The little-known allergy that could be caused by trees on your street

Histamine intolerance is often confused for an allergy (Image: Getty)

One pistillate has shared however she started getting convulsive allergic reactions erstwhile eating definite foods.

Lisa O'Brien said she started getting a reddish rosacea-like rash crossed her look which followed soon aft eating. Then it was the occasional diarrhoea.

But it was soon aft eating a fume mackerel sald she felt highly ill. Lisa, 58, told the Daily Mail: "I had contiguous terrible diarrhoea and cramps but I besides felt faint and breathless."

The silversmith from Reading soon discovered that each sorts of nutrient caused her discomfort: "Every repast I ate gave akin reactions and for a fewer weeks, I was lone daring to devour boiled plain atom and basal vegetables."

Lisa went to her GP, who past referred her to a gastronenterologist who diagnosed her with irritable bowel syndrome. As a result, she chopped retired grains, dairy and vino which helped trim the severity of her reactions. However, successful 2019, 3 years pursuing the apperance of her archetypal rash, Lisa's symptoms got worse.

"I broke retired successful hives each implicit my assemblage and my tegument was itching," she said. Not lone that but she developed a burning rima pain, headaches, bosom palpitations and vomiting aft eating. Her GP provided her with antihistamines aft suspecting an allergy, but they made small difference.

Tomatoes and strawberries person precocious levels of histamine (Image: Getty)

With symptoms of regular lingua and feature swelling and changeless rima pain, fatigue and encephalon frog, she decided to spell backmost to her GP who implicit 18 months referred her to an allergist and past a maxillofacial advisor - specalists successful conditions and injuries that impact the head, neck, mouth, jaw and look - arsenic good arsenic a dental specializer who was the lone 1 to proivde a diagnosis.

She was told she "was perimenopausal" based connected the burning rima grounds but astatine that point, galore foods including aged beef, thing smoked, overly processed and adjacent tomatoes were triggering her symptoms, truthful Lisa paid to spot a nutritionist and yet got an answer. It was histamine intolerance, a information which is often confused for an allergy.

Histamine is simply a people occurring compound successful galore foods including food and tomatoes, but it's besides made successful the body. "Histamine intolerance is wherever levels of histamine are simply excessively precocious for that invdividual's body," explains Dr Jose Costa, a advisor allergy specializer astatine The Children's Allergy Clinic successful the West Midlands.

The assemblage produces histamine successful immune cells and arsenic good arsenic being released successful effect to wounded oregon allergy, it nonstop messages to the encephalon and has a relation successful digestion. Additionally it acts arsenic a vascodilator, widening humor vessels.

However, for immoderate radical their bodies bash not interruption it down decently which means eating foods that are precocious successful histamine similar reddish fruits and vegetables, fermented foods including food and sauerkraut, cured nutrient oregon food and wine, causes levels to go excessively high.

The results of the precocious level of histermine tin effect successful allergy-like symptoms specified arsenic bloating, vomiting, diarrhoea and hives, but besides successful much uncommon cases shortness of enactment and a racing heartbreak.

Symptoms are not life-threatening which tin beryllium the lawsuit with a terrible allergy (anaphylaxis) but 'can inactive effect successful superior symptoms," says Dr Costa.

Dr Costa is simply a advisor allergy specializer astatine The Children's Allergy Clinic successful the West Midlands (Image: BBC)

A fig of reasons tin origin histamine levels to go to precocious explained Dr Costa. Medications "such arsenic antidepressants and antibiotics" tin summation histamine levels, arsenic they trim accumulation of the enzyme diamine oxidase which we request to interruption down histamine, reports Daily Mail.

"Damage to the lining of the intestine caused by conditions specified arsenic Crohn's oregon ulcerative colitis oregon adjacent terrible gastroneteritis tin person the aforesaid effect." On apical of this, Dr Costa revealed that 1% of the colonisation bash not nutrient diamine oxidase.

It is the astir communal trigger - sensitivity to definite foods containing histamine - that is the slightest understood, helium says and "people whitethorn make it gradually owed to fare and manner changes and taking medication."

Dr Costa says cases person risen "significantly" recently, particularly since the pandemic, helium shared possibily "bceause radical ate much ultra-processed foods containing higher levels of histamine during the lockdowns - they ordered much processed takeways for instance.

"The higher your histamine intake, the higher your chances of processing intolerance.

"Preservatives and additives successful ultra-processed foods tin besides rise histamine levels successful food."

There is nary modular trial to diagnose histamine intolerance, but a humor trial tin cheque for the enzyme deficiency that causes immoderate cases. A urine trial tin cheque levels of methylhistamines, which is simply a substance that is made erstwhile histamine is breached down. This volition uncover however overmuch histamine is successful the body.

However, this trial involves collecting each of your urine for 24 hours, and Dr Costa says "access to these tests connected the NHS is simply a postcode lottery", helium besides warned that humor and hairsbreadth strand tests disposable privately are "unreliable".

Preservatives and additives successful processed foods and takeaways tin rise histamine levels successful nutrient (Image: Getty)

Symptoms of histamine intolerance tin besides beryllium confused with conditions specified arsenic mast compartment activation syndrome which causes allergy-type symptoms, often with nary evident origin says Dr Helen Evan-Howells, a GP with a peculiar involvement successful allergies.

Treatments for histamine intolerance usually focuses connected a low-histamine fare and anti-histamines, says Dr Costa. A low-histamine fare improved symptoms successful 70% of paricipants successful 11 studies, reviewed by scientists astatine the University of Barcelona successful 2021. The authors noted that portion grounds for the effectiveness of the fare was "progressively growing", determination was inactive a deficiency of statement connected the foods to beryllium avoided.

Some allergy specialists stay sceptical that the information adjacent exist. The American Academy of Allergy and Immunology doesn't reconigsed it arsenic a condition.

Dr Patrick Yong, a advisor allergy specializer astatine Frimley Park Hospital, Guildford, Surrey said:"It's a murky country and much studies are needed to found whether it exists. The symptoms whitethorn beryllium real, but it whitethorn beryllium thing other wholly causing them."