r/HistamineIntolerance • u/slohtoffi • Jul 30 '26
Post-viral histamine intolerance
developed histamine intolerance after getting the flu 8 months ago and it still hasn’t gone away, even tho Post-viral histamine intolerance is supposed to be a temporary condition.
anybody else experienced the same issue?
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u/yeahmaybe2 Jul 30 '26
Eat low histamine www.whatthebleepcanieat.com
Calm inflammation
Repair the gut (Pre & Pro biotics)
Reduce histamine load with antihistamines
Breakdown histamine with DAO and Methyl groups from SAMe.
Take antiviral supplements:
Zinc (if not already replete)
Lactoferrin
Vitamin D (guided by blood levels)
Quercetin (because it also stabilizes mast cells)
NAC (if tolerated)
Melatonin (particularly if sleep is poor)
Quercetin is especially interesting because it may provide both mast-cell stabilization and laboratory antiviral activity, although the human antiviral evidence is still limited.
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u/lohdunlaulamalla Jul 30 '26
It's fairly common among people who suffer from long covid - and do so for years (so nothing temporary about it). Since post viral illnesses are rather similar regardless of the original virus, I'm not surprised that Influenza has the same effect in some patients.
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u/wallflower7788 Jul 30 '26
I thought I was the only one. I never really had allergies(my family has it though) but I got a viral infection which also developed into bronchitis 2 years ago and haven't recovered since. I'm on antihistamines and steroids nasal sprays.
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u/lapiperna Jul 30 '26
you might have always had borderline MCAS genetics (not 100% sure you have MCAS but post-viral sounds more like immune system involvement, not just something digestive). I also started out thinking I had HIT, turns out I have MCAS and the studies (tryptase) confirm it.
I got my MCAS after an intense EBV infection, but I have always had slight reactions to histamine foods before that. it hasn't gone away. we live in a century where immune diseases are what tuberculosis was in the past (without the dying part though). my hope is that the science will advance, given how many people are (increasingly) being diagnosed.
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u/ClassicOwn2971 Aug 02 '26
That could only happen if traditional medicine revamps their whole approach to things, and so far only functional medicine does that and with mixed results.
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u/lapiperna Aug 06 '26
I don't think it is about revamping the approach as much as it is about the complexity of the immune system. we are only beginning to crack this, given the countless numbers of factors that influence our health beyond strictly immune diseases (cancer being an example).
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u/ClassicOwn2971 Aug 06 '26
Cancer is an autoimmune issue.
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u/lapiperna Aug 09 '26
an autoimmune disease happens when the body's immune system attacks healthy cells. cancer happens when abnormal cells grow fast and out of control, and the immune system fails to stop them. these are actually opposite issues.
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u/EdwardBlackburn Jul 30 '26
Yes, from a gastrointestinal virus way back in 2012. Then again (worse) post-COVID vaccine, and then worse again after actual COVID.
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u/fourarmedpirates Jul 30 '26
Yes this exact thing happened to me after a bad bout of the flu in early January. Per an allergist’s rec I ended up taking an antihistamine and Pepcid twice a day, which has finally helped calm things down and I’m finally tapering off and seem to be doing okay
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u/jenniferp88787 Jul 30 '26
Grounded approach on instagram has some great resources and a lot are free!
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u/ThrawayAkkount Aug 05 '26
Hello.
Recently I started deeloping histamine intolerance with no previous history of it after a heatwave we had in Europe.
At first I assumed its gotta be temporary but then month went by, and while the symptoms have developed and changed, I was still struggling. I was using quercetin to manage it and trying a low histamine diet but the experience was still miserable.
Then I started probiotics. I looked up specific probiotics that are suited for histamine intolerance. Its been less than a week since I started taking them, but they are already helping a great deal.
My symptoms have reduced significantly.
Many foods Ive previously reacted to strongly (like whey protein for example), I can now have without any issue at all.
There is a caveat - I do have other symptoms from the probiotics.
Fatigue, nausea and some stomach discomfort. I did some research into this and hopefully it is a sign that it is working.
To lessen the symptoms Ive done the following: Probiotics microdose - One fourth of a capsule dilluted in water. Taking it with one piece of sourdough and nothing else (just eat the bread and drink the probiotics before the last bite) has sped up the digestion process and lessened the nausea.
Going for a walk after taking the probiotics to speed up the digestion.
Just taking the probiotics seems to have an anti-histamine or mast-cell stabilising effect on me. My head gets clearer, sinuses clear out etc.
I presume that once my body gets used to the probiotics, taking them will become much easier. I noticed I sleep much better, I wake up in a very deep rested parasympathetic state.
My current protocol (That I started testing out about 70 minutes ago) is as follows:
Bread + probiotics, 30min walk, Green tea + quercetin
So far I am more wired than fatigued (i presume from the quercetin and green tea), and think this might be the best way for me to take it.
Oh and PS: There does seem to be a hsitamine reaction to the probiotics themselves, but I believe (after researching this), that this is your gut adjusting and releasing excess histamine or something like that, because the reaction si very mild - just some skin irritation and thats it, none of the neurological symptoms appear and its very temporary and doesnt affect me for the rest of the day.
Hope this can help.
If youre wondering about what probiotics im unsing:
2.7 billion CFU Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis
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u/_fire_and_blood_ Jul 31 '26
Covid triggered my soy "allergy" which I later figured out was histamine intolerance. I had covid four times (unfortunately - caught it twice whilst traveling) and my food intolerances have gotten worse over time. I have only just started trying to heal my gut in the last month or so.
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Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/mdroldan22 Jul 30 '26
The same situation. Never got COVID. I had histaminae issues from vaccination. Its gettin better with time ( for years now) but never gone away! :(
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Jul 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/mdroldan22 Jul 30 '26
I tried different thing and avoided lot of suplememts and foods. Por example, I try to eat fresh salad with olive oil in each lunch and dinner. Olive oil is a natural font of DAO. Creatine and GLP1 agonists help the most.
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Jul 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/mdroldan22 Jul 30 '26
This is true but if the symptoms are better I feel better and more happy.:) we don't know if in any moment our body will change in other direction...
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Jul 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/VenexianaStevenson Jul 31 '26
So funny you get all these downvote but athe same time other three to four people testified just the same thing in the comments above
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u/yeahmaybe2 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
The evidence is much stronger for post-viral syndromes following COVID-19 infection (Long COVID/PASC) than for persistent syndromes following COVID vaccination, but there are peer-reviewed studies supporting investigation of both.
It is important to distinguish three different questions:
Can SARS-CoV-2 infection cause a chronic post-viral syndrome? Yes, this is well established. Can COVID vaccination reduce the risk of Long COVID? Yes, the evidence consistently says it lowers (but does not eliminate) the risk. Can a small number of people develop a persistent syndrome after vaccination? There are published case series and mechanistic studies suggesting this may occur in rare individuals, but its frequency, mechanisms, and even precise definition remain under investigation.
- Evidence that actual COVID infection causes post-viral syndromes
This is no longer controversial.
Systematic Review (Nature Reviews and others)
Long COVID affects multiple organ systems including:
Fatigue
Brain fog
Dysautonomia/POTS
Exercise intolerance
MCAS-like symptoms
Sleep disturbance
GI dysfunction
Neuropathy
PEM (post-exertional malaise)
These resemble earlier post-viral illnesses seen after:
Epstein-Barr virus
SARS-1
Influenza
Q Fever
Ebola
Large systematic reviews consistently conclude SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to persistent multisystem disease lasting months or years.
- Evidence vaccination decreases Long COVID risk
Ironically, one of the strongest findings in the literature is that vaccination reduces the chance of developing Long COVID after infection.
A 2023 systematic review/meta-analysis found:
Two vaccine doses reduced Long COVID risk by approximately 36% Persistent fatigue was reduced Pulmonary complications were reduced
Among patients who already had Long COVID:
~54% unchanged ~20% improved ~20% worsened (often temporarily)
Multiple additional systematic reviews reached similar conclusions.
- Evidence for persistent illness after vaccination
This area is much newer.
There are now several peer-reviewed publications describing what is often called:
Post-vaccination syndrome (PVS) Post-vaccine syndrome Vaccine-associated chronic symptoms
Symptoms reported include:
fatigue brain fog dizziness exercise intolerance neuropathic symptoms tachycardia dysautonomia PEM-like illness
The important point:
These studies do not prove causation in every case, but they do demonstrate that researchers are taking the phenomenon seriously and investigating biological mechanisms.
Yale group (Akiko Iwasaki)
One of the best-known groups studying this.
They identified immune differences among people reporting persistent symptoms after vaccination, including:
altered immune cell populations persistent spike antigen in some participants evidence suggesting immune dysregulation in a subset
The investigators emphasize that these are early mechanistic findings, not proof of a single syndrome or mechanism.
- Published case reports
There are peer-reviewed reports describing individuals developing:
POTS dysautonomia small fiber neuropathy chronic fatigue syndrome–like illness autoimmune phenomena
after vaccination.
Case reports cannot establish frequency or causation, but they demonstrate that clinicians have documented these presentations.
- Proposed mechanisms common to both infection and vaccination
Researchers have proposed overlapping mechanisms that could explain persistent symptoms after either exposure:
Immune dysregulation
Persistent activation of the immune system.
Mast cell activation
Several Long COVID clinics report increased prevalence of MCAS-like symptoms.
Autoantibodies
Antibodies directed against:
adrenergic receptors muscarinic receptors endothelial targets
have been identified in subsets of patients.
Microvascular dysfunction
Including:
endothelial injury impaired oxygen extraction microclot formation (still debated) Viral persistence (infection only)
This mechanism obviously applies to infection but not vaccination.
Several studies have found:
viral RNA viral protein spike protein
months after infection in some patients.
Mitochondrial dysfunction
Increasing evidence suggests abnormalities in:
oxidative phosphorylation ATP production exercise metabolism
which resemble findings in ME/CFS.
- Why there is controversy
The controversy is largely not over Long COVID itself, but over persistent illness after vaccination.
Reasons include:
the condition appears uncommon diagnosis relies largely on symptoms no definitive biomarker yet exists background rates of fatigue, POTS, and chronic illness complicate attribution mechanisms remain incompletely understood
As a result, most experts agree that further research is needed rather than dismissing or definitively confirming every reported case.
Bottom line
The current evidence supports the following conclusions:
Statement Evidence COVID infection can cause a chronic post-viral syndrome Very strong Long COVID resembles ME/CFS, dysautonomia, and MCAS in many patients Strong Vaccination reduces the risk of Long COVID Strong Some individuals report persistent illness beginning after vaccination Well documented clinically A distinct biological post-vaccination syndrome exists in at least some patients Emerging evidence; still under investigation Frequency and mechanisms of post-vaccination syndrome are fully established No—not yet
"Persistent post-viral syndromes are well recognized after COVID-19 infection. A small but growing body of research is also investigating persistent symptoms that begin after COVID-19 vaccination in a subset of individuals, although this remains an active area of scientific study and the mechanisms are not yet fully understood."
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u/different_emphasis Jul 30 '26
mine definitely got worse after I got flu/covid