Histamine Free Diet- for DH rash might help you too

[Mimssa]

I wanted to share what has cleared up my DH rash within a matter of days -- a histamine free diet.

(gluten free too of course).

You can search online for various diet plans for specific foods to avoid and what to eat.

I had been gluten free for over a year, then ate what I thought was custard, only to realize to late it contained cake.  That brought on the worst DH I'd ever experienced and nothing offered even the slightest relief.   I work in the field of holistic health & wellness and am very much against taking powerful antibiotics.  Dapsone, also prescribed for leprosy and HIV patients, didn't make sense to me.

I'm a certified Nutritional Therapist, my first thought was the "leaky gut" diet plan, but my rash was still flaring like crazy.  (The "leaky gut" foods are nearly all high histamine foods.)

Then I started to connect the dots-- rash, histamine response, etc and realized the histamine free diet made sense.  Which meant everything I ate that  I *thought* was healthy & healing was causing my elevated histamine levels to go even crazier.  (I've always eaten clean--my daily diet was about  avocados, yogurt, bananas, lentils, cheese, sauerkraut, oranges, tomatoes, etc--- all high histamine-impacting foods!!).

When I replaced the histamine containing, histamine releasing and DAO blocking foods, I felt relief within 24 hours. In 48 hours the angry redness had nearly disappeared. On day 3, I must have said 100 times "OMG I'm not itching!!".

I had been taking supplements (L-glutamine, quercetin, caprylic acid and PABA) which I know are helping my gut, but the histamine-free diet instantly helped the horrible DH.

I wanted to test this and I ate 1/2 a banana (a histamine food) and my skin felt prickly within minutes.

I hope this offers someone some relief.  If you're doing everything right yet not finding relief, consider the histamine-free diet.

 

 

 

 

[cyclinglady]

I think this is excellent advice!  I do not have DH, but when I was glutened in July (confirmed by follow-up antibody testing in August by my GI),  my recovery took about three months which included becoming lactose intolerant again!  At the same time, I was getting a rash and hives appearing every few days (if not daily).  This was managed with anti-histamines and the histamine diet until I achieved  intestinal healing.  All seems to be resolved now.  

[Mimssa]

I'm so happy you're better. YAY!  I'm also about 95% better now --my skin needs time to heal the little scabby bits,  but the red flare ups and insane itching are gone.  Coconut oil is very soothing.

 

[squirmingitch]

This is interesting and thank you for posting it. I am not saying this won't work or doesn't work but I just looked up numerous low histamine or histamine free diets and for the greater portion of my gluten free life I have been eating a low to no histamine diet even though I wasn't aware that's what I was doing. I could say it didn't make a bit of difference in my dh rash, intensity or severity. However, in order to say that I would have had to test it by turning around & eating a high histamine diet to see the difference which I did not/have not done. I have to say that if the histamines make that big a difference then Lord help me if I had been eating a high histamine diet!!!!

In conclusion, I say it's worth a shot for anyone suffering with dh. I tried an extremely restrictive low salicylate diet for a full year to see if it would help but it did not. I would have tried anything at all. So to those reading this...... Go ahead & try it for you have nothing to lose. 

[cyclinglady]

I have never had DH.  However, I have had "allergies" all my life.  Weird things like being allergic to the cold (cold urticaria), anaphlatic reactions to medications,and some foods (though mild).  After my last glutening (unknown source), I became very ill.  Vomiting, ab pain, etc. My antibodies were sky high.  I became lactose intolerant and then.....passing out from ab pain, then itching, rash, hives!  What the heck?  I remember reading about Mast Cell Activation Syndrome from one of our members, Jebby, who is a celiac and a neonatologist  (Premie doctor).  Here is the article:

 

This sounded like me!  Antihistamines did and do continue help me.  My GP Doctor saw my rash/hives and basically said I was her most "allergic" patient!  There is no cure for MCAS and since the antihistamines are helping me, we chose not to pursue a formal diagnosis (you need a blood test right when symptoms are occurring).  

Across the pond, Europe has acknowledged histamine intolerance.  They are not into MCAS or it is not well recognized).  A decrease in DAO enzymes supposedly can affect the way a body handles histamine.   Hence, a damaged gut can be missing the DAO enzyme, just like it can be missing the ezymes to process things like fats and lactose.  The diet is supposed to help.  

I do not know if the histamine diet can help DH.  It can help with rashes and hives.  I went on a modified histamine diet and took plenty of anti-histamines.  I could never figure out my triggers.  It could have been stress, heat, food.  Who knows?  I just knew that my gut would hurt first,  my head would itch and I would scratch and within minutes I had a itchy rash on my abdomen, arms, back, legs, but never my face.  It would last for several hours.  If I scratched, the rash would hive up.  lucky me, I was dealing with celiac-related symptoms at the same time.  

Now I am ever vigilant about avoiding gluten which seemed to trigger something new (or at least made what I had since I was a kid) worse!  My rash and tummy aches have vastly improved!  Thank goodness for antihistamines!  

I am eating many histamine foods now, along with dairy, so maybe there  is something to that DAO enzyme theory.  Or maybe the stress of getting really gluten intensified my MCAS symptoms.  It is a mystery!  ?

 

[Mimssa]

Ugh-- I accidentally ate a bit of gluten, and then willfully ate a high histamine food (chocolate). Lesson learned!!!

The rash flared up in angry protest. Ouch!  I've used a pramoxine gel to relieve the itching but wanted to try something natural.

I opened a couple of my goldenseal capsules and made a paste with grape seed oil and applied it (gently) to my rash. By morning the swelling, itch and redness had gone down about 80%. (It's dark and may stain clothing).  So this might be something to consider

(I'm open to trying anything drug free because I've always been extremely sensitive to drugs ).

 

Have a happy day!

 

[irish11]

wow, thats interesting.  I have a lot of cheese and chocolate, crud.  What else is high histamine?  besides milk products.......

[Justpeachy]

Mimssa, I am curious to know how you were diagnosed with DH. Reason being, true DH is not caused by histamines or a histamine intolerance and therefore should not respond to a low histamine diet.  Dermatitis herpetiformis is a manifestation of celiac disease which is an autoimmune disease. An autoimmune reaction is different from an allergic reaction. There are blood tests that can be done to check histamine and mast cell levels. If those are ruled out, a diagnosis of DH can continue to be pursued with a skin biopsy (this is especially helpful when initial bloodwork is negative for celiac "flags"). That being said,  histamine intolerance and mast cell disorders do seem to respond to a low histamine diet,  and it is possible to suffer from one of those as well as celiac/DH.

[rejoiceathome]

On 1/17/2016 at 2:29 PM, Mimssa said:

I wanted to share what has cleared up my DH rash within a matter of days -- a histamine free diet.

(gluten free too of course).

You can search online for various diet plans for specific foods to avoid and what to eat.

I had been gluten free for over a year, then ate what I thought was custard, only to realize to late it contained cake.  That brought on the worst DH I'd ever experienced and nothing offered even the slightest relief.   I work in the field of holistic health & wellness and am very much against taking powerful antibiotics.  Dapsone, also prescribed for leprosy and HIV patients, didn't make sense to me.

I'm a certified Nutritional Therapist, my first thought was the "leaky gut" diet plan, but my rash was still flaring like crazy.  (The "leaky gut" foods are nearly all high histamine foods.)

Then I started to connect the dots-- rash, histamine response, etc and realized the histamine free diet made sense.  Which meant everything I ate that  I *thought* was healthy & healing was causing my elevated histamine levels to go even crazier.  (I've always eaten clean--my daily diet was about  avocados, yogurt, bananas, lentils, cheese, sauerkraut, oranges, tomatoes, etc--- all high histamine-impacting foods!!).

When I replaced the histamine containing, histamine releasing and DAO blocking foods, I felt relief within 24 hours. In 48 hours the angry redness had nearly disappeared. On day 3, I must have said 100 times "OMG I'm not itching!!".

I had been taking supplements (L-glutamine, quercetin, caprylic acid and PABA) which I know are helping my gut, but the histamine-free diet instantly helped the horrible DH.

I wanted to test this and I ate 1/2 a banana (a histamine food) and my skin felt prickly within minutes.

I hope this offers someone some relief.  If you're doing everything right yet not finding relief, consider the histamine-free diet.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this! Perhaps another big piece to my personal puzzle!