Is oestrogen making you sneezy?

Maybe you’re that person that is susceptible to hayfever, itchy eyes and maybe you also get some other seemingly non-related symptoms like bloating, anxiety, headaches, painful periods. 

The most likely cause of your symptoms: histamine & oestrogen. 

Did you know your hormones make your hayfever symptoms worse? And, this is all tied in to your bloating, anxiety, headaches and painful periods.  

What is histamine intolerance?

Histamine intolerance is simply an imbalance between the amount of histamine released and your body’s ability to break down histamine. DAO is the short name for the enzyme that breaks down histamine. Decreased DAO activity combined with an increase of incoming histamine (food sources mainly) causes symptoms like an allergic reaction. 

The symptoms of histamine intolerance are:

• Runny nose.
• Itchy eyes.
• Headaches.
• Low blood pressure.
• Bloating.
• Nasal congestion.
• Anxiety.
  
  

So where does oestrogen come in?

Well, more histamine = more oestrogen and more oestrogen = more histamine. 

Symptoms of excess oestrogen are:

• PMS.
• Infertility.
• Weight gain.
• Fatigue.
• Thyroid issues.
• Tender breasts.
• Decreased libido.
• & more.

Histamine and oestrogen attach themselves to the same receptors in the body, the (H1) receptor. Which means that when oestrogen attaches itself to the H1 receptor site, more histamine is released, more histamine also leads to more oestrogen. 

It is a vicious cycle. If you experience histamine intolerance then perhaps you notice that your allergy-type symptoms actually worsen in the 1-2 weeks before you get your period, or maybe you notice that the symptoms associated with oestrogen excess become more pronounced.

What to do about it?

1. Start a 30-day low histamine diet, making sure that you strictly remove the main offending foods (not forever). This includes: freezing leftovers and not allowing them to sit in the fridge, eliminating alcohol, chocolate, aged meats, aged cheese, bone broth, and any fermented foods.
2. Introduce supplements that up-regulate your DAO enzyme this includes Vitamin-C and in some instances SAMe. Please always seek professional advice before self prescribing supplements. 
3. Support your liver and gut to break down and eliminate excess oestrogen. A great place to start would be including 2 cups of cruciferous veg/day (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage – very lightly cooked is best).  Introduce supplements that support the liver-gut elimination channels this includes: NAC and calcium d-glucarate. Please always seek professional advice before self prescribing supplements. 
   

If you would like some personalised advice, please book a complimentary consultation.