Histamine Intolerance and Dry Eye

[LaDiva]

For the past six years I have been extremely aware that food directly impacts my eye discomfort. Not only did my eyes feel awful when I drank wine and ate cheese, but the rest of me felt pretty bad too. I was dizzy, had heart palpitations, massive headaches, upset stomaches, anaphylactic skin reactions, and this year, hives from inhaling just about every known detergent and cleaner, scented or not. I've had allergy tests, skin tests, and blood tests until there wasn't much blood left to take. No allergies, nothing. Then I discovered that there are several Facebook pages dealing with histamine intolerance, and so I joined them and found that there are literally thousands of us suffering from the same symptoms. I whittled my diet down to what I thought was a histamine friendly array, but things still were not quite right. Finally, I discovered that for some of us, every bit of histamine consumed has a cumulative affect. The smallest added overload can mean a huge difference, not only to my general health, but also my eyes. I've been on a low histamine diet now for about a month, and must say that my eyes feel 75% better than they have at any point in the past six years. When I overload on histamine, the oil in my meibomian glands solidifies, and my eyes feel like there are rocks in them. Since I started carefully watching histamine levels, the oil quality in my eyes has greatly improved, and become much more viscous. Also, my eyes are not as dry and there are actually times when I do not need goggles. Tonight is one of those times. (A goggle-free evening!) I was delighted to see that for the first time in a long while my lipid panel showed that all of my cholesterol levels were normal. I am not a scientist, but for some reason my body does not process histamine correctly and there is a direct correlation between this and the lipid quality in my system. Histamine is certainly not the answer for everyone with dry eye, but if you are having some of the same type of problems, perhaps this post will help. I hope so.

http://www.diagnosisdiet.com/histami...rance-science/

[grant555]

how do you know it is histamine and not simply rosacea triggers?

[savino]

Which foods do you avoid?

[LaDiva]

Hi Grant and Savino. Grant, it is likely both. I do have Rosacea, but the symptoms are quite different for both. Rosacea does not give you hives, nor does it make you sick from eating foods high in histamine. Savino, the rosacea food list is here: http://www.rosacea.org/patients/materials/triggers.php, and the histamine food list is here: http://www.michiganallergy.com/food_and_histamine.shtml

You will notice that both lists share similarities.

[waterbee]

thank you for mentioning this, im really interested in this whole subject, do you know if its the Histamine-Rich Foods you should avoid or the Histamine-Releasing Foods? im pretty sure my dry eye is connected another health issue (which i will do a post on in a few months, if it does turn out to be connected to raise awareness) but still very suspicious in the meantime of food, and what i eat effect does seem to effect my eyes. i practically live of eggplant (or courgettes as we call them here, especially as i started making it into pasta, to avoid gluten which i thought was worse). ive been trying to challenge the idea lately, but eating lots of things i do think make my eyes worse on good days, driving myself nuts in the hope i can catch the food thats possibly making them worse
did you have skin prick allergy testing done? would it not show a slight reaction to histamine if you reacted? im wondering as i'm looking at having some tests done too regarding this and hopefully will pick the right ones.

[LaDiva]

Hi waterbee. I've had tons of allergy tests done, and am not allergic to any food. No, histamine is not tested per se, but there are ways to test in order to see if one has histamine issues. From what I have read the tests are not always conclusive. There are a number of different histamine related disorders, one of which is mast cell activation syndrome. If I remember correctly, this was not recognized as a syndrome until recently. I do not think I have MCAS, but something is definitely wrong, and it has a direct link to histamine. I cannot eat much waterbee, and follow the two diets listed above, and also do not eat foods listed as being histamine liberators. Eggplant is high in histamine, so if you are eating lots of it and not having any problems that is wonderful. From participating in the FB boards, it is clear that different people have problems with different foods. Why? I have no idea. Some people might have yeast issues, some gut issues, some allergies, and the list continues. As a PS- I used to make a great ratatouille with mild Italian sausage which I served over baked polenta and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It was wonderful, but I cannot eat like than now. Hope that you are feeling better, and I look forward to hearing about your discovery and recovery.

[nori2015]

LaDiva I'm absolutely delighted for you! You have had such a tough time and you've always helped others out so much on this group. I'm just wondering if when you have time you might be able to let us know what you do actually eat now! Everything I eat is on the banned list!

[LaDiva]

Thanks Nori. I would not say I am well, but better. Like I said, everyone is different, but I am able to eat these things:

Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Lamb (fresh, fresh, fresh; the fresher the better), Egg yolks
Yams, Sweet Potatoes, some spelt products (no yeast when possible), Oatmeal, Berlin Bakery Organic Spelt Bread
Celery, Cucumber, Lettuce, Carrots, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spaghetti Squash, Asparagus, Cabbage
Asian Pears, Blueberries, Blackberries, Granny Smith and Golden Delicious Apples, Apple Sauce
Apple juice (watered down), watered down coffee (3/4 cup water to 1/4 cup coffee), Camomile Tea, watered down Blackberry Juice
Almonds and Pecans in moderation, Almond Butter
Almond Milk, in moderation (if I drink a glass of Almond Milk the oil in my eyes completely plugs up. I can have a bit on my oatmeal and it doesn't bother me.)
Fresh thyme (in moderation), fresh oregano in moderation, bay leaf, Vanilla (not extract, but pure vanilla and only a little now and then), salt, garlic, onion
Arrowroot and Agar Agar as thickening agents
Olive oil, Almond oil, Hazelnut oil, cumin oil for flavor

I cannot tolerate any form of citrus fruit, dairy, chocolate, alcohol, tomatoes, or fermented foods. Anything with additives or preservatives is a big problem. Sugar is a big problem (all forms of sugar, although a little Maple Syrup is OK now and then, but I mix it into something else so it isn't pure syrup.) Some foods do not contain much histamine, but are histamine liberators. Coconut is one of those foods, and I cannot eat it at all, so no cooking with coconut oil. (But it might not bother you.)

It takes some real imagination to cook with such a limited list, but it is also challenging and interesting. Recently I made a gelatin desert with apple juice as the base thickened with agar agar. I added blueberries, blackberries, a little maple syrup and a little vanilla. It was good, and it might be even better with a few crushed pecans. I am also thinking about using a little bit of almond milk and thickening this to do a ribbon gelatin desert with the above berries. Have not tried baking yet, but there are different flours you can buy. I seem to tolerate almond products as well or better than most, and have also bought some almond oil and hazelnut oil which don't seem to be a problem either. Someone on TV suggested spelt for muffins and bread products, but you can mix different flours to lighten the batter or give it more weight. Dried lentils and garbanzos are supposed to be OK, but I have not tried them yet. Other beans give me big problems. I've probably left out some foods nori. If they come to mind, I will add them. Some people cannot tolerate berries or coffee because of salicylates, so I am lucky.

[nori2015]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to give it a try. Why was I born with such a sweet tooth?! There's actually a lot there to work with, the only issue I might have will be staying away from chocolate but if there's even a slight chance it'll make me better I'm sure I can give it my all.

[LaDiva]

You are welcome nori. The thing is, I've noticed that when I eat foods not on the OK list, the oil in my glands solidifies. It is a fact, so if you are sensitive to foods high in histamine, it should help the lipid quality, but I am not sure that it does much for tear deficiency. Good luck, and please let us know if this helps. I'd give anything for a big slab of cake with chocolate icing, so I know how you feel.

[waterbee]

Could you give me the name of the Facebook page? I'd like to join. I actually had a cyrex wheat allergies test that showed a borderline intolerance so now I'm wheat free, and keen to look into other foods. I get random rashes some times too so I do think some thing is going on!

[LaDiva]

Hi Waterbee! Here are the links:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/hist...eranceprivate/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/103494953891/

...and one for low histamine recipes:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/HITrecipes/

Good luck and I hope these will be helpful.

[PG]

LaDiva, you said that some people might have yeast issues, some gut issues, some allergies, etc. If histamine was the source of dry eye, would you likely have other issues?

[waterbee]

just saw this old post as it popped up on the forum, i know i wrote a while ago on here, but thought id let you know i had a cyrex wheat panel done which showed that gluten was definitely causing some inflammation, cutting it out has certainly helped, although i dont really know about that unless i eat some, then the next day i can feel a difference and my eyes are slightly more swollen in the upper lids and i groan and wonder why i risked eating that bit of bread or bowl of pasta.
Im now looking into histamine too. but not food wise, a new way. did you know you can have low dose immunotherapy for histamine reaction? they train your body not to react with small doses over a period of time?. its something i'll be looking at doing in 2017. (it benefits many things, not the eyes) i met someone recently whose allergies where so sevear, they had caused major issues even walking, the amount of inflammation was sending his immune system in to panic overdrive.he was misdiagnosed with CFS. he had the therapy for histamine (anti allergic, ect did not help) and its changed his life. this is someone who spend the last 4 years in bed, with a mystery illness no doctor could diagnose. he still doesnt know what he was reacting too. but this treatment for histamine really did change his life. i find it all fascinating and who knows if something like that, (histamine over drive) is partly behind some peoples here, dry eye?