Estrogen, Histamine, & Everything In-Between
Allergies have commonly been associated with that annoying runny nose, itchy skin, headaches, and even mood altering effects such as brain fog and feelings of anxiety. We typically power through and wait for the season to pass, but what if there’s more to it?
Research has shown a relationship between the cyclical nature of women’s hormones and histamine, meaning we can track these symptoms with our cycle. Another reason to fall more in tune with our bodies and take note of how our symptoms rise and fall with estrogen and progesterone
What is Histamine and how does it connect to Estrogen?
The culprit of these aggravating symptoms is Histamine, a chemical messenger found in mast cells in nearly all tissues of the body. In normal circumstances, Histamine is a friend of ours that helps protect against foreign invaders, boosts libido, keeps our brain alert, and helps produce stomach acid. Histamine is less of our friend when there is no true danger at play or provocation, but our mast cells are releasing it at rapid amounts anyways.
Mounting evidence shows that women seem to have higher rates of upper respiratory allergies and symptoms worsen with the rise of estrogen.
To summarize this link:
Estrogen stimulates mast cells to release histamine and Progesterone is shown to inhibit this very same secretion This excess histamine will then stimulate your ovaries to make even more estrogen, perpetuating this endless loop.
It has been observed that women have higher numbers of mast cells and therefore a higher histamine concentration during the estrous stage of their cycle as opposed to proestrus. This would mean we are likely to see a rise in symptoms of high histamine during the middle of your follicular and luteal phase.
Women who have had an ovariectomy done, a removal of both ovaries, had a decrease in number of mast cells and histamine concentration, correlating with a massive decrease in estrogen from this procedure.
Progesterone is shown to have a significant inhibitory effect on histamine concentrations, which would mean women would see a drop in allergy symptoms after ovulation during the luteal phase.
Asthma and your Period
Perhaps the most telling link between estrogen and histamine is the rise of asthma rates and severity in young women as opposed to men. A clear relationship has been shown between menstruating women and a higher risk of asthma. Girls with an earlier menses (age 10 or earlier) tend to be at risk of developing asthma, and having a menses at all puts you at higher risk than your non-menstruating friends. In addition, one study showed that 30-40% of women diagnosed with asthma reported having a noticeable increase in symptoms shortly before and during the first few days of their period.
In a study of asthma related emergency department visits by gender, predominantly boy’s acute visits were among children whereas women’s acute visits were with adults, meaning they had already begun menstruation. This trend is shown to continue until menopause is reached in women.
Histamine and Pregnancy
It is not possible to complete this post without mention of the DAO enzyme and its’ relation to pregnancy. DAO is a histamine-degrading enzyme and is produced in very high amounts in the placenta, explaining why women see a large drop in allergies during pregnancy. On the contrary, low activity of DAO enzyme can indicate risk for a failed pregnancy or complications in terms of miscarriage or preeclampsia. DAO levels are also high in the kidneys and gut, signifying why digestive disorders such as SIBO can indicate future histamine intolerance issues. This is a large issue and scientists are still searching for whether histamine causes pregnancy issues or vice versa, but nevertheless it draws importance back to understanding our bodies as women and how every symptom we feel is connected and can be traced to our hormonal health.
Signs of High Estrogen
The importance of this connection lies in the fact that tracking your cycle can help you to not only understand your symptoms and body further, but also to gain control.
If you are suffering from high estrogen, you will notice signs in your body such as: bloating, breast tenderness, heavy periods, headaches and/or migraines, hormonal acne, and overall intensified PMS.
This is certainly not to say that an overload of estrogen and lack of progesterone is the only possible factor to blame for your allergies, but it is a possibility and a very overlooked one at that.
Whether or not estrogen is at the root of your incredibly agitating allergies, there is little harm in looking into supporting your liver detox pathways, practicing meditation, and including more fiber in your diet to support balanced hormones and toxin flushing.
How To Improve Histamine Intolerance?
First off, identify whether your symptoms are being caused by a true allergy, such as peanuts or dairy.
Secondly, work with your doctor to see if you have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). This is a condition where your mast cells release histamine at large amounts unprovoked.
Avoid histamine-containing foods: red wine, avocados, chocolate, yeast, shellfish, bananas, and more. This is not an end-all solution, but can be helpful in the short term in symptoms relief so that you are not dependent on taking that Benadryl every night.
Work on balancing your hormones. As we saw in the above research, excessive estrogen is exacerbating the issue, whereas progesterone is helping to calm it down. You can work on lowering estrogen by improving gut health, supporting your liver, and including lots of cruciferous vegetables every day to flush out excess estrogen.
There is no one answer or solution if you are struggling with symptoms of histamine intolerance, or estrogen dominance throughout your body. In the same breath, there shouldn’t be, because each of us is unique in our female cyclical nature. Every experience we have had, food we have eaten, and environment we have lived in has impacted our hormones in some way or another and our bodies all cope in different ways to try and protect us.
Working on lowering your estrogen, increasing your progesterone, and alleviating allergy symptoms does not often have a quick fix, but through work with a Naturopathic Doctor combined with gathering your own research, it is more than possible to find relief. To feel you can understand what your body is telling you instead of an overwhelming cloud of impending loss of control that everything is happening to you, makes all the difference.
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