Now What?

Yesterday I was very demoralized.  I had spent a lot of time, money and energy pursuing the low histamine diet.  I felt better during the first two weeks and then things got dramatically worse.  I had very high hopes that an “academic” allergist really on top of current medical research would be at least sympathetic to what was going on.  I guess that I wasn't sick enough yet.

So, I had pizza last night to see what would happen.  That included wheat which I reacted to in week one, tomatoes which I reacted to in week three, and foods that I hadn't had in almost five weeks: cheese, yeast, olives, pepperoni and sausage.  Essentially everything in pizza is high histamine

Nothing worsened.  I used my inhaler that night, I was still itchy from earlier in the day, my right eye was unhappy and I had heartburn that night.  Sound familiar?

It is possible that for whatever reason by mast cells are freaking out so that I can no longer distinguish individual reactions.  My “bucket” seems to be back to overflowing even on a low histamine diet.   Therefore, of what benefit to me is a low histamine diet?

I have started to look into high salicylate food and I know that I was eating way more than usual.  Peanuts, honey, kiwi, apples and cucumber are all supposedly high salicylate.  As are green pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, coconut, ground pepper and other spices.  I was likely eating at least five servings of those a day and my vitamins are made from fruits and vegetables.  Did I then empty my histamine bucket to start an ongoing allergic reaction to naturally occurring salicylates?

It seems that some of the high histamine foods are also high salicylate and I inadvertently chose those to try: tomatoes, green beans and grapes.  Berries and things like oranges might never be a good choice for me since they also seem to fall into the double high category.

Since I essentially have no medical support right now I am left with a few choices:

Pay out of pocket to see another medical professional

Get really pushy with my PCP or the allergist to get diagnosed

Try a low salicylate diet to see if that is what derailed my low histamine diet

Try a low histamine, low salicylate diet hybrid

I am not sure which way to go. 

If I were to go on a low histamine, low salicylate diet could I still maintain proper nutrition on my own?  Would I still be able to nurse my ten month old?

If I were to be super pushy with my doctors and get diagnosed, would my insurance be forced to pay for me to go to a mast cell activation disorder specialist?

If I were to go back on my traditional diet would I trade the current hives and asthma for the old eczema and heartburn?  Or since I was already having warning signs of a body freak out will it happen no matter what I do?