Post-Birth Control Histamine Intolerance
I spent YEARS healing my gut after dealing with digestive issues most of my life. After implementing natural ways to heal my digestion through my own research I had finally started to feel so much better, in fact I had three years where I felt fantastic and symptom free. I then decided I needed to get rid of the last thing that might be holding me back from completely healing- the birth control pill.
Four years ago I went off the pill. If only I knew the journey ahead. Within a week or so I started experiencing strange symptoms: brain fog, dizziness and floating, headaches/migraines, anxiety, racing heart, extreme fatigue, occasional bloating, nausea, and diarrhea, psoriasis, and PMS symptoms. On top of that I started having an intolerance to coffee, alcohol and exercise. I would go to the gym in the morning and be so exhausted after that I had to take a nap just to function the rest of the day. I put on 15 pounds in what seems like overnight.
After about two years of unexplainable symptoms, lots of doctors appointments, hormone testing, and allergy testing I started hearing the buzz word “histamine intolerance” going around the wellness sphere. Naturally, I researched the shit out of it and realized histamine intolerance is exactly what I have been experiencing post pill! I’m sure most women deal with histamine intolerance and don’t even know it. Hell, it was even new to me!
So what is histamine intolerance and why would it occur after birth control?
Histamine intolerance is due to a build-up of histamine in the body. Histamine is naturally found in foods. We need an enzyme called DAO in order to break down histamine in the body, without it we will accumulate histamine and symptoms will arise. Histamine intolerance can caused by leaky gut, pharmaceuticals, hormonal imbalances (in particular excess estrogen), stress and nutrient deficiencies.
What caused my histamine intolerance?
Going off the birth control pill created the perfect storm. My gut microbiome became all out of wack causing leaky gut (yup that gut I spent years healing). I was also estrogen dominant because I was not able to eliminate excess estrogens due to poor digestion. This also lead to a deficiency in the DAO enzyme as well as essential minerals and vitamins like copper, vitamin c, vitamin b, and zinc that area all necessary for histamine metabolism.
I had a whole lot of gut healing to do… again. I have since healed my gut and brought back up my mineral stores that were depleted from poor digestion and the birth control pill. I am histamine intolerance free.
You don’t have to do this alone. If I had a practitioner that could have helped me on this journey I certainly would have signed up. Looking to go off the birth control or recently gone off? Reach out.