal plan for the week.

Let the fun begin!

I'll look at joining you Pippi - have had a similar condition for a few years, generally well managed by 2 telfast a day plus hydroxzine at night but with the occasional flare up (triggered by viruses it seems) - consultant has never mentioned diet being a contributory factor so I'd be interested in hearing more please not no chocolate though

I've got some allergies I'm trying to deal with. Haven't heard of this diet, but willing to try anything. I think.

I'm really interested. I also get a rash as a result if something. Antihistamines presently stop most of the itching

I'm so glad I am not alone! Had a normal dinner tonight and am very itchy, as usual. No chocolate or to aggravate things further, though.

I stumbled across this today, which I thought was extremely informative. She also has a shopping list for low histamine foods on the blog.

I find it all a bit overwhelming and daunting at the moment, tbh!

Quickly Whizzed through that link after a special night out but think I need to give its full attention tomorrow. It seems very it really interesting though

Hm, I've been doing this for 3 days now, and last night I was itching worse than ever. Not convinced this is the way forward, but I'll give it a couple of days more and see how it goes.

What did you eat out of interest? How was it different? Sorry I'm still to read up thoroughly yet

For breakfast I had either porridge with blueberries (minus the usual cinnamon) or Weetabix, both with semi skimmed milk. Rooibos tea instead of the usual black tea.

Lunch was either Ryvita or tortilla wrap with houmous and cottage cheese with pineapple (should really have been without pineapple, but they didn't have plain). Carrot sticks.

Snacks: apples and ready salted crisps, Ryvita with cream cheese and fig jam

Dinner: one night was fajitas, wrap, refried beans (should have left those out), sour cream, fried chicken breast and pepper, lime juice (should have left that out, too). The other night was roast chicken with roast veg.
Tonight was Lasagne, but made with tomatoes. Tomatoes are really not ideal, unfortunately a lot of my cooking is tomato based!

I had one cup of coffee per day. Other than that rooibos tea or water.

So, not too bad low histamine wise, but I didn't notice any difference in my skin at all. I'll keep it up a bit longer, maybe it needs a while to kick in?

I have had this twice, OP. Urticaria for months with no obvious cause. It's miserable - my sympathies. Each time it has gone away eventually. I suspect I am histamine intolerant and my urticaria is triggered when I have had a phase of eating and drinking things which are particularly high in histamines. Hopefully you will find that you don't have to eat drastically low-histamine permanently - just until it has died down.

Did you take anything to stop the bloody itching, holmes? I am on 2 Telfast and it's still killing me.

Thanks that sounds tastey! So no black tea? But red bush tea is ok.

Pippi - I took antihistamines until they no longer worked, but then was prescribed a miracle combination of meds which instantly got rid of the symptoms altogether!

I don't know if it works for everyone, but you take one cetirizine tablet (standard over-the-counter antihistamine ) and one ranitidine tablet (a.k.a. Zantac, which is actually an antacid but apparently also acts on the histamine receptors in the gut, which normal antihistamines don't touch). You take both twice a day. My symptoms had completely gone half an hour after my first dose. You can buy both over the counter. Worth a try!

I'm going to try that mix thankyou

I had chronic urticaria for about 8 months from November time last year. I looked in to low histamine diets, but decided that a) I was probably too lazy to follow it through and b) I was concerned that it was too restrictive and I'd never be able to pinpoint exactly what was triggering the urticaria so may end up needlessly avoiding certain foods IYSWIM.
In the end, my GP prescribed a 5 day course of predisolone (sp) oral steroid. That got it under control, then I managed it with Fexafenadine and, eventually, it just went.
Currently have an eczema flare-up and am on the verge of begging for steroids again (have identified that I am an impatient person who wants quick results and doesn't want to play the long game )

Same here, Avon . I faffed about with my diet for a bit, driving myself crazy with trying to work out what to cut out. Then just thought 'sod this - it's too much like hard work! '

I'm seeing my consultant next week and will definitely discuss ranitidine. I'd much rather pop 2 pills and be done with it, I am not loving the low histamine diet, especially as it doesn't seem to make a difference!

Your consultant will know about that combination, I guess. The gp I went to for my recent bout looked back at the notes from the time I went to a consultant about it before. It turned out she'd recommended the combination for me to try if other antihistamines stopped working. The gp was a bit and said 'Odd that she recommended ranitidine - that's an antacid', but prescribed it for me anyway. And half an hour later. .. no symptoms!

I then cut down vaguely on things I thought might be particularly triggering (booze, cured meats, pickled and preserved stuff) and then occasionally tried stopping the tablets to see if it had gone away. Took about another 6 weeks and now it's gone and I've stopped taking the tablets.

Any time I've taken antihistamines before (including for hay fever), the effect has always worn off when I've been taking them for a while. This combo just totally removed all symptoms 24 hrs a day though. It was like a miracle!

TMI alert: In exciting new developments I had to go for an emergency appointment today because I am now also covered in big, fluid filled blisters

Took the first dose of prednisolone early this afternoon and dh has just lovingly lanced all my blisters. I am feeling a tad better, hoping it's the steroid working it's magic. This is how I like my Friday nights, yay!

If this is what the doctor suspected today, it's not diet related. At least one upside.

I have cholinergic urticaria (18 years now) and I was on zyrtec and ranitidine. Didn't work for me but worth a try
Beta blockers worked briefly. Now on 10mg x 4 zyrtec a day. Consultant upped antihistamines to 280mg (!) and no luck
Last option for me is cyclosporin (immune suppressant) but I won't take it due to side effects
It's unbelievably frustrating, I know

I have to say that the steroids are working brilliantly, this is the first day in months that I am not in pain, it is pure bliss! Obviously not a long term solution, I hope the dermatologist can figure something else out.

goodas my sil is on methotrexate, an immune suppressant, and the increase in quality of life does make up for the side effects.

The problem is works sickness policy
People come to work when not well and I will pick everything up and then get a disciplinary. Just can't risk it. For me, I will live with the hives to keep my job. Maybe in the future though