What is wrong with my body?! Histamine Edition.

Do you ever feel like you are doing everything right only to still have your body betray you?

Well, with Alpha-gal Syndrome that can happen frequently. You finally have a diagnosis and begin research on how to properly care for your body with AGS. You begin to track your reactions and narrow down the different things your body is having allergic reactions to; food, environmental, medications, hygiene items, laundry products, fumes, you name it... You get your medications going steady and you even have the proper vitamins and supplements to help boost your body back into what is considered normal range. AGS doesn't rule your life! Right? You got this...

Oh, boy do I not got this... After having AGS for more than a year and learning about my body and all the different types of allergic reactions I have and what causes most of them, I am still learning! For several days now I have just been miserable. I have had reaction after reaction, with no culprit in sight. Nooooo. What am I doing wrong? Why is my body betraying me all over again? I thought I was past this stage in AGS? The random reactions that do not make sense or seem to correlate to anything.

(Pictures of my little tomato garden :) I love tomatoes!)

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Here's the kicker. More fun news for people with AGS. If you have had undiagnosed AGS for an extended period of time, it wreaks havoc on the body. Because your body is constantly fighting foreign invaders, i.e. food, environment, medications, hygiene items, laundry products, fumes, etc. Your immune system goes into overdrive, which in turn can cause all kinds of medical issues inside your body. You can develop histamine intolerance, MCAS, autoimmune diseases, anemia, POTS, IBS, GERD, acid reflux, blood pressure issues, blood sugar issues, heart problems, and studies are now showing neurological problems, just to name a few conditions. The list of medical complications that are now being linked to AGS is getting longer and longer. I will save that full topic for another time in its own blog.

So what does that mean for me? I know that histamine reactions, high histamine levels, and histamine intolerance goes hand in hand with AGS. And is also difficult to diagnose by medical professionals. Haha, what are the odds that we have two hard to diagnose conditions?! Most people who have been diagnosed with AGS have some sort of histamine issue. Histamines are found in the body and are needed for the breakdown of food, as well as, they are found in foods. Very similar to AGS. But unfortunately, people with histamine issues cannot tolerate or break down the histamine in the body properly, causing it to build up over time. Histamine intolerance is where the body, white cells, essentially attack things that you may not be allergic to, but they trigger a histamine response. And that histamine can build up in the system causing an allergic reaction at any time. Again, I will be writing more on histamines in a future blog, so I am not going to go into much more detail on the specifics of histamines yet.

Example- Tomatoes are a high histamine food. But I have given up so much food, I can't give up one more. I am not allergic to tomatoes, so I am going to eat them. One tomato may not cause a histamine response right now, but if I continue to eat them in abundance over the course of several days, they will eventually build up in my system causing high histamines, making my body react to it like it would an allergic reaction (ex. hives, rash, digestive discomforts, headache, inflammation, esc.). There are tons of foods that are high histamine and can cause a histamine response at any time. For people with AGS who have already had to cut out so many foods, the thought of cutting out more can feel like too much. I cant afford to lose another food, especially a food I actually enjoy eating.

(In a future blog about histamines, I will do a more complete list of high histamine foods.)

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I have begun to learn that, yes, there are foods that I cannot eat and to the best of my ability will never eat, but there are a ton of foods that I have to regulate and eat in moderation. As to not set off a histamine response on top of an allergic reaction. I wont stop eating those foods necessarily, I just wont eat them all the time or with other high histamine foods. I am learning more about balance, as if AGS isn't already an acrobatic circus act in and of itself.

With AGS you really have to learn total body health and wellness. I talked in a previous blog about AGS being a lifestyle, and it truly is a new lifestyle. You will continue to learn and grow. And hopefully one day help others who are starting this AGS journey. Maybe the mistakes I have made and all the research I have done, will help someone new to AGS not make the same potentially life threatening mistakes. AGS is hard and we all have to lift each other up during the "hard". That is why God allows us to go through trials... To not only make us stronger, but to also; know, feel, experience, and live through something, so that we can someday help others and make a real impact. Because knowing what AGS is and actually experiencing how terrible it can be, are two very different things!

(Here is a picture of my horses, just for fun! I have learned to slow down and really enjoy and appreciate the beauty of everything God has made, during this time of trials and tribulations.)

I am so excited to write The Art of Alpha-gal blog and watch God grow it, me, and each member who finds us! I hope that this reaches you where you are at. I pray that it can help lighten your experience with a diagnosis that can seem detrimental. That this blog can show you, slowly but surely this disease gets easier and more manageable. And with the right support system and some good food recipes there's greener grass on the other side..... Until next time. Lisa

Disclaimer: If you are having an allergic reaction; please seek help from your medical provider, go to the ER, or call 911 if it is emergent. Alpha-gal Syndrome is a life threatening allergy. Even if you do not have a reaction right now you could have a reaction in 2-6 hours. Please do not eat foods that are going to cause an allergic reaction. Any reactions I have had were before I was diagnosed or from hidden AGS that I didn't know were present in a food.