What's wrong with me? Bad reactions to foods.

L

lbclerk

New member
Hello!

I'm a 20 year old student and it has been almost a year since I started experiencing strange symptoms that seem to be caused by certain foods.
Since then, I had a lot more problems with my hay fever. The doctor prescribed me an antihistamine, but it stopped working after a week.
I have already visited my doctor and told him this story, so he decided to test my blood for a lot of things (celiac disease, antibodies, blood sugar, etc.), but everything was alright.

What makes this such a huge problem for me is the fact that I also get lots of psychological symptoms.
Here is a list of what I experience whenever I eat something "wrong":
Irritability, mood swings, nervousness, aggressiveness, anxiety, confusion, lack of concentration, loss of motivation to do anything at all, extremely bad mood for no apparent reason, crying, freezing, insomnia, and my hay fever gets worse.
When it's really bad, many things that i normally enjoy (like listening to music, playing guitar or computer games, etc.) feel like a lot of stress. Sometimes just hearing people talk can make me cry. I lose control over my own thoughts, I can only think about all the stuff in my life that went wrong, and then I usually also break out in tears.
In this state, going out to a party can become a real disaster, because I am totally unable to control my drinking behaviour. That's also the only time I ever became aggressive because of alcohol. I never do normally.

Foods that cause these symptoms and are now forbidden for me include bananas, chocolate, salami and bacon. Citrus fruits cause only minor problems. There are probably more, but they are hard to identify.
I had a bad reaction to an energy drink, caffeine was however not responsible, I tolerate some other energy drinks. I do not take any more supplements, many of them also caused the same reactions.

On the other hand, there are also foods that do some good for me:
One cup of milk a day makes my hay fever go away completely.
Apples also help: When eating a few apples each day I can tolerate citrus fruits for example.

Anyway, for me it is definitely NOT a solution to just avoid certain foods.
Even without eating the wrong foods, I have enough problems that I think could be related to this problem.
I have a light sleep and basically never wake up well rested. I am almost never motivated to do much at all. I do procrastinate a lot. I struggle with social phobia (not really severe, but still limiting personally). I am just not happy with myself. Eating the wrong foods makes all of these things worse.

Since half a year, there has been only a single time when I felt good for an entire day. The day before, I had a bad reaction to some food from the restaurant. On that good day, I woke up and felt rested, was motivated to do a lot of stuff, and even my avoidant behaviour that comes from the social phobia was almost gone.
Although it was an unusual day for me, I think it was actually normal.

So ... what is going on? Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
 
Sounds like you're having mood swings, maybe "food swings"?;) There are several self help books on this subject, like "Food & Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best" by Elizabeth Somer M.A. R.D.


I'd suggest you see an endocrinologist to rule out thyroid/adrenal diseases, and then maybe start keeping a food-mood diary. The Celiac blood tests (which are not 100% accurate for Celiac, esp if you weren't eating gluten prior to the test) would not at all show simple gluten intolerance.


Your food list reminds me of Tyramine sensitivity, it's a natural amino acid that can cause elevated blood pressure, headache and mood swings in susceptible people. Overripe fruits, leftovers, aged cheeses, cured meats, yeast extract, pickled foods, soy products, beer, wine and soup broths all have high T levels. The "T-free" diet is sometimes called the "Headache diet" because it's used to treat migraine. (chocolate and energy drinks also trigger reactions in many TS folks)
 
Hello!

Thanks for your answer. I never thought about Tyramine sensitivity.
Actually I was always thinking that Histamine could be the problem. That made the most sense to me, because I also show many signs of elevated blood histamine levels (sorry I forgot to mention that in my previous post).

However, not only certain foods cause these problems, some other stuff does the same things, just a LOT worse.
That's why I think that there must be some other underlying cause.

Here are two examples that caused really huge problems:
- I once drank two energy drinks when I was up late to study. Half an hour later I got extremely bad mood, cried for 15 minutes, then it all stopped abruptly and it didn't really feel anything at all anymore. Then I went straight to bed and fell asleep in almost no time (which is unusual, given that caffeine can keep me awake for several hours).
- I once took a multivitamin/multimineral tablet, again half an hour later, I got that extremely bad mood. I was like that for 24 hours until I finally broke out in tears, and the next 24 hours I was just exhausted.

... the list would go on, but you get the picture.

So, I guess there was no Tyramine or Histamine in these things, so the problem must be something more than just a sensitivity to them.

I did not have any of these problems a year ago.
I also have more problems with my digestion, which I think could be linked to this.

Oh, and there is something else I forgot to mention, it doesn't get out of my head that it could have to do something with this all ... a few years ago I was treated with a strong antibiotic for a few weeks, after another one the doctor gave me didn't make me feel better.
After that treatment everything changed, I never felt so good in years!
Since the stuff that I'm describing here started, I got steadily worse over time, and now I feel even worse than before the treatment with antibiotics. Especially with my social anxiety.

Oh, and sorry for the long post ^^
 
To confewsed.
Well I started a post on Tyramine only a few days ago. Which some people have replied to. I suffer exactly like you. If you can trace my posts, please read. I can have only a very few foods, it is all very well "avoiding!" tyramine or yeasts or whatever, but your diet is not comprehensive enough for normal enjoyment, then you begin to take supplements, I did, then you have a bad reaction to the coating or whatever.
I won't go on, but to say only that I have a weired feeling sometimes after some foods, then have palpitations, that makes me even worse. etc. etc.
O.K. HERE COMES THE MAIN POINT.
MY SYMPTOMS ALSO STARTED AFTER A COURSE OF STRONG ABTIBIOTICS, WHICH HOSPITAL INSISTED GIVING ME, IN SPITE OF RESERVATIONS BY ME. (I am a very bad reaction to anti.bio. after taking them at a dentist for treated of an ulcer)
NOTHING NOTHING HAS BEEN RIGHT SINCE.
And - get this ! because of the heart palpitation issue, they advised me to take an anti.biotic everytime I had dental treatment, as there may be a risk of some bacterial infection if I don't !! EXCUSE ME.!!!!!!
FURTHER - after taking it for some two years when I visited the dentist for work i.e. tooth extraction etc. THEY THEN TOLD ME NOT TO TAKE IT ANYMORE AS THEY NOW BELIEVE THIS TO CAUSE MORE DAMAGE THAN IT MAY PREVENT.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND ESTABLISHMENT !

Well I have been ill for 17 years, can't take pharmeceutical meds. or some sujpplements even. Have become very negative, so bad sometimes can only think of bad things, or death. No I am not suicidal, but those thoughts are bad for anyone.
I wish you luck - I do sincerely hope you feel better in time.
All comments very welcomed.
Sheila 41
 
maybe you're not used to eat that food?.. if you want to remove your food allergy just keep on eating that food again and again, without using any antihistamine tablets.
 
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