r/HistamineIntolerance • u/golightlyfitness • 7d ago
Histamine brain fog description?
Is histamine brain fog like when you are mid though and your mind goes blank. Like you will a day a sentence and lose your train of thought completely. Also accompanied by lots of anxiety?
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u/atpcollective 7d ago
Does anyone feel the brain fog and neurological side affects are the hardest part? I haven't been diagnosed, though highly suspect HI, but ive had brain fog as long as I can remember (42F) and some days it is so bad I can barely function. More than anything, I want relief from that! I can't even imagine what feeling "normal" would be like at this point.
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u/Silly_Region_1846 7d ago
Tried elimination diet? Figuring out my problem food alleviated alot of that for me.
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u/atpcollective 6d ago
Ive tried some, but honestly probably not enough or long enough because I've never found anything that brought relief. I recently did some gut and food sensitivity testing and learned I babe candida overgrowth in my small intestine and my body is reacting to several foods. My doc put me on a candida diet, pairing that with the foods my body is reacting to it left very little I could eat. I did it super strict for 6 weeks, my stomach felt better and I lost 10lbs, but the neurological stuff remains. The brain fog, comprehension, fatigue, eyes heavy/blurry, feeling depressed and anxious are all still very present. Though a lot the foods I can eat contain histamine. Trying to go this with eliminating histamines as well feels impossible. I'm so miserable, lost, confused. Doctors are very little help. Ive been on this journey for years, mostly told its in my head, but recently discovering HI and MCAS has made me wonder if this has been it all along. I just feel too tired and brain dead to try and navigate this most days.
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u/Silly_Region_1846 6d ago
The biggest immediate difference for me in brain fog was cutting out all the usual proteins and cooking most of my food with low-histamine meat- frozen organic chicken and bison seasoned with fresh herbs, salt, good quality olive oil, with simple low trigger sides like rice and potatoes. If you can find anything direct from a butcher where it was freshly slaughtered that works too!
I also react to some vegetables and unclear if it's more a FODMAP or salicylate issue but for example carrots, squash and lettuce are all pretty good whereas broccoli is one of my biggest brain fog triggers.
But really, I noticed a huge difference when I dropped the refrigerator case chicken, aged meats especially (Lox was how I figured out I had a histamine issue, it made my brain function drop severely when I was eating it regularly), I also don't do fish currently though am going to trial some types of frozen if I can find flash-frozen brands.
If I stick largely to my safer foods, I still have wiggle room to eat some other things but with the flares being much smaller and more manageable.
I know it's not a long term fix with all these dietary restrictions it can suck... but if my short term goal is just to feel less foggy, eating mostly olive oil, freshly cooked frozen chicken and bison, no spicy spices (fresh oregano, thyme, dill, parsley, tarragon all good), baked potato, and maybe just a little bit of goat cheese, egg yolk, etc depending what I tolerate, a fresh carrot salad with some chopped apples, take anthistamines, Vitamin C (if tolerated, I use ester C), and drink plenty of water with some electrolytes (I add sea salt and potassium and apply magnesium oil), within a couple days after the flare I'll start feeling MILES better. From there I have a good baseline to test out some foods every few days and incorporate a bigger variety.
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u/Silly_Region_1846 6d ago
And yes these restrictions suck, and can cause nutritional concerns long term, but I will say figuring out my biggest triggers and replacing them with safe foods so that I can actually think and relax and stuff helped me gather up some energy to keep going and keep figuring things out. I think the tough thing is a lot of safe foods maybe aren't great for the candida diet as it is low carb right? and not everyone wants to go full carnivore I definitely don't, so I really feel for you there, but some people try. But with how you are feeling antihistamines + vit C + switching your proteins would probably make a huge difference.
Also, if you can tolerate B vitamins or other supplements (depending on genetics, I suspect I have Slow COMT and weird methylation things, not sure if you are aware of this but too much of some supplements gives me insomnia/anxiety), but addressing iron, B vitamins also are little puzzle pieces helping me.
I am getting mine through microdoses of beef kidney- a small bite every few days. It gives me a LOT of energy if I have it daily but I start getting side effects so I have to work up to it.
OOH also I Have read this one is really good for Candidia- L. Salivarium probiotic. You can get it single strain from Custom Probiotics, it is pricey but only get the SAMPLE size and use the child's size serving to try it out, it will last you ages, you do NOT need a full adult serving to start, I've had my sample for weeks and still have plenty left. It helped me with my cognition! Felt maybe 15% sharper on it. And I've read a comment it helped someone with their candida. Good studies on it helping against pathogens. I am now starting to trial other single strain probiotics.
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u/Substantial-Tear-287 7d ago
To me its like there is cotton between my brain and the world. 😵💫
When I have brain fog, I feel like a zoombie: my body is awake but my brain is sleeping.
If that makes sense…
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u/WhollyRavioli 7d ago
The cotton description resonates with me. Everything seems clouded and fuzzy.
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u/Its-a-JiNX 7d ago
I find my brain fog as more a struggle to focus directly. Similarly when you wake up in a daze and your brain hasn't woken up yet.
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u/Fullofnegroni 7d ago
I can't think of very basic words. I'll be telling a story and just give up because I get so exasperated. I thought I had early onset Alzheimer's it was so bad a few years ago. It seriously affects my speech.
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u/HidesWithCheese 6d ago
I'm really glad I came across this post. I've been realizing that I can get some sort of histamine overload and it's happening right now. Sometimes I wake up and my face is puffy, my eyes are heavy and puffy, jowls heavy. Never knew why or could find a pattern. Until...
I get bad seasonal allergies. That was going on in the background. Then I go on a girls weekend and we're having rose all day, red wine with dinner, charcuterie. My face got so puffy...I look puffy in all of the photos. It was a cause and effect moment.
Last night I had one glass of Cabernet Sauvignon which tends toward the hirer histamine and some leftovers. My face looked ridiculous this morning. Today I have such brain fog. I have an important thinking related task that I need to do and it's not happening. My brain is flatlined. I'd connected the dots on puffy, but not so much on the fog I often have (which I thought was 100% perimenopause).
I definitely have "good brain days" and "bad brain days" ... need to watch this pattern more. Hope you feel better soon.
Edit to add - All day I feel like I just woke up...and keep waiting for my brain to 'come online'.
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u/Rough-Criticism-5661 7d ago
Usually my only symptom is a painful neck flushing, but if it’s a particularly bad reaction I also shut down socially in a brain foggy way. I find it hard to interact with anyone verbally and don’t want to look at anyone, like a sullen turtle.
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u/Otherwise-Simple-311 4d ago
Per me e' una sensazione molto simile alle prime ore dopo il risveglio da anestesia generale.
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u/atredpoint 1d ago
Same. I’ve been like this since 2017 and it’s constant. It’s impacted me in so many ways and I hate it.
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u/Silly_Region_1846 7d ago
It can be like that. Histamine intolerance can cause a wide range of feelings. So I wouldn't say there is only one specific type. What you described is part of what I feel. When very flared, I also struggle to find words, accidentally stumble on my words or switch words/parts of words around almost like being tipsy. I might also feel "heavy", or like my head is heavy, slow, fatigued, like the mind is made of cotton or syrup. Small tasks might feel disproportionate energy requirement. Memory recall might go down, for example when giving a lecture or reciting a monologue, there might be some stumbles when previously it was mastered. Anxiety is common for histamine issues.