Well Hello, It's Been Awhile!

It seems I've been on hiatus from my blog the last two months, busy with the holiday hoopla I suppose. I do, however, have an awesome update that I do want to share in my getting well from this awful histamine intolerance!

I have still, to date, been relentless with the chocolate because my favorite protein bar is just that, chocolate. I've discussed this previously that it was hard for me to totally give chocolate up just for this simple reason. I don't eat it in candy etc. just my protein bar and I can't give up that extra 20 grams of protein per bar, especially because I lift weights. So with that being said I usually eat anywhere from 3 to 5 bars per day. I know, a little overboard but just convenient! These being Quest bars, are extremely healthy and have almost no sugar and the fiber eats up all up 2 carbs so these are awesome!  I have had no reaction once so ever from these.

I have been on my Zyrtec twice a day, and still take my Digest Gold before I take my first bite at any meal and of course my probiotic once before bed as well as my ViraStop once before bed. I take 3 ViraStops, 1 probiotic, and about 2-3 Digest Golds. Please refer to my supplement post to make sure you are ingesting the "right" probiotic.

It has been 5 months now since I've had a reaction as far as my eyelids swelling up like someone just punched me in the face. However along the way I have had some malaise. Initially potatoes would still make me want to sleep but now I have no problem with ingesting potatoes.  I still consume coffee once per day with no problem as well. I can now even eat ketchup (although I don't do too much because of the sugar content) with no problem at all. This is very exciting news because tomatoes would always jack my face up :0. 

This holiday season also brought about pumpkin pies which as a histamine intolerant sicko I know is a no no. So for Thanksgiving I ate it after taking my Histame pills. But, by Christmas (I had mine early because my husband works out of the country) I ate, dare I say, almost a half of a pie without any Histame! Please bare in mind that my pumpkin pie recipe is gluten free, sugar free (I use stevia) and without butter or milk. I think, however the real test was consuming guacamole dip with chunks of tomato on top as well hummus! All homemade of course, I add chopped jalapeno's to my guacamole so it was super hot. I ingested all that without Histame and was fine!! I'm so thrilled that my enzymes have done their job and continue to. I will never stop taking my enzymes for fear I could relive this nightmare all over again. I feel that my intestinal wall is healed but could still risk a relapse should I stop taking my enzymes and go overboard on high histamine foods.

I will say, however there have been times where I still get slight malaise but not to the point I feel like it's a setback. I do keep in mind that high histamine foods such as the ones I mentioned above are not for me EVERYDAY (of course minus the coffee and my chocolate protein bars). I feel everything in moderation is a good thing and if done responsibly I should never have an "incident" again.  I still also stand by Malibu rum and coke as being the safest alcohol to consume, while not too "strong" and could be considered a foo foo drink it's still better than a swollen face.  I may at some point in the future decide to venture out to a different type of rum, one that is more strong and worth the tab at the end of the night lol. I rarely even drink or go out so when and if I do I'd like to make it at least a buzz worthy evening!

I am so pleased with my healing process no words can describe my relief in my life it's a true God send that I was able to locate all the info via the internet and combine it all and make sense of it and heal myself without the aid of doctors wanting to draw blood, run allergy tests and put me on prednisone!

I hope that you, too, heal quickly and are able to enjoy normal foods again just like me. Please continue your enzyme treatment and don't be afraid after some time on them to slowly try to incorporate high histamine foods back into your diet.  I know it's scary but a must, if you plan on ever getting better and start to enjoy the real world again. If I only help one person through my research and many trial and errors then I've made a difference!

Good luck, happy holidays and much love to all my little sicko's!!  Don't give up!

Potato Update

So if you've read all of my blog you know that potatoes kick my ass so try as I might I keep away from them, however and this is a big HOWEVER, there are times when I'm preparing the normal meal for my family (prior to preparing my abnormal one lol) when I will "sneak" something.

Last night was one of those times, but the sneak turned into a full blown let's just go ahead and eat these baked fries like they were prepared for me. Pretty ballsy move for me I know. Here's what used to happen when I would eat potatoes:

Hardcore malaise
itchy eyes
swelling of my lids (if I went overboard on potatoes meaning more than a handful of chips, fries, etc.)

Here's what happened last night:

Hardcore malaise (with drooling) lol I mean my ass was knocked out. NO surprise here. But that was it! No itchy or swelling of the eyes. While I still experienced a reaction it was not bad compared to what usually happens. This, to me, is evidence that I am healing even more. Not completely healed but nonetheless symptoms that were manageable .  Indulging in a deep sleep isn't bad I mean who doesn't like to nap?  Had I eaten the fries earlier in the day it would of sucked being that sleepy especially if I had to drive or work on some sort of project where I had to use my brain. Since I ate them rather late in the evening it timed perfectly to when I should be sleeping anyways lol.

I feel like it is really important that after some time of being on the enzymes and additional supplements we need to step out of our comfort zones and try things that we know are usually no-no's just to "test" our bodies. Once we begin healing we can add more foods back into to our diets. But if we don't at least try we will never know right?

I DO know though that I need to quit being so lazy and waiting to the last minute to replenish my enzymes when I am getting low. While my supplier offers exceptionally great prices she is very slow at shipping sometimes waiting upwards of 3-5 days before she ships. I'm currently facing this problem right now (yes my fault) sooo I am currently going rogue and not taking my broad spectrum enzyme Digest Gold, because I'm out!!!! However I am still have plenty of my Vira Stop left. So when this happens one can expect to be quite gassy. :0  Which is NEVER fun. Hopefully I won't have to go more than a week without them but it's looking like I just might :(. DON'T let this happen to you! I'm actually kind of pissed at myself because I have been doing so good and I feel like taking off a week or more of these might set me back. See, laziness is not a good thing!  I ordered two bottles this time to help me deter from my lazy ways next time!

BTW my supplier has relocated from Ebay to Amazon. You can find the Digest Gold here please take note that even though the picture doesn't show that it contains ATPRO it does, because it you read in the description she has it in there.  It's cheaper to order 2 bottles than separately. She also carries Vira Stop at a great price. I in no way get compensated for listing her as a supplier or any type of kick back I'm just trying to help you find these enzymes at a great price. If you find any other suppliers with better pricing do share with us!

Until next time sicko's!!  Stay healthy and happy!

Supplement for Inflammation

Okay so this is going to be a super quick entry tonight but I realized I never included this in my earlier supplement entry and very well should have! Shame on me ...

Inflammation caused those damn holes in our intestinal walls to begin with which caused our leaky gut which then ultimately caused our histamine crap. Inflammation in the body equals disease anyways so keeping it at bay will help us to stay healthy or at least not to get anymore damn diseases!

So you will want to pay close attention to anything that could further cause inflammation in the body and those things would be foods. What foods?

Well the main dudes responsible for inflammation in the body are grains so get off of'em already!! I absolutely quit grains a few months back so that may have helped me get better these days. But regarding supplements I wanted to tell you that Borage oil GLA-240 is great! I personally take 4 per day. I prefer Jarrow brand and you can find it at Vitacost.com, iherb.com or drugstore.com I order my protein bars through Vitacost so I just add in a bottle of 120 pills when I'm low with that order. You can google to find them cheaper but I pay 15.49 per bottle for mine.

Okay so that's it (oh and if you're a chick, it's great for female issues as well like endometriosis which ironically is caused by histamine intolerance, go figure!)

Have a great week my little sicko's!!

Possible Remission?

Well it's been almost two months since I've had any swelling in my eyes. I have diligently, as usual, been sticking with a low histamine diet and continuing to take my enzymes. Whereas last time I went into remission I quit taking my enzymes and started to add in no-no's such as cheddar cheese and wine....lots of wine! Hey, I'm Italian we love our wine. So like I mentioned in an earlier post I took advantage of my new found "I think I've healed my leaky gut" and carried on like a giddy school girl.  This time, however, I will continue to play it cool and not go "crazy" and quit taking my enzymes or start eating foods that I know I cannot have.

To my surprise, I have been ingesting coffee on the daily (just one cup) and haven't had any problems. Remember coffee doesn't cause histamine issues but it does deplete what little DAO we have in our bodies that naturally control histamine. I'm super excited about this one because I like coffee first thing in the morning prior to hitting the gym for energy! I couldn't be more pleased! I will definitely keep you updated if this changes.

I believe that because I have not eaten grains in the last two months has also helped because as we all know grains cause inflammation within the body. So I think that stopping the grains and of course taking enzymes helped give my gut the time it needed to start repairing itself and closing up those damn holes in my intestinal lining allowing the histamine to seep out of back into my blood stream in the first place. Like I said I'm not going to jump up and down and claim I'm healed and start eating high histamine foods, hell no, instead I will continue to lay off the grains as well.

I'm going to just love everyday that goes by that my eyes and cheekbone area doesn't swell. I will give it a year of "remission" before I even start to flirt with the idea of eating tomatoes or avocados. I soooo miss tomatoes and everything those little lovelies are used in!

So, so far so good. I lasted 5 months before and it's only been 2 months so far so I will just have to take it day to day still only eating the 10 "cleared" foods that my body says ummmm okay to.

Oh my gosh! Before I forget I DO have to mention that I have been back at eating my protein bars "Quest" bars are awesome if I may say by the way....anyhow as everyone knows chocolate is a no no however I have tolerated the brownie chocolate protein bar at a whopping 5X per week. Yes, I have 5 bars per week and no problems at all. So I must retract my earlier statements of not adding in any histamine foods (cannot believe I almost forgot to mention this) So this is Grrrreat news for me especially since I lift weights and need a ton of protein.

Okay, now I think that's it  (gee I hope so) lol. With me almost forgetting to mention that you'd think my brain fog was getting worse but I'm here to tell you my brain fog is much better and I'm less tired I am actually staying up until about midnight/1am every night !!  And no midday naps either!! So excited I just hope it stays going this well!

Hope you all are following your diets and taking your supplements like good little sicko's and experiencing some positive results!!

Until next time.....stay healthy!

Delicious Potato Alternative

So if you've been reading my blog you know that potatoes kick my ever loving ass into oblivion, I'm talking eyes itching (swelling up sometimes depends on how much I eat) and extreme, extreme, malaise.

This absolutely sucks because I love potatoes whether they're baked, fried or french fried I'm a lover of potatoes. So I thought and thought what could I use in place of potatoes? Plantains! Now, one with a histamine intolerance should know that hey, wait, I can't have bananas so how in the world can I have a freakin' plantain genius, they're in the banana family! Well it's true they are, however, for me personally, I tolerate them quite well. I have no reaction after consuming them at all. It may be because they are considerably high in vitamin C, as vitamin C is a cofactor for making DAO in our systems which helps break down histamine. The plantain is also very high in Vitamin A and is high in fiber and low in sugar. Although a plantain carries more carbs than a potato, so if you're a carb watcher then you may want to skip this delicious potato alternative.

While plantains can be "baked" I prefer them cut up and fried in olive oil over medium heat. Sprinkled with garlic powder and salt. (Maaaan I sure do miss onions). Anyhow, these come out very similar to cut up fried potatoes and taste just as delicious. They'd be even better with ketchup, but hey this isn't a perfect world we live in.

You want to make sure you purchase your plantains very green and use them when they are still green. Consuming them once they've turned yellow (ripe) may have an effect on your histamine levels as would any "ripe" fruit or veggie. Plus they get way to sugary tasting when they get yellow and ripe and loose its potato like quality/flavor.

As with any food, each histamine intolerant person may react differently so proceed with caution. It works for me and I have to be one of the most sensitive ones out there but still eat at your own risk. It's nice though to experiment with foods because if you don't then you will never expand your diet past 5 or so foods risking making your body become allergic to those foods because you eat them daily. It's really a pain in the ass isn't it??

Push on and prosper my lil' sicko's ! Enjoy your weekend!

Cabbage Stir Fry with Ground Beef and Sweet Peppers

Being that I'm only able to eat about 10 things my menu can get pretty mundane and boring. Spices are limited to ooooh NONE. I can only have garlic powder, sea salt, mint and basil to season my wonderful hodge podge of foods. I tend to use fresh basil and fresh mint.

This particular recipe is fairly quick and very yummy and satisfying, here is what you will need:

Organic Cabbage
Organic Sweet peppers (I buy these in a giant bag at my local supermarket containing baby peppers in red, yellow and orange)
Organic Fresh basil
Organic Fresh mint
Lean or Extra lean ground beef FRESH

Depending on if you are cooking for just yourself or a group of histamine freaks like me will gauge how much of the above ingredients you will use/need. I've never been good at giving measurements and such in recipes (hence why I can't bake worth a shit) I'm more of a throw this in, throw that in kind a gal. Generally I use about a half head of cabbage and cut up about 6 baby peppers and several leaves each of basil and mint. I also will use about 4-6 oz of ground beef depending on how hungry I am.

Start by spraying your large frying pan with olive oil then heat the pan slightly before adding in your chopped and rinsed cabbage, sprinkle with garlic powder and seal salt OR you can use fresh elephant garlic TONS of it! Stir fry cabbage until it turns a slight brown or "carmalizes". Then add beef and stir fry until it's browned. Add in peppers last and stir fry for another 2 minutes just enough to warm the peppers (I like texture in my meals so I don't like to "cook" the peppers). Remove from pan and top with fresh basil and mint.

I put mine in a giant Thai bowl and pig out in front of the TV yum! If you have left over freeze them IMMEDIATELY.

Next time I make this I will post a pic to this entry so you can actually see the delicious goodness of my recipe LOL. In the meantime, use your imaginations of how awesomely delicious this "would" look.

Enjoy your weekend sicko's!! I know I won't,  I've got piles of laundry to do, oh the joy, it makes me wish they'd invent throw away clothing kind of like paper plates!

Can You Drink Alcohol With a Histamine Condition?

I like being your guinea pig when it comes to foods but I have to admit I like being your guinea pig when it comes to alcohol. Especially because I rarely ever drink and when I do, it reminds me of how sometimes it's a "good" thing.

I've done "some" research on the whole should I or can I drink alcohol with a histamine condition. For the most part the answer is no. However, if you take your Histame pills with you and take them prior to drinking it "may" help. The reason why I say may help is because I've used these twice prior to drinking and one time it worked and the other time it helped in the short term but the next day I was pretty much out of commission. And noooo, I didn't drink myself into oblivion so it wasn't a "hang over" per say.

First off I've read that we sicko's can have rum, vodka and gin. I've tackled this one minus the gin, haven't tried that one yet, but here is what happened to me.

Vodka:  Huuuuuge NO NO, first off potatoes kick my ass in a major way and vodka is made from potatoes so that should of been a no brainer for me. I didn't even have a shot, maybe a 1/2 of a shot of vodka and like 20 minutes later my ears were on fire, I mean red, BRIGHT red and felt warm to the touch and itched. Not a good look for me especially since I wore my hair up that night. DOH!! I do want to add I was an idiot and DID NOT take a Histame pill prior to drinking this, I know, I know what an ass. So it's hard to say at this point whether or not I would have been fine had I did. I do know I will never drink vodka again because I'm scared of potatoes anyways LOL.

Rum: Not gonna lie, in my single days Malibu Rum was my go to alcohol and I loved it. Of course I was poor so I would get my drink on before I arrived at the club, ya know, to keep things cheap. Anyhoo I used to mix mine with orange juice but citrus is completely out of the question and even though I did take my Histame pills prior to consumption I wasn't going to stack my odds too high against myself. So I chose coke as my poison to mix it with (no, not cocaine, coca-cola, I swear where is YOUR mind at?) Soda usually has a bunch of crap in it and coke probably is the worst since it can actually eat the acid off your car battery in a matter of minutes. But hey, you don't have much of a choice when out and about. So, about 15 minutes after consuming my Histame pill I indulged. It tasted great and no immediate negative response (even ate the cherry!). I took one more Histame and ordered another glass and then another. I took only a total of 2 Histames and drank 3 Malibu and cokes and was fine. I didn't even get a buzz which is odd because wine makes my clothes fall off and somehow makes my tongue stop working, but that's neither here nor there. Bottom line is, for me anyways, Malibu and coke worked, with Histame that is. Not sure if I would of reacted without Histame or not. I wasn't ballsy enough to try but either way I'm happy that if I do ever go out again I can rest assured that I will not have a reaction immediate or a few days later. Thumbs up on this mixed drink.

Then I REALLY tested Histame and went for the gusto WINE.....the fermented mamma of all mamma's, hey if you're gonna go big why not go really really BIG!

Wine: Okay I love my wine, hell I'm Italian it's in my blood to love wine! But alas, wine does not like me since this whole histamine condition started. Which really is a no brainer since it's fermented and contains sulphites. If any alcohol is going to f**k you up it WILL be wine. I took a Histame pill prior to consumption of my first glass and about two more Histame pills later throughout the night. I drank a total of 4 glasses of wine. I was drunk, which was very odd because 4 glasses of wine don't get me "drunk", horny yes, drunk no. Which leads me to believe the research I read on how histamine intolerant people make ethanol naturally in their bodies and so that explains the foggy brain thinking etc. because we are basically intoxicated all the time. Weird huh!? Anyhoo, because wine is so heavily fermented and contributes to more histamine, than say maybe the rum makes you get drunk quicker??? I don't know just a thought. All I know is generally 4 glasses of wine don't get me a drunk so there must be a theory somewhere in there that is correct. Initially the Histame pills helped, now, the next day was horrible I mean horrible!  Major migraine, dizziness, nausea, the poops (TMI), and general malaise and feeling pretty much like shit. This lasted most of the day. So it is MY thought that the Histame pills didn't quite work like they were supposed to because the day after my shitty day my right eye swelled. So I feel like this justifies my statement in my blog entry regarding Histame that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it works in the short term only. Either way no more wine for this Italian. I'll stick to my rum and cokes thank you very much!

I'm not a huge gin drinker so it's a pretty safe bet you'll have to try that one out for yourself. Although gin is probably the winner in what we can drink because it is the only one of the three that is not fermented when it's being made. So someone maaaay be able to consume gin without even taking a Histame who knows. If you do happen to try it out with the Histame or not, let me know!

---Side note, I wanted to add that the night of rum drinking I DID also consume a Zyrtec after my first drink (antihistamine) so I'm not sure if that contributed to me not having a reaction or if it was just over kill on my part. One should probably not consume antihistamines with alcohol however it did NOT affect me negatively in anyway.