Question
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Good evening. First of all I wanted to thank you, I found your book on food sensitivity very helpful. It is very well written and helped me understand many things about food and digestion.
Second of all, I thought you might know something about Tyramine. I have seen several doctors and none of them had even heard of such thing as Hypersensitivity to Tyramine, so I did my own research after experiencing strange symptoms. I am a 40 y. o. musician and I enjoy a healthy lifestyle ( balanced diet + daily exercise). I do not take any medication, not even birth control pills, and the only only thing the doctors found was that my serotonin was a little low.
So overall my health is good except for a recently diagnosed intolerance to Tyramine. For instance if I eat a few slices of salami on an empty stomach it will trigger an attack, which is always the same : I get a really fast heartbeat + increased blood pressure + nausea 15 mn after ingestion. Sometimes the heart palpitations last for 1/2 h ( 120-130 bpm), and the nausea + lightheadedness will last for a day, depending on the type of food, the amount I ingested, if I am tired etc…
I am 99% sure the culprit is Tyramine, which is a natural amine found in all foods but much higher in foods that are aged, fermented, pickled ( salami, cheese, sauerkraut, smoked salmon, anchovy paste, etc… ), in foods that have been stored for a long time ( nuts, dried fruits…) and also in overripe fruits like bananas, oranges and avocados.
The list of foods I was reacting to was so eclectic, I couldn’t find the link between them for a long time, it was very perplexing and scary and i lost a lot of weight.
I did some research, started an elimination diet and read about the cheese migraine symptoms in a online medical forum. Later I found a list of Tyramine loaded foods in which I recognized every single food that had triggered an attack after I ingested it. There is no test to confirm my theory but since I eliminated these Tyramine loaded foods from my diet I haven’t had an attack, I feel much better and less terrified of eating, and I am even putting some weight back on ( 112 lbs for 5’4″).
Soon hopefully I will feel strong enough to start reintroducing these foods into my diet in very small quantities, and I hope to get myself desensitized a little bit, unless of course one day I wake up free of this strange condition that appeared for no reason and might disappear the same way.
I guess what is very puzzling to me is the fact that this sensitivity appeared out of the blue, that the symptoms are so violent and that I DO NOT get migraines. People who have problems with foods high in Tyramine usually are either migraine sufferers and/or on antidepressant ( MAOs).
I do not take any medication and my symptoms are always exactly the same 5 to 10 mn after ingesting the culprit food : tachycardia + hypertension + tremors + nausea and sometimes light headache when the attack is really bad. After having had about 14 attacks within the last 12 months it is such a relief to be able to eat again !
And as I read your book I also realized how lucky I am to be able to avoid the culprit food so easily, and to be able to enjoy my favorite foods, which is fresh produce, without limitation.
Now my goal is to put the word out and hopefully glean more information about this still poorly known food allergy.
So my question to you is, have you ever heard of someone who shares the same symptoms ?
Do you know anyone who is familiar with the effects of Tyramine on the digestive and the nervous system ?
Anything will help, a link, a name, anything; your feedback is important to me.
Thank you much
Sophie ( San Francisco, CA)
Answer
Dear Sophie,
Thanks for your interesting letter. I am answering it on the blog so that others understand reactions like yours and why I call the diet investigation Diet Detective Work!
You have raised lots of interesting issues which I will comment on.
Food sensitivity is a complex condition.
Each food sensitive person has their own cluster of symptoms. You mention migraine. People sensitive to amines [of which tyramine is one] often report migraine or Irritable Bowel Syndrome [IBS] and they occasionally report some of the symptoms you have with their migraine or IBS.
Yours are unusual in that you do not have the usual ‘main symptom’. But that does not make them any the less important for you or for others who have less often reported symptoms. Many patients comment on symptoms such as fuzzy thinking, mood changes, bad dreams, mood changes, in addition to their ‘main symptom’.
It is hard enough to have people and professionals accept that the ‘main symtoms’ may have a food component. Having them accept symptoms such as yours is going to take time!
You have also raised another reason why food sensitivity is complex.
You note that the effects last longer if you are ‘tired etc’. That is because of the Total Body Load idea described in Are You Food sensitive? Readers can go to Chap 2 Understanding Food Sensitivity to see all there is to learn. We still do not know why people like you have their symptoms come on at a particular time in their lives. Sometimes we can see that it may have been with change in diet to more flavoured or take-away food, hormone changes, a different environment, increase in smells, or stress.
Sensitivity can also decrease at other times, perhaps with attention to all aspects of diet, decrease in any of the above factors, or for no apparent reason we can see. Another trick is not to expand the diet when you feel ‘fragile’, but do so when you feel ‘robust’.
Another reason why food sensitivity is complex is that there is no test that shows you what you are sensitive to. With allergy there is, so it is very frustrating for people who know they have reactions to be told they are not allergic to any food, or to find that if they exclude the one or two foods they have been shown to be allergic to the reactions still occur, as they are sensitive to food chemicals, not allergic to some food protein.
Doing what you did is the best way to show you are sensitive. That is going on an elimination diet excluding all the suspect chemicals outlined in Are You Food sensitive? preferably with the help of a dietitian. That shows diet has a role, and you get a baseline with symptoms improved.
The important next step that verifies food sensitivity is to carefully reintroduce low risk foods and see where symptoms return. Look at ‘Conducting Single food trials’, and the ‘Food glossary’, especially ‘Tolerance is affected by’ in Are You Food sensitive?
The most important Diet Detective Trick re amines is to use your nose. See ‘Supertasters and Supersmellers’ in Are You Food sensitive? and the article ‘What’s smell go to do with it!’ on the home page www.ozemail.com.au/~breakey
Sophie, you have provided a good example of just how complex diet investigation is and of how you believed in yourself, had the medical investigations, and pursued your intuition that diet had a role. I hope other readers take heart from your example and my comments.
Joan
Hi! Add me to the list of people very glad to have found this site. It’s oddly reassuring to know I’m not alone and a bit depressing that so many people have had to figure out a tyramine sensitivity without the support of the medical community. About 3 years ago I spent a week in the hospital with sudden onset, and hard to control AFib. I had been treated for hypertension for about 25 years and for hypothyroid for about 10. Testing revealed that I had gone hyperthyroid (nodules) and that it was causing the AFib. Control the former and the latter would cease, which proved to be the case. The problem was that despite being on as many as 4 different high BP meds I still had occasional bouts of extremely high blood pressure, sometimes accompanied by extremely high, and fairly brief, tachycardia. More testing, more trips to the ER and no answers, although I’ve wondered if a few hours on IV fluids might not have helped flushed the worst of it out of my system in some cases. BP numbers would stay in the 150’s-160’s/mid to high 90’s for 12 to 36 hours with headache and generally feeling rotten, before resuming normal numbers.
From the 1st ER visit I mentioned food to treating personnel as a proximate cause/question mark – and was told there wasn’t a connection. While waiting for a bed in a heart unit to open they kindly fed me lunch – a really great stir fry. Within 30 minutes my numbers went nuts and I was taken to another hospital in an ambulance. During my hospital stay my nicely under control BP and HR shot way up a couple of times, after eating (both times guacamole, great for a heart healthy diet). Again my, ” Gee, this sort of thing happens after I eat.”, was waved off. It took me another 10 months of the periodic bouts of high BP, the ER trips and testing above mentioned, process of elimination food charting giving me the common denominator of tyramine and strict adherence to a tyramine low diet to be able to show my doctors that diet had been at least part of the problem.
So, bottom line, even being very careful I sometimes goof. I’m coming off one of those right now. Which leads, long version – sorry, to my question. Could topicals cause problems? Specifically carrier oils used for blending essential oils. Sweet almond, coconut and jojoba are the standard oils used and nuts are on the NO list. Aside from MAOI trans dermal patches I haven’t been able to find any info on the subject. Thanks much.
Hello everyone. I am new to the site and I am glad I found this site. seems like when I eat certain food such as bbq, soy, red wine or some cheese I can not SLEEP all night!! The only way I can explain my symptoms is like I am having a storm in my body! Bouncing rate that I can hear on my ears when lying down and my brain can not shut down! I have suffer for years with this severe insomnia problem. Visited different Doctors all they say is oh you have stress here is some pills to help you sleep!! And the crazy part is none of the sleeping pills I have taken have helped during these episodes. Does tyramine cause insomnia too??
Hello Joyce, Your symptoms sound very distressing indeed! I have heard others say that sleeping pills only work if they don’t break their diet, including even those who have more trouble sleeping around full moon time. Yes insomnia can be related to food sensitivity, and this can include sensitivity to tyramine and all the other amines. the way it works is that whatever symptom a food sensitive person has then the foods they are sensitive to will “aggravate that symptom”. If you have migraine or hives then suspect foods will aggravate them, but if you have insomnia that is the symptom that food will aggravate. You can look through the category Symptoms and see if any of the other are a bother to you. You can be consoled that there are many articles on this site which help reassure you that you are not alone and that you can do much to help yourself. To read more about amines go to the category Amines https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/
and to the category tyramine sensitivity syndrome and read articles there https://foodintolerancepro.com/tyramine-sensitivity-update/ .
As well read the post “Sleep problems can be important” https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/symptoms/sleep-problems-can-be-important-symptoms/ And you will then be able to put the ideas into doing your own diet detective work from my books to work out just which foods are important to you. All the best! Joan
Joyce,
Last Summer I suffered from Pulsatile Tinnitus in my right ear. Went to an ENT and after an eye appointment to rule out pressures in my optic nerves and bouts of high blood pressures 174/110 for a healthy range BMI and migraines, it didn’t make sense. My PCP wanted to put me on blood pressure meds but I didn’t want to take them. I was positive there was something wrong. I didn’t want to put a bandaid on it. I finally had a therapeutic lumbar puncture to relieve pressure in my brain and the Pulsatile Tinnitus stopped. I was thrilled.
It recently returned and saw a Neurologist and had an MRI. Thankfully no indications of why had had Pulsatile Tinnitus and migraines. After researching, I came across Tyramine Intolerance. I have eliminated it from my diet and feel so much better! I am a vegetarian so it is a fairly easy to eliminate foods with Tyramine, but aged cheeses and nuts were my enemy.
Congratulations Joyce, for being such a persistent Diet detective. It is also wise to follow-up whatever medical care is suggested by people you respect.
Now you have more diet detective work to do as tyramines are not present in specific amounts and individuals differ in which amines they react to. So lists you find are only the beginning. Search this site for Articles and in Blogs for info. You may tolerate more than you expect as freshness of the food can make a big difference, and you may tolerate nuts better than cheeses. It is all about using the tricks I have in my books. You can get them on Amazon Kindle for US$5.00. See Are You Food Sensitive? to understand the whole idea of Food sensitivity. You are going to enjoy learning more and more about your tolerances. See
Are You Food Sensitive?
https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Food-Sensitive-investigate-ebook/dp/B00J7PC5VQ
and the other one that is very interesting is –
Tolerating Troublesome Foods https://www.amazon.com.au/Tolerating-Troublesome-Foods-Investigating-intolerance-ebook/dp/B00I7DS87O
You are welcome to keep in touch and tell others what you find. All the best! Joan
Joyce I have the same problem. Food causes me insomnia. Could we connect?
Sophie – a reaction like this to tyramine can be the result of a rare tumour called pheochromocytoma (or paraganglioma if outside the adrenal glands). They are normally benign and people can live most of their lives without a correct diagnosis. Symptoms they cause include rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, and fatigue. Tyramine is a known trigger for adrenal attacks in people with this type of tumour. It’s worth getting a plasma Metadrenalines blood test to rule this out. Best wishes.
Dear Sophie, Thank you for reminding everyone with unusual symptoms to have every medical test that may be indicated. You could even ask about the possibility of pheochromocytoma. Even if you are amine sensitive you can have other conditions at the time, so it is worth using whatever medical care may reduce some if not all of your symptoms.
Still read all the free articles on this site as you can get a feel of what is involved in food chemical sensitivity reading articles such as Smell – What’s smell got to do with it?
https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/food-intolerance/whats-smell-got-to-do-with-it/ or Pain as a food sensitivity symptom
https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/food-intolerance/pain-as-a-symptom/ and of course the articles in the Category Amines All the best! Joan
Thank you for posting this I am just being tested for this after doctors at ER suggested it may be Pheochromocytoma I have reduced tyramines from my diet and I feel so much better as they are one of the things that trigger attacks. I’m looking for a no or low tyramine cookbook but haven’t found one yet . If anyone else wants more info on pheo paras do a search on fb there’s many helpful groups or body the pheo para alliance org. I’m going to buy the food sensitivity book mentioned here . Thank you
I’m glad I stumbled onto this site. Reading about all these people with individually unique and complex systems gives me the support to post what my new physician asked me to provide to her two weeks ago – I still haven’t sent it. If it wasn’t for all of you opening up and telling your story, I wouldn’t post this anywhere.
Daily Diet (as of now)
– Morning – cooked barley or whole rice cereal, occasional small round of pork loin, sometimes a few dates
– Mid morning – a few slices of plain bread – no problem with wheat.
– Lunch – white fish, rice, occasional sauerkraut, sometimes substitute lean pork or chicken
– Dinner – Tuna with pasta sometimes with broccoli. If I don’t feel like eating much, I have a bowl of whole wheat cereal with ricemilk (with very few ingredients). I cook mostly with cold pressed canola oil, and rotate a few other oils, except sesame.
Allergy/sensitivity problems associated with specific foods (these have taken a lifetime since my teens to sort out, and can be proven at anytime a physician wants to see it for themselves)
– Potatoes and other root vegetables – itchy nose while eating. Considerable joint and tendon pain throughout body, significant bloating that looks unbelievable, muscles slow to respond – i.e. if I pull on a rope, my hands stay in that position and then joints are very painful when letting go.
– Tomatoes – stomach pain and gastric problems
– Corn – immediate blisters in mouth and throat, indigestion
– Cheese/Sour Cream/Milk – extreme fatigue, sleep paralysis (awake but can’t move or speak, no hallucinations, lasts for hours), migraine headache, muscle spasms, short attention span, significant comprehension impairment, respiratory congestion, slurred speech, painful intestinal cramps
– Vinegar – intestinal pain, diarrhea
– Chicken (dark meat) – bad indigestion, occasional vomiting, and blistering inside of mouth
– Cottonseed oil – headache starting around base of skull
– Cucumber – migraine headache
– Carrots – severe stomach pain up to throat and under jaw
– Nuts – severe upper stomach pain (I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack) that goes up under jaw, headache that starts at base of skull and turns to migraine
– Peanut, almond, sunflower butters – headache beginning at base of skull (probably Tyramine)
– Banana – mouth blisters and throat irritation, headache beginning at base of skull an turning to migraine (also has Tyramine)
– Berries – rash and itching on face with weeping fluid
– Strawberries – shingle like lesions near tailbone
– Apricot – instant vomiting
– Grapes – migraine within 15 minutes
– Pear – big blisters in mouth and throat (usually left side first). I’ve learned to cut them with small scissors to stop irritation that spreads to inner ear. Asian pears are a bit better
– Eggs – rash with weeping fluid, and very aggressive itch on face beginning just under left jaw. Itch appears to start at what seems to be a swollen nerve end.
– Beef – arthritic like joint pain throughout body, knuckles turn red.
– Cinnamon – sharp stomach pain (my wife got Ceylon Cinnamon which is completely different and is not sharp under a microscope. It works)
– Apples – low acid varieties cooked are okay.
– Palm oil – rash with weeping fluid on face with itching
– Sesame oil – rash with weeping fluid on face with itching
– Fatty fish – (like salmon), excessive bloating
I am 64, slender with stable weight and very good BP and other stats. Here’s the incredible part, and I hear it all the time – people look at me and think I look as much as 15 to 20 years younger than I am. It’s almost laughable – I’m slowly starving to death as each food gets crossed off the list.
Dear Bruce, in 40 years I can say your reactions are among the most unusual! There are great individual differences in reactions. You are wise reminding people that a muddle can occur if you keep removing food over years. It is tricky as some reactions happen after a few different foods over a few days, or the symptom may be due to some other food over the last 24 hours.
Everyone who suspects amines [not just tyramine sensitivity] should watch for all the factors that increase amines. See https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/
As well you will note from my article section the variety of symptoms people have. See https://foodintolerancepro.com/symptoms-food-sensitive-people/ especially re reflux which can show in unusual ways.
In avoiding accidental suspect foods you show others the importance of starting from a baseline that include attention to all the suspect groups; additives, salicylates, all amines and MSG and glutamates, not forgetting the importance of smells. On this site you can learn much from all the free articles and from the books. You are like other food sensitive people who put up with much but look well. It is a mixed blessing! This is especially if you have trouble keeping your weight up. I hope you enjoy adding to what you know to expand your diet and avoid losing too much weight. Joan
Thank you Joan,
Your comment about starting from a baseline rang especially true for me lately, and sometimes starting all over from scratch may be a good idea, too.
I recently lost all vision on the right side in both eyes. It was a distinct line straight down the middle, and temporary – about 15 minutes. After all the usual tests and scans, it was thought to be an ocular migraine (since I get migraines) or a TIA because my blood pressure was unusually very high and could not be brought down easily, vision loss was in both eyes, and it was complete loss to the right – no distorted images typical of ocular migraine. After quizzing me on my diet and the effect of certain foods (i.e. I feel better when I don’t eat anything green), my physician said it looked like I had a combined tyramine and oxalate problem, and is likely why I produce so many kidney stones. Never heard of oxalates. So, I looked into it, and found that many of the foods I was already avoiding were in fact high in the oxalate table that she provided. I also see that many of the foods that are high in oxalates are also high in tyramine – avoiding one food can solve two problems.
Now this is where it gets interesting. I thought I had no problem with wheat, but it’s high in oxalate, so I experimented with switching over to rice only and avoided pasta and bread for two weeks. WOW, what an improvement! No cramping in my feet, no bloating (that I thought was a normal amount, since potatoes are worse), fewer blisters in my mouth, less pain where my neck meets my skull and other joint pain, etc. So, now I had to go back and test it to be sure. One evening I ate shredded wheat with rice milk and almond yogurt (Cow’s milk is out of the question – lactose intolerant). It’s really delicious that way! Apparently I had lost whatever resistance I had to it before, because the next 12 hours was the worst in my life. Within a half hour, my feet started to cramp badly and I had to stand up to keep them from curling under (it dawned on me that this has happened to a lesser degree before, but I had not connected the dots). Breathing became labored and short, and I could feel my heart pounding in every part of my body, and skipping beats while doing it. As the night progressed, every joint in my body and spine hurt, and I could only turn my head a few degrees. The headache of all headaches hit at 3AM. I woke up not knowing whether I should inhale or not – autonomic breathing seemed a thing of the past, and my head was splitting. Mentally, I felt like I was running on instinct. I could feel myself coming back to normal late in the afternoon, but felt I had possibly been on dangerous ground. I won’t do that again.
So, I’ve learned not to rule anything out. If I have been eating something forever, I may have gotten used to the symptoms over time, and be blind to what is actually happening. And, challenge one thing at time – no exceptions. Be patient.
I have learned I can eat bell peppers and tomatoes, cucumbers if I remove the seeded sections. I peel cucumbers and I make sure I remove all the white parts in bell peppers and jalapenos. I peel apples and other fruits, too. That way I can eat them rather safely in moderation.
Dear Beth, you have given everyone a good reminder that each food sensitive person can test different forms of a food for tolerance. you have shown that the seeded parts and peels matter. Certainly it is known from Dr Anne Swain’s analysis of salicylate that the peels are much higher, and from my research that clinically peels increase the likelihood of a reaction. Your other words “in moderation” are important. But even feeling you can have some food in some form sometime makes diet so much easier to put up with. Keep testing and see how mild or severe your reactions are. It can be worth putting up with some mild symptoms to eat food that is closer to what your friends or relations have. All the best!
My tyramine symptoms came on me right out of the blue. I am a 68 yr old male and the last 2 years I suffered with gastritis and stomach ulcers brought on by taking aspirin..which is supposed to doctor recommended. To deal with the ulcers the physicians wanted me on PPI but after suffering side effects for one week from the medication plus reading up on long term side effects I decided to punt the pills and address the problem through diet. I started taking bone broth and probotic food like kefir and sauerkraut. I started to have success with a few setbacks due to finding some foods were causing me more problems than solving them. I found sauerkraut was very beneficial and I started making it and having it with every meal. Almost a year ago I would start having afib….and I couldn’t figure out what was triggering it. After ending up in the hospital a couple times and the doctors scratching their heads about my sudden onset of afib that would mysteriously disappear after 6 to 12 hours, I was sent to an expert who was going to put me on meds and give me an ablation to prevent future episodes. It was shortly after that out of desperation I started googling foods that may set off afib and I stumbled across Tyramine. I found food lists with Tyramine and on the list was sauerkraut along with a bunch of other foods like cheddar cheese, dried fruit, smoked fish. I connected the dots and as soon as I started taking out the Tyramine related foods out of my diet, the afib started to ease up. I would try eating something with Tyramine in it…and small amounts I could tolerate but if I over did it, then I would go through another episode. To date I still haven’t found a solution to getting past this and in the mean time I am hypersensitive about the types of foods that I eat. The strange thing is, I never had a sensitivity to Tyramine until I over did it with the sauerkraut.
Dear Len, Atrial fibrillation reaction is a rare, though it and an increased pulse rate and increased blood pressure are all possible symptoms in tyramine sensitivity, or with other amine reactions. You have done well persisting to see if diet had a role. Fermented foods may be helpful for people with no gut symptoms to help with gut flora, but those with IBS need to view them with the suspicion you have shown. In fact the freshness of all foods, especially meats and other protein foods really matters where tyramine and other amines are concerned.
It is no wonder you feel supersensitive about what foods you can eat! Gradually finding out what you may tolerate is what I call “Diet detective work”! I have some good news and some not-so-good news for you. First the not-so-good news: many people do not begin to have food-sensitivity symptoms until in their 60s or 70s or even 80s! The good news is that much can still be done to have the broadest diet possible. Another part of your good news, and the detective work, is that since your gut became inflamed with aspirin it is probable that you should also consider investigating foods high in salicylate as part of what you watch. This is part of what I call the Total Body Load of factors that may influence whether or not you begin having symptoms at any particular time. Salicylates are similar in shape, chemically, to additive colour and flavour. An over-arching idea is that suspect food chemicals (whether these are tyramine, other amines, salicylates, additives, even MSG) aggravate the underlying symptoms in susceptible people. Another important idea is that tyramine is one amine and most people who are sensitive to tyramine are likely to be sensitive to all the others. Don’t panic! You don’t need to go on a much stricter diet. But it is worth using this idea to reduce the foods high in these various suspect chemicals so you realize that having a meal high in spice with soft drinks make it more likely you will react to some food that might be quite low in amines up to 24 hours later. It is wise for you to read all the articles on Amines on this site https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/ which mention the foods you are most likely to tolerate.
Over forty years I have collected information on the foods most food-sensitive people react to and made the Best Guess Food Guide where over 300 foods are arranged in order of risk. Another part of your good news is that different people get away with (tolerate) different foods, even different amines. It is still the “best guess” as it is impossible to produce charts that give exact information on amines. They change so much with storage. You can also get yourself a copy of Tolerating Troublesome Foods so you learn from what others have found from thousands of food trials. You can read much about why reactions occur and notes on all the foods showing how to test them. You will learn why you should use your nose when deciding what foods may be tolerated. Go to AmazonKindle to obtain a copy to read https://www.amazon.com.au/Tolerating-Troublesome-Foods-Investigating-intolerance-ebook/dp/B00I7DS87O or from this site obtain a copy to download into your computer and print if you wish https://foodintolerancepro.com/tolerating-troublesome-foods/ I wish you well in learning what foods you can tolerate.
Thank you, thank you. It’s very encouraging to read these comments, since I, too had many of these life altering symptoms for a few years until I finally figured out recently that it was a tyramine sensitivity. I have a goofy immune system anyhow – I have ankylosing spondylitis. For that a few years ago I took low dose prednisone for 6 months and that’s when the problems started. First episodes of anxiety, that then turned into profound fatigue, brain fog, unsteady on my feet, constant bounding pulse, chest and neck pain, unsettled GI with loose stools, OCD thoughts. Doctors were no help. I tried prozac and interestingly it helped with the symptoms within 20 minutes. I know it’s not supposed to work like that. I had all sorts of tests – negative. Finally, not knowing what else to do I tried an antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, and I felt like I was going to live! So then I took months of azithromycin, thinking I had some strange chronic infection. It helped, but within days of stopping the symptoms began to return. My doctor thinks they helped because of their anti-inflammatory effect. Finally, I realized there was some connection between symptoms and certain foods, so I tried an elemental diet for 4 days – chicken, seasoned only with salt, and rice. I felt MUCH better. I sent in a finger-stick blood test for food sensitivities. Honestly, I don’t think that was really that helpful. A few months ago I reacted wildly to chicken cooked in homemade red wine, fermented with natural yeast on the skins, and dried preserved shiitake mushrooms. And I had recently reacted to strong cheese. Then I remembered something I had learned about years ago about MAO inhibitors, and have finally narrowed the culprit down to amines, especially tyramine, but others, such as glutamate. One reason it took me so long to realize the food connection is that this wasn’t just a passing episode. It was constant. But I realize now that I was eating tyramine rich food every day, and the effect lasts for me at least a day.
Interestingly, and probably some connection, when I was 13 I developed a reaction to certain foods manifested by severe, constant, non-cramping GI pain that would last through the night then I’d be fine. I finally diagnosed them myself as intestinal migraines. The foods I learned to avoid were those high in oxalates (tea, rhubarb, spinach), volatile oils (citrus oils, cloves), processed foods with hydrolyzed yeast or soy (amines), hydrogenated vegetable oils, and uncooked vegetables in the cabbage family.
I suspect that there was some shift in my autoimmunity while I was taking the prednisone, and now some enzyme or receptor is not functioning properly. That may also explain why the anti-inflammatory antibiotics helped. (I’ve also considered leaky gut, overgrowth of gram-negative bacteria, bio-films, and so on). I have always been a slow metabolizer, but this was something new.
Thank you Scott, for reminding us that people who have food sensitivity often have their one set of symptoms related to the immune system. The trouble is that each food-sensitive person has their own set of symptoms! And having fatigue, brain fog, and feeling unsteady, and your other symptoms, are not symptoms doctors recognise as possibly related to tyramine sensitivity, though the racing pulse really should be! Your experience with antibiotics is also unusual. There is much that we do not know about the various possible actions of antibiotics. Certainly I have met quite a few people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome who tell me that whenever they have to go on to antibiotics for an infection unrelated to their gut, their gut looseness decreases. You were clever using a strict diet to begin your investigation. Finger-stick blood tests cannot be reliable as we do not know yet just what metabolic process to measure for sensitivities. I can imagine your severe reaction to home-made red wine with the shiitake mushrooms. Others may comment on their length of reaction and it can be different for different symptoms. The pounding pulse may last a day but anxiety, brain fog, even fatigue may not come on until up to 24 hours and take up to four days , or even as long as 10 days in some. So it is no wonder you did not realize a food-symptom connection.
You were right to connect your current symptoms with those you cleverly diagnosed in your teens. Many food sensitive children have a new symptom in early teens. After realizing it was not related to going from primary to secondary school I found it was related to the growth spurt in early teens. It is, as you connected, often migraines, so you were right to consider it abdominal migraines. If you follow the pattern of other food sensitive people I would expect your tolerance to have improved in late teens. Judging what grouping to make of the foods you reacted to, is tricky, but if your abdominal migraines reduced you must have got the right foods for you to exclude.
The shift in your immune system may have also been related to the change that meant you needed to take the prednisone. Yes I agree that food-sensitive people are slower at metabolising compounds. You can read more about the many important issues you have raised from what I have learned from 40 years of seeing food-sensitive patients. This includes the concept of your own “metabolic fingerprint” and changes in hormones happening at different stages of life. You will enjoy reading my book Tolerating Troublesome Foods. See https://www.amazon.com.au/Tolerating-Troublesome-Foods-Investigating-intolerance-ebook/dp/B00I7DS87O
I’ve been the crazy person in the ER on numerous occassions. Hooked up to heart monitors blood work all come back normal sent home 6 hours later feeling deflated but happy to be not dying that day?! I honestly feel a sense of relief as this article and comments have turned me to a new direction of self directed health. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write in. All so helpful.
Dear Anna-Liesa, Enjoy the relief of knowing that you can investigate the food you are eating.The other information that is useful is learing to understand adverse reactions and why they can vary, your metabolic fingerprint, and all the factors that can change tolerance:- in you, such as hormone changes, in your environment, and in food depending on how it is manufactured and stored. These are in Tolerating Troublesome Foods from this site or from AmazonKindle for just $5. Tolerating-Troublesome-Foods-Investigating-intolerance-ebook/dp/B00I7DS87O The book also contains the Best Guess Food Guide so you can see foods that are low risk to try first. That way you can expand your own diet in the best possible way for you.
Do pass on this site and the books here that do recognise tyramine sensitivity so more people can be helped. All the best Joan
I started having hypertensive emergencies about 2 years ago with migraines I have been hospitalized many times in the cicu and then my BP will return to normal after about a day or so. All my drs have been stumped . I also sho unexplainable high levels of catacolimine mainly dopamine and norepinephrine. I have been tested for pheochromocytoma and catacolimine releasing tumors .cancer you name it I have been tested for it . The last 2 years has been hell . After getting home last week from the icu my mother made a joke about every time I eat pork or bbq it seams like I end up in the hospital. I laughed at first but thought about it and quickly realized that she was right on. It does happen after I bbq or eat pork like clockwork. So I googled it and came across the cheese thing and maoism. So kept researching further I am confident that this is my problem. My blood pressure returns to normal for weeks/months until I eat pork or bbq then bang back to the er with another hypertensive emergency. My dr took me off all blood pressure medication because when things are normal it drops my BP too low and shuts my kidneys down this has happened 2 times thankfully my gfr bounces right back when they get my BP to come back up .I every time it starts with a headache then I get shakey then heart palpitations then a rapid heartbeat then my BP spikes .every time the same thing happens .I just sent some links for my endocrinologist to read and am waiting on her response. I really do think this is the culprit. There is no other explanation i have been tested for everything under the sun. Over 200 different sets of blood work dozens of MRI ct ekg xray mibg scans you name it i have had it liver test in fact going in for a endoscopy and colonoscopy on Feb the 6th .i think that they should have medical studies to look into this i for one would volunteer gratefully. For now I’m going to modify my diet to reduce my intake of foods high in tyramine and give it a go and see if this improves things . I will periodically come and update my situation. My name is Anthony fusco and my e mail is miztatone918@gmail.com if anyone would like to contact me as well .
Dear Anthony, you are most welcome to share on this site. Congrats on finding out about tyramine sensitivity syndrome for yourself! You have, as you say, been through hell! Yes it is frustrating that it is not recognised by the medical world. See some good references to refer people to https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/important-references-on-amines-in-food/ Let us know what the endocrinologist reports back to you.
You can also go to the links on this site https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/ for more info on all types of amines, as tyramine is not the only culprit, especially for headaches. Many people react to the phenylethylamine in chocolate. It is worth checking on them all especially if you get any unexplained blips in your BP or when you get your other symptom: headaches. Do look at the Category ‘Symptoms’ so you can see other symptoms food-sensitive people report so you can feel supported about any of those you have as well. All the best with what I call ‘diet detective work’. Joan
I have read a sampling of the comments on this page and I see quite a few people who state that they are sensitive to tyramine but that they do not get migraines. They then describe symptoms which are typical of migraines! I think most people have the misunderstanding that migraines = headaches. But migraines present a blanket of symptoms, and not everyone who has migraines gets headaches with them! I myself am highly sensitive to tyramine. It causes me to get rapid heart beat which I can hear in my ears. I get dizzy, vertigo, foggy brain, fuzzy vision, sweats, chills, difficulty sleeping, and nightmares, along with general body aches. Only rarely do I get severe headaches, and when I do, they are even more rarely as distressing as my other symptoms.
It took me a long time to figure out that I was sensitive to tyramine, because everything I was reading only listed its effects on people with migraines or those who take MAOIs. I didn’t fit into either of those categories, or so I thought at the time. What made me more suspicious was when I kept reading that migraines are often comorbid in people with IBS, and I have had IBS since I was a teenager. Also, while I don’t often get severe headaches, at least two of my sibling do get migraines headaches quite severely and frequently, so I know it’s present in my family.
When I did more digging into tyramine and migraines I found out that, lo and behold, there are different kinds of migraines. Some of them do not present with headaches at all. My most distressing symptoms are actually quite typical migraine symptoms. As such, I have cut out all cheese, aged meats, processed and fermented foods and any other foods that are exceptionally high in tyramine. The only time I have a problem is either when I am under a great deal of stress, not getting regular sleep, or when I accidentally ingest something which I am not aware is high in tyramine.
My thinking after Kent’s comment
Dear Kent, you have raised many issues that further show the complexity of food sensitivity. There is the issue of the best name for a group of food sensitivity symptoms. It has been traditional to say that all migraines, and, as you say, there are many forms, do include a headache. But as you note, from the 1970s, migraines need not include a headache. Neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks, in his book called “Migraine” calls these “migraine equivalents”. And we, who are food sensitive, need to remember that there are migraines that are not caused or aggravated by any food. Where we think other symptoms are migraines it is useful to remember that that would mean they can respond to medications that help with migraines. They could doscuss with their doctor if or how to migraine meds when they have been on a low tyramine/amine diet and use the meds when they have a less severe reaction as they may help some.)
You also ask us to wonder if all the descriptions of what people call tyramine sensitivity are migraine. I suggest we let them have their own name: tyramine sensitivity, as they have grown out of the early reactions to tyramine and they are always produced by food reactions. The reaction includes changes in pulse rate and blood pressure – either increased or decreased. Because there is a cluster of symptoms we should preferably use the title “tyramine sensitivity syndrome”.
You also raise the issue of what foods contain tyramine which is a mono-amine. There are various lists around and some exclude foods containing other amines such as histamine which is a di-amine, and many react to chocolate which contains another amine: phenylethylamine. So we have the complexity of those who have tyramine sensitivity but who often react to a variety of amines. You can see which foods contain the various amines in my articles on amines https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/tyramine-intolerance/detail-of-amines-in-food/ Foods containing amines often cause bad cramping in those with IBS, and they can aggravate other food-sensitivity symptoms, such as eczema, chronic headaches and even ADHD.
You wisely note that your family members have migraine and IBS. All food-sensitive people can use their Family Sensitivity History – explained in all of my books – to note the variety of different food-sensitivity symptoms family members have.
It is good to read books on various food sensitivity symptoms, especially the ones in your family eg on migraine, IBS, eczema, asthma, or ADHD, so you better understand the complexity of each and how individual the symptoms each person has are. It is even better to read a book that is just about food-sensitivity so you have an overview of the whole picture. I have provided this in Tolerating Troublesome Foods which has information on Understanding adverse reactions Individuality in personal reactions, Your metabolic fingerprint, Susceptibility in the person not in the diagnosis, Individuality in symptom reactions, Individuality in reaction threshold, What to expect when you are reacting – symptoms, What to expect: less usual symptoms, Symptoms & conditions families report diet changing, Tolerance can change for many reasons and so on.
You note that you may react to some food you are not aware is high in tyramine. As well as thinking about symptoms we can also think about what foods people react to. As well as reacting to amines, many people also react to high additive foods, high salicylate foods and monosodium glutamate. As well as food you and many people react to insufficient sleep, inhalants, stress, and other factors provided in the idea of the Total Body Load.
Overall each food sensitive person has their own cluster of symptoms and their own suspect foods and other factors causing reactions which they have learned by starting from a good Baseline Diet. See “Are You Food Sensitive?” if you are still needing to clarify what is relevant for you.
Thank you Kent, for bringing up ideas that make us think more about the whole idea of food sensitivity, especially that tyramine sensitivity should possibly be considered as a food sensitivity syndrome in its own right. Joan
Hi doctor,
I wnt to share with you and your readers the MRT or Mediator Release Test. It is a comprehensive food sensitivity test of 170 foods. The test is done by one company, Oxford Medical in Floridia. It’s cost is several hundred dollars but it is worth it if you want to know which foods trigger your reactions. I do not work for or have any stake in this company. I have just recently done the MRT test and it makes everything clear. Including how to implement an appropriate non-reactive eating plan.
Hi Donna, Thanks for letting readers know. With our limited knowledge of where the problem is in the metabolism I think it sounds too perfect, and expensive. There is not enough published toxicology and pharmacology on what the biochemical problem is as yet. There are intriguing reports of the various suspect enzymes implicated but not enough. From my clinical research it seems that some react quickly and others slowly and some clear fast and others slowly. I like the idea of excluding all the reported suspect foods and then testing various ones. I am not sure we are at the point where a person can know the beginning diet at the same time as the long term one. I have glowing reports of reduction in symptoms using the Low Food Chemical Diet I have provided in Are You Food Sensitive? and other researchers have had similar outcomes. I have met many people who have had tests and were told which foods to exclude and they did work for awhile, but they needed the information in Tolerating Troublesome Foods to test foods to get to their own best long term diet. And the cost is much less.The books are available from AmazonKindle for US$5 or for only $15 from my site. I would love to hear from you after a few months. ‘Glad to hear you feel so helped. Joan
PS I have several quals including a Master of Applied Science. But support to continue work in this controversial area for a Doctorate was impossible in the 1990s. I hope those who provide your tests do publish the underlying science so knowledge can advance.
I developed migraine in my teens after taking repeated and then stronger antibiotics and then some psychiatric drugs, valium, librium and others. I wasn’t mentally ill at all! But that’s another story. I discovered on my own to avoid most cheese,chocolate, red wine, yeast extract, fermented foods etc. Later I did an elimination diet adding broad beans and a few other things. I whole heartedly blame alopathic medications. I have no continuing mental health history just incase that makes my story questionable. Could you ßay a bit about other amines please.
Dear Geraldine, I am sure you will agree that understanding that migraines, in all their forms, often begin in teenage, or after a significant infection, and that mood changes can be part of what changes. Congrats on discovering foods have a role, and be happy that on this site food sensitive people are accepted and believed. Reading other blogs here will reassure you that you are not alone. I wish you the assertive energy to keep letting people know that what you eat matters to you. I know it means always contributing to the food at any place you are visiting.
To learn more about amines visit the [Articles] section on the site and learn where they often are and some idea of amounts present. See Amines https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/
To learn more about Migraines visit the articles https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/help-with-migraine-headache/
You could also look at the ones on Mood changes and diet, and those on Tyramine intolerance, and Tyramine and other amines in food, and the one on Pain as a symptom
And after all that understanding you can get yourself a copy of Tolerating Troublesome Foods either from this site or via AmazonKindle to support you taking careful action to carefully expand your diet. Enjoy your diet detective work!
I am a 71 year old female who suffered like many of you with Atrial Fibrilation. It started once in a while a few years ago and last year it got progressively worse. I was in hospital a few times. They gave me every heart test. Nothing.
They tried me in beta blockers but they dropped my already low blood pressure too low. Even 1/2 a pull my normal pulse is about 69. And when I would get an episode my heart would race at 158 or so for hours. I started reading in line (Dr Google) and realized I would get an episode after ingesting foods high in Tyramine. So as the year went by I went from being in good shape to becoming super tired all the time. And became very depressed. Finally a month ago I went to a wellness clinic that has Naturopath Doctors and Nurse Practitioners dealing in whole health. I was given a blood test and my B12 was quite low. I got onto B12 and a few other supplants such as K2 and Vit D. In a matter or a couple of days J started feeling more energetic and slowly my Afib started going away. Now after 4 weeks in B12 I seem to be able to eat anything and have no attacks. We know that B12 is so important for heart function but it’s almist like a miracle for me that I can eat what I want and not have my heart racing. I would like to suggest to others. Get some other opinions other than just your medical doctors.
Dear Gitta, I am so glad to hear you found out about a problem that was happening at the same time as your reaction to tyramines. Your pulse difference in reactions was amazing! The usual reaction to tyramines in an increased pulse with increased blood pressure (BP). (There is occasionally a drop in BP, but not a low pulse rate.) Atrial fibrillation is very unusual as a tyramine reaction. Atrial Fibrilation will produce and an irregular pules, not necessarily an increased pulse.
I was sorry to hear you did not have a good workup to investigate your symptoms. Measuring Vitamin B12 is often done, especially where depression, increased anxiety or severe tiredness are present. Your suggestion that people ask their doctor if it may be low, is a good one, especially in those over 60. Where it is a problem, such as in you, the treatment, as you say, makes so much difference! All those with reactions to food should get a variety of opinions about any symptoms, but be assertive about what you think really applies to you. Hearing that a medicine or alternative treatment “really works in most people” does not mean it will work for you. You already know you are unusual!
You have highlighted another important part of going on an elimination diet, and that is not to stick to it so very carefully that you end up being short of important nutrients. I have met many people who say “I have completely stopped eating meat” as if that is a good thing. Aged meat does contain amines but the more sensitive you are the more effort you go in making sure it is very fresh. Then you can test your tolerance over time. I wrote Tolerating Troublesome Foods especially so everyone can learn all the tricks to expand their diet over time. See https://foodintolerancepro.com/product/tolerating-troublesome-foods/
We should also make sure we include sources of Vitamin B 12 in our diet. These include our grandmother’s suggestion of lambs’ fry (lamb liver) which is an amazing source of many great nutrients, meats, and any of the dark green leafy vegetables. Still make sure the lambs fry is very fresh, and the green veges are not too strong, to avoid the amines that develop with aged or strong-tasting foods. In anaemia, which often goes with a low B12 intake, the heart has to work harder.
While we are talking looking after our nutritional health I would like to highly recommend a really good book called “Eat to Cheat Ageing” that is an easy to read help on all the things you wonder about. It is by a dietitian who collected all the up-to-date science: Ngaire Hobbins. See http://www.eattocheatageing.com
Hi i already know im completely tyramine and hystamine intolerant .i have 3 safe foods that i dont react to . My main reactions were gi .pain diahorrea migraine .in varying degees . That last up to a week after ingestion . My lifestyle is completly controlled by this . My main problem is i react to the smell of my trigger foods .a small whiff of coffee or cooked cheese .the smell of alcohol on someones breath. The smell of soy .msg . Scent .cleaning chemicals Anyway the list goes on and on .anyway the small whiff of my triggers result in a blinding migraine which leaves me with a hangover that lasts a week . Its getting out of control
Dear Caroline, My sympathies!It is worth you learning all that people have helped me understand over 40 years now. I have pulled it all together in my book: Tolerating Troublesome Foods. It provides much about all the factors which affect the likelihood of reactions and the strength of reactions. You need to know everything that is in that book. Another idea to think about is that the use of white non-sedating antihistamines may help, or perhaps the new mast cell inhibitors, so discuss these with your doctor. They have helped others. Of course check that any medicines, and vitamin supplements do not contain any added colour or flavour. Others trying to avoid medicines also can still use the meds that can be taken just as soon as the migraine hits. All the best with continuing to learn as much as possible about yourself. Joan
Hi, Carolyn–I highly recommend checking out http://www.retrainingthebrain.com, and taking their seminar. I had become so sensitive to smells (which, for me triggered migraines, among other symptoms), that I had almost to life left. I did this program 2 years ago, and I am 95% better. I know it’s hard to believe, and that you’ve probably tried lots of things already, but this really gets at the root of the problem; hypersensitivy/reactivity starts in the brain, and that’s where the cure lies. (I am NOT saying your problem is “all in your head,” or is emotional in nature. Just that the brain gets hypersensitized to things and over-reacts in ways that cause physical symptoms and illness…but that reaction can be retrained. It’s fairly new; I suffered for about 13 years before I found it. It’s been miraculous for me.) All the best, Leslie
almost *no* life (didn’t mean to type “to”)
Dear Kent,
you have raised many issues that further show the complexity of food sensitivity.
There is the issue of the best name for a group of food sensitivity symptoms. It has been traditional to say that all migraines, and, as you say, there are many forms, do include a headache. But as you note, from the 1970s, migraines need not include a headache. Neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks, in his book called “Migraine” calls these “migraine equivalents”. And we, who are food sensitive, need to remember that there are migraines that are not caused or aggravated by any food. Where we think other symptoms are migraines it is useful to remember that that would mean they can respond to medications that help with migraines. They could doscuss with their doctor if or how to migraine meds when they have been on a low tyramine/amine diet and use the meds when they have a less severe reaction as they may help some.)
You also ask us to wonder if all the descriptions of what people call tyramine sensitivity are migraine. I suggest we let them have their own name: tyramine sensitivity, as they have grown out of the early reactions to tyramine and they are always produced by food reactions. The reaction includes changes in pulse rate and blood pressure – either increased or decreased. Because there is a cluster of symptoms we should preferably use the title “tyramine sensitivity syndrome”.
You also raise the issue of what foods contain tyramine which is a mono-amine. There are various lists around and some exclude foods containing other amines such as histamine which is a di-amine, and many react to chocolate which contains another amine: phenylethylamine. So we have the complexity of those who have tyramine sensitivity but who often react to a variety of amines. You can see which foods contain the various amines in my articles on amines https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/tyramine-intolerance/detail-of-amines-in-food/ Foods containing amines often cause bad cramping in those with IBS, and they can aggravate other food-sensitivity symptoms, such as eczema, chronic headaches and even ADHD.
You wisely note that your family members have migraine and IBS. All food-sensitive people can use their Family Sensitivity History – explained in all of my books – to note the variety of different food-sensitivity symptoms family members have.
It is good to read books on various food sensitivity symptoms, especially the ones in your family eg on migraine, IBS, eczema, asthma, or ADHD, so you better understand the complexity of each and how individual the symptoms each person has are. It is even better to read a book that is just about food-sensitivity so you have an overview of the whole picture. I have provided this in Tolerating Troublesome Foods which has information on Understanding adverse reactions Individuality in personal reactions, Your metabolic fingerprint, Susceptibility in the person not in the diagnosis, Individuality in symptom reactions, Individuality in reaction threshold, What to expect when you are reacting – symptoms, What to expect: less usual symptoms, Symptoms & conditions families report diet changing, Tolerance can change for many reasons and so on.
You note that you may react to some food you are not aware is high in tyramine. As well as thinking about symptoms we can also think about what foods people react to. As well as reacting to amines, many people also react to high additive foods, high salicylate foods and monosodium glutamate. As well as food you and many people react to insufficient sleep, inhalants, stress, and other factors provided in the idea of the Total Body Load.
Overall each food sensitive person has their own cluster of symptoms and their own suspect foods and other factors causing reactions which they have learned by starting from a good Baseline Diet. See “Are You Food Sensitive?” if you are still needing to clarify what is relevant for you.
Thank you Kent, for bringing up ideas that make us think more about the whole idea of food sensitivity, especially that tyramine sensitivity should possibly be considered as a food sensitivity syndrome in its own right.
Thank you for your insight into this issue. I’m a nurse and have been having similar issues for approximately one year. It started last year with an episode similar to yours where my BP skyrocketed (essentially short of a hypertensive crisis), I became tremulous, nauseous and an erratic heartbeat although my pulse stayed relatively normal.
As I write now, I have just experienced another one of these episodes, though not as bad as the episode that landed me in the ER last week. I have been to the ER 3x in the last few months with these episodes. I have been put on antihypertensives which has lowered my baseline BP but has not prevented these episodes from occurring.
Last year, I went to see a Naturopath when western medicine was failing me. No one had any answers other than I had “hypertension”. My naturopath put me on a paleo-diet which helped for the month that I was on it but has not been successful since then.
While I was speaking with my ER doctor, it occurred to me that I might be sensitive to Tyramine. As a psychiatric nurse, we used to see a lot of clients on MAOIs and we always had to ensure that the Tyramine-free diet was followed especially closely because of the risk of a hypertensive crisis. It occurred to me that each of my last episodes was triggered eating a gluten-free pizza or other foods possibly rich in Tyramine.
While my episodes have not resolved (and to be honest, there are times I feel like giving up), reading your article has given me some hope that I may have discovered what is causing my issues. Western medicine has been all too dismissive of my health issues chalking it up to uncontrolled hypertension. Your article has unlocked one possibility to why I am suffering so much. Thank you for giving me hope again.
Dear Ryan.S A big thank you for sharing your story. You did great “diet detective work” thinking through your knowledge as a psychiatric nurse and your MAO-sensitive patients, and realizing the connection. Going on the paleo or any other elimination diet helps all those investigating diet to some degree as they reduce many suspect substances, especially additives, but also often exclude foods that would be tolerated. Milk is tolerated by amine-sensitive people as long as it is VERY fresh. See all the tricks about 300 foods in my book Tolerating Troublesome Foods.
The important idea is that the diet that is right for each individual is different. You can work from attending just to amines as per the info on this page: https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/. You can also consider the idea that amines, additives and salicylates follow similar biochemical paths so it is wise to attend to all of them as per Are You Food Sensitive? Then you are reducing the load of suspect chemicals to the sulphotransferase enzyme systems, and get fewer unexpected reactions.
I have recently (June 17) presented on the contrast between people like you who know food is involved, and the often skeptical health professionals. The presentation will be uploaded soon. I am continuing to support dietitians who are becoming more and more sympathetic to patients who tell of their very distressing symptoms. Do come back here and read more stories whenever you feel like giving up hope, so you feel the support from others and me. Thank you for your kind words. I wish you the energy to keep being assertive in finding the diet that is best for just you. Joan
Hi there Ryan.S
Reading your story reminds me of the symptoms my 27 year old son started getting when he was 22. After a lot of tests they discovered he has a pheochromacytoma. It may be worth your while to have the 24hr urine tests done to determine your catecholamine levels. NB:Eating tyramine rich foods can trigger a pheo episode.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for the reminder that everyone who has unusual symptoms needs to be assertive asking doctors what other tests can be done to find what is medically wrong. It is when the tests all come back NAD [no abnormality detected] that diet is then the most likely option. Thanks again, Joan
Hi everyone,
I have been managing my tyramine/histamine intolerance for several years now years, but my symptoms still come back once in a while even after ingesting safe foods like carrots, zucchini and chicken. Could it have something to do with me being stressed at work and lack of sleep?
Also, my allergy doctor wants to do skin tests on me but I’ve heard that it can be dangerous for histamine intolerant patients because the control they use is pure histamine. Your thoughts?
Thank you, this website is amazing.
Sylvia
Dear Sylvia,
It is so frustrating when you are doing your best and you have unexpected reactions! There can be two directions to your thinking. One is to have the idea of “the Total Body Load” [described in Are You Food Sensitive? ] whereby your tolerance is affected by environmental factors as well. Stress is a big one.
Over 40 years of listening and recording what food sensitive people find I wrote Tolerating Troublesome Foods with hints on how to best tolerate over 300 foods. You can look up info on each food. For carrots you can note if they are ‘strong’ tasting or ‘mild’. We hear much from wine buffs about flavour and we can use this when it comes to food tolerance. I have heard that strong carrots can increase dreaming so affecting sleep.Remember you can get my books through Amazon Kindle for just US$5.00.
Share your concerns with your doctor about histamine as a part of skin prick tests. The control is still a small amount and only on the surface of your skin. Allergy tests can be helpful. Remember the negative ones are the most useful. You can then eat those foods – if they are not a problem from your histamine or food-chemical intolerance paint of view. If you have a positive allergy test still discuss how careful you need to be, and how to test out how much you might tolerate. In a way allergy tests are just another way of finding your tolerances. You can also find out by testing any food you are interested in using the rule that “the more scared you are of a reaction to that food, the smaller the amount you begin the trial with”.
Thank you for your kind words about my site. I keep finding new things to write about. You can look through blogs or the free Articles section and learn much! All the best! Joan
Sophie, I too have discovered an intolerance for high levels of tyramine in food but also do not get migraines. My symptoms sound very similar to yours. Within a few minutes of eating a fermented food (cheese, summer sausage, or kraut are the main culprits for me) I get a numb tickly feeling between my eyes which then turns into a dizzy feeling that I describe as “nausea in my head”. Sometimes a light headache. It has taken me some time to identify tyramine as the common denominator and have felt uncertain this was right as everyone else seems to experience migraines…hearing that there are others with the same symptoms gives me confidence that I am on the right track by targeting tyramine.
Kim, it is great that you feel supported on this site in letting others know that tyramine, and other amines, can produce different symptoms. It does. Have a read of the many blogs from others as individual as yours. It is incorrect to think that the list of symptoms can be simply uncomplicated migraine, headache, IBS, or drop-in-blood-pressure symptoms. You have done something important describing your symptoms in words that describe what happens to you. The words that you call a ‘dizzy feeling which you describe as “nausea in your head” ‘creates a picture others can understand, but often not be able to put into words. Readers can take heart from your words, and all the Articles on this site, see https://foodintolerancepro.com/articles/ that you can investigate your diet for whatever your own particular symptoms are, [of course making sure that there is no scary medical reason for them], and by gradually excluding those that give obvious symptoms, and later gradually carefully testing small amounts of favourite ones to be sure they are the right exclusions. At some time you can look at what I call ‘the layer underneath’ of other foods which may not be obvious but which add to your likelihood of more severe reactions. See https://foodintolerancepro.com/elimination-diet-with/ I wish you well in following up all the info on amines on this site and continuing being assertive about the importance of your own diet for you. Joan
I have a complex problem regarding food sensitivity and I hope you have some insight as to what I might be able to do next…..
About three years ago during a prolonged period of stress I was exposed to a massive dose of pesticides and/or wheat dust being offloaded on a dock, right where I was staying in a motel. From that first day I got such bad hayfever, which I’d not had before. I also had penicillin for the first time in my life a few weeks prior. Not sure if this is relevant. Along with the hayfever I stared losing my hair. Before I’d finish a cup of tea my hair would be shedding. Tea – green or black – is one of the worst substances for me now unfortunately. I later discovered via trial and error it’s the EGCG in the tea (and in carob and prunes) that was making my hair fall. I soon discovered that I was now sensitive to a host of other food chemicals and supplements. I could no longer take my multivitamin, for example, which I’d been taking for years (like my long cherished tea). Except with the supplements, as with many foods, I also got a real burning on the crown of my head. Sometimes it would last for days, and my hair would also fall. With other foods such as flaxseed my head would feel bruised, not burning. So I had three symptoms – hair fall, head burn, head bruised. Sometimes more than one at a time. Now, three years later I have so many categories of foods and substance I cannot take that I have long suspected amines to be part of this limiting picture. Avocado and banana – no. Fermented foods and probiotics – diabolical. Vanilla essence and flax seeds – No. But yet soy is fine? Go figure. Insomnia goes with all of this too, and depression. I take 5HTP every day and it helps some. I don’t lose as much hair. If I stop, the hair loss gets worse. Passionflower is the one herb that can calm the burning head a little. I take soy isoflavones and I don’t lose as much hair, in fact it is exceptionally stabilising, except it doesn’t stop the reactions to specific foods/supplements.
I take colloidal silver or cranberry and I can get back to sleep so I figure my gut biome is out of control and killing bacteria is helpful. When all these symptoms first started I couldn’t eat meat or my head would burn. That at least has stopped – yay! I am not one to take pharmaceutical drugs for the blues because they too will probably burn a hole in my head so painful it’s just not worth it. I was also diagnosed with severe reactive gastritis around this time that the head burning started. I believe my sensitivity is in part due to amine intolerance that is somehow affecting my hair follicles/scalp. Have you ever heard of this symptom?
I feel that a drop in estrogen is also involved in all of this, yet flaxseed is also a trigger for a sore head and hair fall. I’ve seen endocrinologists, gastroenterologists and naturopaths. The endo wanted me on DHEA – day 1 of it was sublime, day 2 was hell as my body tried to get rid of it. Gastro said not SIBO because I don’t get diarrhea, and I couldn’t take the preparation for a colonoscopy. Naturopaths wanted me on B6 which is possibly as bad as DHEA in terms of the burning. Vitamin D was also particularly bad in terms of burning and fall. Even homeopathics they gave me were harmful head burning. This makes me suspect that it might be an overactive immune system?????
According to my lab tests I have no food allergies! And my urine test showed a fairly OK gut bacteria, so I am confused, and broke! Now thinking of getting a stool test for parasites and microbiome – is it worth it? Can you think of anything else I could do that may be useful? If it is an overactive immune system, what can I do?
In great despair, Christina
Dear Christina,
You are unusual among food sensitive people, but so are many! I have heard many mothers say their children get hot cheeks or ears with a reaction. I once had a patient whose feet became hot whenever he had a reaction. Between excess wheat dust, pesticides, penicillin and reactive gastritis, you have lots to do diet detective work with! Your head symptoms are very very unusual. You do need a doctor who will look at all of your symptoms in you. Often your GP is the person who knows you best. You can discuss if particular foods produce symptoms in the gut and your head at the same time. Hair loss can be related to particular medicines, or to losing weight, as well.
You can show you are managing a researched diet such as the one I have written for people like you: the Diet Detective Diet. It excludes some of the foods you suspect: tea, vanilla and carob as well as amines and other food chemicals. Excluding all the suggestions means that you are more likely to react only to a single food you are testing after the diet trial time. Amines are tricky as some people get away with lady finger bananas or just just ripe Cavendish bananas, or a small amount of a plain perfect avocado, but they may not get away with home-made gravy, canned tuna, or fresh turkey. But you need a good place to start, so you should exclude both avocado and banana from your Baseline Low Chemical Diet. The whole process is explained in my book Are You Food Sensitive? which can be obtained from this site or via Amazon Kindle at
I have written my books for people such as you, Christina. They are the result of 40 years of work collecting findings in over 3000 people. The more unusual your symptoms are the more information you need! Do read all the information in the Articles on this site and use the Baseline diet for four whole weeks, excluding anything you suspect as well. Then you test any change you make by noting your symptoms, or when noting the effect of any change in your environment, including stress or particular smells, until you have a definite reaction or for a whole week. This includes any new treatment whether a medicine from your doctor or any treatment, or supplement, by a naturopath. Food sensitive people still react to natural treatments even though you may think they will be tolerated, and the naturopath may have said they have helped others with no side effects. The second book called Tolerating Troublesome Foods contains information on how complex the whole story is, with many factors affecting whether a reaction will be mild or severe, as well as the Best Guess Food Guide which provides a risk rating scale of over 300 foods providing information on the most likely way to minimise reactions, with each food.
It is very frustrating to know you have clear reactions to some foods yet not show any positive allergy tests! It will help when you use the diet detective process to learn as much as you can about yourself. This does mean you have to continue to be firmly assertive that you are sure of what you say when dealing with any health professionals, and your friends and family too! I wish you well. Joan
Wow,
I am a shift worker and I don’t sleep good or feel rested a lot of the time, and sometimes I eat a meal and go to bed within an hour or so of eating. I know its not healthy, but getting up at 3:00AM compared to the rest of the family getting up around 7:00AM introduces a meal schedule challenge, so I usually do what I have to do. Anyways, for some time now, after eating certain meals, I would notice about an hour or so afterwards, my heart would be racing. For the longest time, I just thought I ate something with lots of sugar, caffeine, or salt and that was the reason. Well, I would tell my wife and she kind of shrugged me off like I was weird or crazy. So then I thought it was sodium and tried more to figure it out instead of avoid it. Until about two weeks ago. I got home from work, had maybe two beers, then we had biscuits and gravy for dinner. Breakfast sausage, gravy mix, butter biscuits and scrambled eggs. Immediately after dinner, I was yawning like crazy, so ok, I’m tired and headed to bed. Within a half an hour, my heart started racing and I could not sleep, at all. I watched the clock literally from 9:00 PM until 3:00 when my alarm was supposed to go off. This incident got my mind going and truly had me seriously alarmed. I’ve been planning on scheduling my yearly physical real soon and told my wife I wanted to research this. She said be prepared for lots of tests. I told her, I’m 44 and not ready to die. Fast forward to tonight, I made the same breakfast sausage with scrambled eggs and half hour later, my hearts racing. That’s what got me researching tonight and I found this site full of Tyramine stories. I truly believe that’s my problem. It’s only certain foods that get my heart palpating. So, I’m going to avoid these foods high in Tyramine and see if it helps. I already have lactose intolerance and peanut allergies, so what’s one more restriction to my diet. Getting old sucks and its true, after 40, everything starts going downhill. Thanks a ton for all the shared stories and information. Good luck to all of you.
Bob, did you ever find anything? I have the same problem as you. Desperately seeking answers.. I can’t deal with no sleep and so much triggers me now.
It will be great when Bob lets us know how he went. Meanwhile you can get my book Are You Food Sensitive? to learn the whole diet investigation process. Improved sleep is one of the benefits that diet investigation can bring. I wish you well investigating your diet with my help there, and getting back to everyone with what you found to affect you. Joan
Interesting reading. I was prescribed an MAOI prescription for the drug Parnate in 1994 and was warned about consuming the super-high tyramine rich foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. The nutritionist raised a red flag that my blood pressure was already on the high side but the doc overruled. I went ahead and took it because I didn’t know what else to do at the time and was having spontaneous anxiety attacks. I knew very little about any of this being before the days of internet- maybe a good thing but I was pretty ignorant. Still am as far as that goes. But anyway, I did consume tyramine with the MAOI in my system, so I have a good idea what happens to the body (at least to me) when you can’t break down tyramine. I consumed foods containing tyramine, although it was none of the foods on the list of high-high tyramine foods that they gave me. However, many foods contain tyramine. I would eat bacon for breakfast for example and then take my first dose of parnate. This would be followed by a funny, intense feeling in the middle of my chest with a racing heart and I guess high blood pressure which would last for a couple of hours. At the time I thought it was just the medicine. It would occur immediately following taking the medication. Had I consumed large amounts of tyramine, I imagine a severe medical crisis would have resulted. That was the only effect I noticed, but it was pretty intense for a couple of hours then went away.
I am here researching a potential connection between migraine and vertigo attacks. Or more specifically, migraine without headache but with brain fog/dizziness followed by extreme vertigo and total loss of balance. These symptoms occur at any time, I’ve even woke up in the middle of the night twice with the room spinning. This last from 4.5 – 7 hours. I found a connection here – http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/884136-overview
If it is tyramine (or histamine) I don’t have an immediate response. It occurs later and almost randomly. I guess meniere’s but is there a trigger? That’s what I’m searching for.
I feel like in my case, I am very tolerant of high levels of tyramine, because I have always consumed large amounts of red wine, aged cheese and salami and never had a headache. However, earlier in my life I did have the unexplained anxiety type issues and now in my early 50’s have had worsening vertigo/ balance issues without a known cause. I’ve ruled out gluten intolerance. I’ve eliminated alcohol, lowered salt and began eating healthier, but the vertigo attacks have only grown worse. Well, just posting this for no reason I guess. I have yet to totally rule out tyramine/histamine foods, because they are such a big part of my diet. I guess I’ll try cutting them out and see what happens
This was extremely helpful. My mother works as a caterer and had a customer order a dinner low in Tyramine. She called and asked if I knew anything about it since I work in healthcare. I did not. She researched this subject and immediately called me to research it being that I have suffered from these symptoms for 3 years now and countless doctor visits and thousands of dollars later, they could not figure out my migraines, high blood pressure, dizziness, nightmares, digestive issues, IBS, chest pain, pretty much all of the above. I’ve been told I’m a hypochondriac because there is always something wrong. I’m on so many medications and am 30 years old. I get depressed and eat and feel even worse than I did to start. It’s a viscous cycle. I feel like a huge weight is being lifted from my chest reading this blog. I’ve eliminated foods high in Tyramine and, wow, you all are absolutely right. I wish more doctors looked into this. My symptoms have nearly eliminated after changing my diet. I am researching this even more and want to help others become more aware.
Tyramine sensitivity aggravates different symptoms in different people. It is more difficult to get sympathy at 27 years old, when you have a wide variety of symptoms that do not seem to be related to each other. You have probably noted that you are sensitive to many types of amines. Fortunately you can test foods one at a time using your acute sense of smell and taste to decide if you will have more than a mouthful. Do read the fine-print in the Article ‘What’s smell got to do with it?” where you can see how important the smell of your food is. I wish you the assertive energy to tell every doctor you see how much difference diet makes so they consider it in others they see. Look in Tolerating Troublesome Foods for extra information in factors that may change in you, in your food and in your environment that affect whether you have a reaction on one occasion and not on another. Note the ideas on ‘Careful food trials’ in the Best Guess Food Guide for hints on how to test foods with the best chance of tolerance. Big thanks for sharing your experience with others so they feel they can follow through with really getting the diet started and persisting until they see their symptoms greatly reduce as yours have done. Joan Breakey
I too have discovered over the last two years or so that I have become intolerant to tyramine. I am a 60 year old female. It all seemed to start very suddenly, but I have for the last 15 years or so had other food sensitivities. I really suspect my over-use of Zyrtec. Cannot prove it and my doctors will not agree with me, but I used Zyrtec for about 15 years for allergies, and at one point every time I tried to stop taking it I had worse issues, I would break out in hives, etc. Eventually I powered thru it and quit (don’t take it anymore) and now I have this intolerance.
I like so many others just slowly became aware that there were certain foods that caused these reactions. For me, if I eat foods high in tyramine I get a hypertensive crisis, my BP raises incredibly high, I get fight or flight syndrome, have to defecate frequently, shake and feel very frightened. Like so many others here I visited the ER and doctors to no avail, most just saying….”oh, you have hypertension” , well, no, because in between these episodes my blood pressure is very low for weeks or months, or until I eat something in a restaurant where they use something like nutritional yeast, or other fermented foods!
I’m so glad I came upon this site, I don’t feel so alone. It has been hard on my work relationships and very stressful for my family.
I’m trying to be careful and have a second visit scheduled with the Mayo in Scotsdale hoping to get some answers but I apparently may never have them.
Thanks for listening. Anyone who would like to communicate please feel free to email me at chriac1@gmail.com
Dear Patty, Like many of those sensitive to tyramine your symptoms are very dramatic and serious. One reason why those with food sensitivity are not well understood is because the symptoms can change over a lifetime. This is called “Target organ sensitivity” whereby you can have symptoms in your skin, such as hives for some time, and then change, perhaps at menopause time, and have symptoms in another system, or in many systems, such as you now have. I am very happy to have a site where tyramine and other amine sensitive people can tell their stories, so none of you feel as if you are so unusual you can’t be believed. That is so unfair in these times where personalised medicine is supposed to be recognised. You may decide to print out another story that is a bit similar to yours. It can make you more assertive when you visit your doctor, or talk to your family, or those you work with. You can print out the information in the Articles section on amines especially the hints on why the amount of amines can and do change in a food.
As well you can get answers about many puzzling aspects in my book: Tolerating Troublesome Foods. These include understanding adverse reactions, how individual they are, and the many reasons tolerance can change. These include stuff going on in you that may change, stuff in the environment, and stuff in the food. All of this makes you more in control of things so you know when to take small chances and when to just stay with very safe food. See https://foodintolerancepro.com/tolerating-troublesome-foods/
With the story printed out, and Tolerating, you can feel you can work out answers that apply to just your own situation. And I hope you get more help and support from doctors you visit. All the best in your diet detective work. Joan
For over the years I was getting headaches, and realized this web site and others brought me , I had to believe, everyone who had the same or similar symptoms. Better or worse I have the same Tyramine intolerance or sensitivity. I took several types of anti depressants for several years that may have triggered the stoppage of the breakdown of Tyramine in my body. But I am not a professional or have any degree in this field. I do know me never having headaches growing up and having anxiety problems a few years back taking chemicals to alter your brain and body may have a life long effects. I am taking an antihistamine to see if it will sustain the pain. It will be at least a good thing. But again another chemical.
Dear Jamie, Chemicals in our lives are complex! Many chemicals in food and medicines and food do what they are supposed to do with no problems. Those in food provide nutrition and flavour. All medications, including alternative health ones, change some process in the body. If prescribed properly they can be helpful, but if you were on an MAOI type your doctor should have told you to also go on a low tyramine diet. It would have been frustrating if one of the antidepressants was one that had the side effect of inhibiting you breaking down tyramine and this caused you headaches. This is called an MAOI [mono amine oxidase inhibitor] effect. Fortunately there are other antidepressants that do not do affect tyramine metabolism. And once you stop the MAOI medication that effect will stop …unless …unless …
you have become sensitive to tyramine, and other amines, in your adulthood. This can happen without using any medication, just as people can get hay fever in their adulthood when they did not have it earlier in life.
The interesting thing about food is that it contains chemicals that can also cause side effects in people who are sensitive to them.
The idea of chemicals is tricky as some that are no problem to some people are quite wrong for others. Some food chemicals, particularly amines [including tyramine, histamine, phenylethylamine, putrazine and cadaverine], give many rich foods their flavour. Foods high in amines include chocolate, red wine, strong cheeses, aged meats, fully ripe bananas or strong flavoured broccoli. See the articles on amines on this site for a good overview. https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/
If you suspect you react to tyramine investigating your diet is worth doing. Many people say that having an antihistamine helps reduce symptoms, particularly if their headaches are related to their sinus problems. It is OK to take pain relief when necessary. Since you suspect you are a tyramine sensitive person, you should discuss which pain medications are better for you.
As well as amines some people have side effects [including headaches] from the aspirin family of chemicals. These are called salicylates and are also present in many foods. See Are You Food Sensitive? for information and help with doing the diet investigation. https://foodintolerancepro.com/food-sensitivity-advice/ I have made my books available to help people like you. This way you can find your own best diet. If you have tyramine sensitivity understanding all the chemicals in your food becomes important. It is tricky and can be annoying, but is worth doing so you have less headaches in your life. Warm regards, Joan
A year ago I had 4 visits to A&E (emergency room) with crushing chest pain, circulatory constriction, and a plethora of (what turned out to be) migraine symptoms. These included the left hand side of my face falling and eyelid closing -which made me panic about stroke. I was anxious, had odd heart rhythm, headache and more. Needless to say I got all the routine tests every visit to hospital and overall they assumed I was neurotic and had an anxiety disorder or something. The truth is it takes a herd of wild horses to drag me into a hospital, but I was totally desperate.
I did my own research whenever I felt strong enough to use the laptop and deduced a tyramine link that was triggered by my introduction of St Johns Wort (in liquid tincture so possibly in a high dose). This is a natural MAO so red wine/tyramine containing foods caused me a significant reaction. I ditched the St. John’s wort immediately, but symptoms continued.
It is only now, a year later that I’ve stumbled across this website and discovered that I wasn’t mad! It’s so sad that we go through these experiences and receive such adversity from doctors.
My GP eventually put me on migraine medication to combat the headaches, although the chest pain he found a mystery. Low and behold, the Pizotifen meds took the chest pain and all other related symptoms away!!! This felt truly miraculous and gave me my life back. This med is an antihistamine and is also an SSRI
In the last year I have had to increase, then work hard to lower, my dosage. I have observed a definite link with digestion, having bloating and dihorrea and in this whole year not able to tolerate elasticated waistband or jeans. At times migraine symptoms are part of daily life.
Reading all these posts makes me realise I was correct about tyramine all that time ago. I even wrote myself off as crazy with my hypothesising. I have recently been off all dairy as I am also lactose sensitive, time to remove tyramine too. I’ve had chest pain this morning and eusophogus cramping which was such a flashback I looked up and found this site. Last night I had dark chocolate and dried apricots.
I’m writing this largely to help anyone else out there who is suffering. I’m also trying to come off the meds, are they likely to aggravate tyramine sensitivity, or was it just the daily antihistamine that helped, ergo the reduction is meds is making the tyramine reaction?
Many thanks for writing this blog and reading my long message!
Rachel UK
Dear Rachel, You did well to get to the hospital, as symptoms like that can be a stroke. The trouble with being food sensitive is having annoying symptoms for years, but then having life-threatening-like symptoms that land you in A&E! Then you also have to deal with the A&E staff telling you that the medical tests at the time show none of the usual medical problems they usually see. It is probably frustrating for them not to know, but that is no excuse for implying you are probably neurotic. It is sad for you, and other people with unusual reactions.
I am delighted to hear you found that St John’s Wort contains a natural mono amine oxidase inhibitor [MAOI]which means it stops the normal action of the enzymes that break down monoamines like tyramine. Then, as happened to you, you react very badly to foods containing tyramine such as your red wine. If you had asthma and needed medication and diet helped too it is still wise to take the medication as needed. This also applies to you and migraine medication. Have a chat to your doctor about the meds. Some are serotonin antagonists which may have a small amount of antihistamine effect as well. It may be worth discussing the use of a plain white non-sedating antihistamine separately. We still don’t understand why food sensitive people who react to chemicals in food, benefit from the use of antihistamines, which are normally used for allergic-type reactions, but they often do. Histamine is one amine and tyramine is another, so that may be part of the connection.
Separate from reactions to food chemicals such as amines, salicylates, additives and MSG, and smells [never forget smells!], some people have another problem with food. These are the people who get wind, very uncomfortable bloating, and maybe so much that they then have spasm pain in the gut. And in some it seems to be felt even up into the chest. This is separate to the migraine, and due to the presence of poorly-absorbed fermentable sugars, which are then fermented in the gut, and so bloating and wind are produced. They are called FODMAPS, so you can use a low FODMAPS diet. [These fermentable sugars are different from the easily absorbed sugars we eat to give us energy.]
Managing two diets at the same time is difficult so I do think it wise to find yourself an accredited practicing dietitian to help you. As well you can use my resources, particularly Are You Food Sensitive? to begin with. It does have loads of useful info on food chemical sensitivity for your migraine, and does have an eating plan that is also low in FODMAPS. It is worth getting all the detail of that diet as well. Apricots are high in FODMAPS.
Importantly, if you suspect dairy you have two issues to deal with. You must go lactose-free to minimise bloating, but that does not mean giving up milk. However, there is something else that can be in milk which you need to consider for migraine. As milk ages it is like other protein foods that gradually increase in amines. The trick is to use your sense of smell and taste to work out when the lactose-free milk starts to smell or taste ‘stale’ to you. I remember the first time I met someone who got a migraine if the milk had been open, even just for 24 hours, even if in the refrigerator. There is lots of information on understanding your sense of smell in Tolerating Troublesome Foods, so you can gradually become an expert on yourself. Dark chocolate is high in amines so you can see why it plus apricots was a bad combination for you!
You don’t have to try too hard to come off the meds. There is a place for diet with minimum meds using them when you have a migraine, either accidentally, or during the first year while testing foods to get to your own diet. Using the books you can learn how to not have a bad migraine while doing the right thing: expanding your diet as much as possible. Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you are now being assertive in finding out more to help yourself have your own best diet! All the best. Joan
Reading all these replies are interesting, I too have gone to ER not knowing what happened to me, or why my blood pressure shot up over 200/120, sudden chills and shaking, why I felt sick in the stomach, felt anxious, sometimes my vision seemed to get cloudy, had that niacin flush feeling, tight chest, labored breathing. I ate all the foods I have eaten for years and all of a sudden am getting these allergy like symptoms from these same foods. No more cheeses, red wine, pizza, hot dogs, even oatmeal with dried blueberries and bananas. The reactions seem to be getting stronger as well.
After being in cardiac area of the hospital for days as they try to figure out what happened to me. Which they never did. I couldn’t figure out the relation of foods to the high blood pressure. It wasn’t salt intake. So I thought maybe it’s time to see an allergist. Then after an allergist visit, which most tests came up negative or very low in allergy reaction, they told me to go to a nephrologist (kidney doc) because the high blood pressure just didn’t fit in with the allergy effects. Right now, i’m undergoing tests for 5HIAA, which is a detector possibly for carcinoid tumors, a type of cancer. I’m pretty bummed out, and hoping for the best. But if you look at the types of foods, and symptoms, it all fits with the same tyramine/histamine sensitivities. Anyways, some of you with the same symptoms should ask your doctor about carcinoid tumors. It’s not that common, but catching it early can save a lot of people. I”m still undergoing tests so i’m hoping for the best, but I just thought i’d throw this out there as it’s relevant to people with the same symptoms. And on low amine foods, I do feel better, day by day it’s an adventure if i’m going to be feeling good and productive or my days shot because i’m on so many antihistines that I can’t function. But so far benydryl has saved me many times when my BP has hit that 200/120 mark. Hopefully these tests i’m undergoing finally get me the right treatment to get rid of this once and for all. I hope none of you have this either, but it’s good to understand that there are other illnesses with the same symptoms.
Dear Mark, Thank you for giving us another experience of tyramine sensitivity. The variation in different people is a problem as most medical conditions have particular symptom groups that allow diagnosis. Food sensitive people, on the other hand, all have their own version of their symptoms. It is no wonder that you were not diagnosed easily! It is also confusing to realize that foods you have always eaten have become suspect when they used not to cause any problems! I see many food sensitive people who have new symptoms at particular times of their lives for no apparent reason, so it is understandably frustrating!
It is an adventure to manage the reduction of tyramine. You can look at all the information I have put together on this site to give you many ideas to then apply in your own diet detective work. See Amines https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/amines/
Thanks also, for reminding us all that you need to persist in following possible medical causes of your symptoms. This is important as you can have tyramine sensitivity and another medical condition at the same time. As well do keep asking your doctor about non-sedating antihistamines so you get the benefit without the sedation so you can function as well as possible. You may find that using a daily dose, at the level your doctor suggests, helps your body cope better, and this means you do not have to be so very strict with diet.
Using the Family Sensitivity History questionnaire [in all of my books] is helpful as you can see all the other food sensitivity symptoms that often occur in susceptible families. As well you get information on which foods, and environmental factors, affect you and your family members, and can be used by you in your own “diet detective work”. Maybe someone in your family hates the smell of overripe bananas and you get a clue about one of the usual amines that cause reactions in some. I wish you well in your ongoing adventure managing your diet in your own way. Warm regards, Joan
How did things turn out, Mark?
Your symptoms sound similar to mine, so answering would help.
I just found this site; good info! I an a 59 yo male, and have had tyramine sensitivity since age 43, when it suddenly appeared. My only symptom is crazy insomnia, inability to fall asleep. It took me years to discover that tyramine was a culprit, and I still struggle with choosing the right foods to avoid a wakeful night and bad day-after. I just ordered the e-book and will see what I can learn. I obviously have not learned enough, because I still have trouble 1 out of 4 nights. When that happens I have to take some pretty powerful drugs or I’ll be awake all night. Thanks for the info.
Dear Guy, I am pleased you have found that diet has a role for you. You are unusual in having inability to sleep as your only symptom. And the problem with that is that it is less likely to be thought of as being diet related. Both an inability to fall asleep and sleep problems were common in my early research group of ADHD children. [You can read my Thesis for more detail.] Since then I have met many non-ADHD food sensitive patients who have sleep problems but most have other symptoms such as IBS, migraine, or any of the other symptoms mentioned in my books. In different parts of the world the diet you might start your investigation may have different names. You may be reacting to any of a variety of different food chemicals including additive colour, flavour or preservatives, salicylates, amines, or monosodium glutamate. The name of the diet usually reflects which chemical was first investigated, and gradually other suspect chemicals are added on as patients reports of reactions are listened to and other research findings are added. Histamine is one of the amine group of suspect foods. It is in some foods and it may be produced in the body when adverse reactions occur. This is important as it is the reason why antihistamine medication may be some help in some people. I have emphasized the addition of smells [“anything that smells”] to the list of suspect substances to be investigated. When you read Are You Food Sensitive? you will learn that in addition to diet what you smell, particularly in the evening before you want to sleep, can affect sleep. You will learn that as well as having your own individual symptom, you will gradually develop your own best diet. It is an exciting, if sometimes frustrating, process. Thanks again for reminding us how individual food sensitive symptoms can be. I wish you well. Joan
As I was researching tyramine, I stumbled upon your website & I’m very very thankful! Reading the comments, so many people have issues like me, being discounted by Dr after Dr, running into dead end after dead end. It’s refreshing to hear other people’s stories.
What really caught my eye was the first comment from Sophie. I, like her have very similar symptoms. What I don’t understand & maybe it’s just not a priority is the lack of research or testing to learn more about food sensitivity. In this day & age it seems to me that more & more people are discovering weirdo symptoms that Dr’s just can’t explain. I’m sure it has to do with all the crap that is in our food now & the lack of eating more fresh & healthy food. I would gladly be a guinea pig for research & I hope somewhere in the world, there are studies going on. I so wish I could find a Dr or specialist or anyone that I can talk to locally that understands issues like you do. Again, thank you for what you are doing.
Thanks
Michelle
Dear Michelle,
I am very pleased to have a site where those with tyramine sensitivity can let others know what it is like for them, and know they are listened to with sympathy. It is frustrating to be food sensitive and not understood by doctors. One reason is the one you mention where each person has their own pattern of symptoms so the condition is complex . It is a multisystem disorder whereby people may have changes in many parts of their body and many parts of their brain. The second reason is that we do not know what the problem mechanism is, so researchers do not know what breakdown products to measure in food sensitive people, to compare with non food sensitive people, and the amounts are very small. People do seem to be getting very severe symptoms these days and I agree it can make us wonder what is different about food. There are certainly more additives, but also more use of all the flavoured food from different countries such as salami, sauerkraut, strong cheeses, and smoked and pickled foods. Fifty or one hundred years ago people ate plainer foods with only some special ones that were foods their families had eaten for a long time. In those days there were people who were considered invalids who were not able to manage outside the home. Maybe some were food sensitive. Nowadays everybody can eat many different foods, including those their families had never eaten. Mostly this works well but for those who are tyramine sensitive, or food sensitive to the other suspect food chemicals, it is a big problem, made worse, as you say, by having their condition not well known. There are studies happening where researchers are trying to find which metabolite to measure and a medication which may help. My book Tolerating Troublesome Foods gives all the detail of just how interesting and complex different foods can be. It can help you to understand how small differences in food can affect whether you react or not. Michelle, do keep asking all the doctors you meet what they know about tyramine sensitivity, so that the word gets out to more of them. Regards from Joan
Dear Joan,
Like many of the other readers/followers of this blog, I have a Tyramine intollerance, which was not formally diagnosed, but it’s something that I’ve recently confirmed via diligent food journalling.
It started (or perhaps started noticing it) with a severe headache that lasted four days after a combination of red wine and Chinese food take out. At first I blamed the MSG, and refrained from eating Chinese food, but, after several “wine hangovers” I blamed the wine. Friends and family couldn’t believe that I was “hungover” after just one glass of wine. I figured I was allergic to it, and stopped drinking it. Aside from wine, I’m not much of an alcohol drinker. I’m typically a healthy eater, I’m fit, and I take a lot of vitamins and live an overall healthy lifestyle. A few days later though, I had another of my infamous four day headaches. My husband started to monitor what I was eating, and suggested that maybe it was cheese instead of wine, or, something in both cheese and wine.
I stopped eating cheese as well, and went close to three months without a headache. During this time, we primarily were cooking dinner for ourselves at home (meaning healthy meals with a lot of fresh ingredients) but after the 90 day mark, I had a headache. I was “lucky” this time, it only lasted three days. I’d made a list of foods I’d eaten the day before, and, on that list were olives, pickles and banana peppers. I started diligently tracking what I was eating with how I was feelingand noticed an indisputable link.
My question(s) is, that if this is something naturally occurring in foods (versus a chemical being added)and something that correlates with amino acids (which our bodies need) then there has to be an answer or a solution or something that can be eaten in conjunction with the tyramine rich foods to help minimize the effect.
Has anyone found that their reactions were minimized by doing (or not doing) something when they consume these foods?
Dear Angela, You, with help from your husband, have done well finding your own food intolerance!
You are right in thinking about reactions occurring to natural chemicals in food as well as from additives. Those natural chemicals and additives that cause adverse reactions are often quite similar in chemical shape. It is a source of great frustration to food sensitive people that they do not cause reactions in everybody. If you think about food evolution those foods that mankind found caused some harm to everybody have been excluded and called poisonous. Amines can be produced from protein foods but they are not amino acids. Most protein foods are tolerated as long as they are very fresh.
The problem with adverse reactions is that we still do not know exactly what the metabolic problem is. As well, when we do work out the metabolic problem that food sensitive people have we will still have to minimize the suspect foods, until we find a medicine that can increase excretion of the problem “toxins”. Until then you need to have ready whatever treatments help you cope with reactions until they pass.
However there is some good news. You can use all the information I have learnt from thousands of food sensitive people now available in my newest book, Tolerating Troublesome Foods, to work out how you can maximize your chances of eating at least some of your favorite foods.
Hi Angela, have you tried taking DAO enzyme supplement before eating foods high in histamine ? I’ve heard some people say it works. And how about antihistamines? just an idea 🙂
Good luck with the diet!
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia and Angela, Do discuss all medical options with your doctor so your diet can be less strict. I have not had any reports of trials of success with DAO enzyme. I presumed histamine was metabolised after absorption. I have certainly heard many who find taking antihistamines improves food tolerance, so you diet can be somewhat less strict. The other new treatment to chat to our doctor about is mast cell stabilisers. Do let others know what you find helpful. All the best! Joan
30th August 2013.
Dear Joan Breakey,
Thank you so much for running this blog. I have been diagnosed with a severe Tyramine Intolerance only since March of this year. This comes after over 20 years of suffering headaches and very bad attacks of illness to extent I have felt as if I am being poisoned! (I am now aged 61). It is probable that I have always had this condition, as I know some foods which I have never been able to tolerate. In particular I have never been able to tolerate alchohol.
However there is no question but that the condition has worsened over the years. Initially local Doctors have tried to say that I had ‘allergies’, maybe Gilbert’s Disease (tests for that proved negative) and most recently, ‘temporal arthritis’. However, a new young doctor was able to eradicate all these by tests, and then said to it can only be Tyramines. This is a word I have never heard of. I have always known about Histamines, due to having pollen allergy. My big question is – why do Doctors not know about this condition, and why had they never taken my symptoms more seriously? I have now discovered that this is a very serious condition, especially in view of its effect on me. I had even been seeing a Heart Consultant regularly due to erratic heartbeat, and he also knew nothing of this condition. My Optician also had no knowledge of this condition, which can seriously affect eyesight. I have never taken any mediciations, and certainly none of the drugs which are known to bring on this condition.
My symptoms have been very erratic – sometimes at bedtime a feeling of ‘blood pressure’ in the neck and inability to sleep. This eventually would be followed up by a huge headache next morning, and most often sickness and vomiting later in the day. As I had given up all forms of alchohol many years ago, I could not understand why I was having the very same symptoms so often. Sometimes I would feel so bad I would have scary thoughts that I would not get better and felt that my whole body was shutting down. I now know these were probably serious adrenergic attacks brought on by the tyramines.
In May I was referred to a Dietician, and since then I have limited my intake to only the foods and drinks which are on the safe list.
I now realise that I can’t eat food unless I know the provenance, and how fresh it is. At times it means I can only have vegetables. But at least now I know which foods to choose which will not make me ill. How much my life has been changed by this new knowledge. Only now I realise that I had been living with varying degrees of headache for most of my life until now! My family kept saying I was under too much stress! and they also thought I was a really bad traveller, as some of the worst attacks were brought on by travel – which highlights the non-fresh nature of airport and airline food! A lot of my first days of holiday have been spent ill in bed !
My Doctor told me the condition is very rare, but I wonder … How many people are out there suffering unnecessarily. I feel like I should do something to break this news to all doctors, nurses, clinicians and Consultants alike.
Yours very sincerely,
Hilary Green
Dear Hilary,
Wouldn’t it be nice if doctors considered food chemical sensitivity as a possibility? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a test that showed it, and showed which food chemicals food sensitive people react to? Unfortunately it is a slow process!
Even among food sensitive people your particular story is unusual. You are like other food sensitive people in that sensitivity increases with age. You have given a lovely description of your symptoms. Do write again about the effects on your eyesight. What can you do to break the news to the medical professionals? You can do what you are doing: adding your voice about your own story to stories people read about on this site. Then you can let all of your professionals know about this site so they can see that the variety of reactions really happen to food sensitive people. And you can let them know about my website http://www.FoodIntolerancePro.com with all the free Articles on many food intolerance symptoms. And importantly you can let everyone know about my new book Tolerating Troublesome Foods which describes how real, and complex and individual, adverse reactions are.
Doctors are like everyone else, including relations of food sensitive people. They hope that food intolerance is like most other conditions: that sufferers have similar symptoms that resolve with one diet specifically designed for that symptom. Where food sensitivity or intolerance is concerned unfortunately this is not so. Each person has their own way of reacting, and, after beginning on a diet of low risk foods they test foods, and end up on their own individual diet.
Because reaction symptoms vary so greatly and come and go for no clear explainable reason they are confusing. Worse still, they are similar to symptoms that do happen when people are feeling anxious. Either way they are important but they need to be dealt with differently by doctors. I am looking forward to the day when doctors use the Family Sensitivity History – provided in all of my books – to find families who show the types of symptoms that mean that diet investigation is likely to be useful.
You are among the many people I have met who have put up with symptoms all of their lives and really are justified in being very upset that this did not need to happen! All readers who read these blogs need to be assertive about the role of diet. Sometimes I meet people who have responded to diet and feel much better, and then have clear reactions to tested foods showing that they really are food sensitive. When I say “Did you tell your doctor?” they say “No, he wouldn’t believe me!” Unfortunately this means that doctors do not hear of those who have found diet useful. It is important to keep telling your doctor what happens to you. It will mean that the next food sensitive person the doctor sees, who may not report their diet change as assertively as you, may be believed. The role of additives and other food chemicals in children’s ADHD symptoms is becoming believed by the medical profession but it has taken nearly 40 years for this to happen! The push has come from the families. Now most doctors know at least one family they believe and that means other families will be listened to.
Hilary you are right attending to the provenance, especially freshness, of your foods. You can read Tolerating Troublesome Foods and discuss all the useful detail with your dietitian. This way you expand your diet as much as possible, in your own individual way. I wish you well in managing your own diet, and in being assertive when getting the message out to everyone!
Joan Breakey.
GREAT stuff Joan! I’ve recommended your amine info for many years now to our Food Sensitivity clients and my colleagues that do similar work as you – but aren’t nearly the experts you are, just trying to catch up. 😉
Anyway, wanted to mention, that in the US and N Europe, there IS a great blood test and diet protocol for non-IgE Food and Chemical Sensitivity. It’s called the Mediator Release Test, and then based on test results, client follow a patient specific elimination diet (we call it the LEAP Diet). We see amine reactions often, but sometimes it’s salmon, or turmeric or chicken or parsley. We just never know and it’s SO individual.
I also recently learned from a LEAP RD colleague that her brainfog and fatigue was due to her improper methylation of sulfur. With some supplements to help those pathways (molybdenum/B12/others) she’s MUCH better and can again tolerate a bit more of those high sulfur foods than she could before. (Stopped conversion to ammonia.) Anyway, this is such a fascinating area, and we love helping clients figure out what’s wrong and getting then well, as I know you do.
Jan Patenaude, RD,CLT
Dear Jan,
Nice to hear from you and learning you are still working with food sensitivity. It is interesting to hear what is happening in different parts of the world, and to see the recognition that a “one-diet-fits-all” does not work. People with the same symptoms have different diets, and even those with different symptoms can have the same diet if they are from the one family. I believe that you are aware of my books Are You Food Sensitive? and Tolerating Troublesome Foods, which focus on how to manage these.
We dietitians can help people work towards their own diet with foods they can eat that fit into their own lifestyle. Learning from what everyone found drove me to write the Best Guess Food Guide with risk ratings of different foods included in my new book Tolerating Troublesome Foods. It is SO individual. I recently saw two patients who had their own pattern of just which amine-containing foods they reacted to and tolerated. One managed chocolate but no aged foods, the other managed bananas as long as they were just right, but no chocolate. It certainly is very rewarding to help food sensitive people.
Joan Breakey
Dear Jan, Nice to hear from you and learning you are still working with food sensitivity. It is interesting to hear what is happening in different parts of the world, and to see the recognition that a “one-diet-fits-all” does not work. People with the same symptoms have different diets, and even those with different symptoms can have the same diet if they are from the one family. I believe that you are aware of my books Are You Food Sensitive? and Tolerating Troublesome Foods, which focus on how to manage these.
We dietitians can help people work towards their own diet with foods they can eat that fit into their own lifestyle. Learning from what everyone found drove me to write the Best Guess Food Guide with risk ratings of different foods included in my new book Tolerating Troublesome Foods. It is SO individual. I recently saw two patients who had their own pattern of just which amine-containing foods they reacted to and tolerated. One managed chocolate but no aged foods, the other managed bananas as long as they were just right, but no chocolate. It certainly is very rewarding to help food sensitive people. Joan Breakey
Dear Joan,
Thank you very much for your excellent information. I will be spending much more time reading through your site and will purchase your ebook to further my education. I recently was diagnosed with a sensitivity to Tyramine by a mediator release test aka LEAP program. As I was reading through the comments above a question came to mind where the MAOi’s were discussed. For many years I have been successfully taking 5-HTP to help with mild low serotonin levels. My question is how would this affect tyramine levels and could it have made me more sensitive to tyramine?
thank you again for the extremely helpful information,
Anna Zell LAc.
Dear Anna, Certainly 5-HTP and tyramine and serotonin are closely related in biochemical pathways. Treatment of low serotonin with 5-HTP – or with MAOIs [monoamineoxidase inhibitors] can be helpful, except for those who are tyramine sensitive. Since we all know lots of people who can eat foods with very high tyramine levels we know that those with reactions are very much in the minority.
But for those who react these issues become very important. If you are tyramine sensitive you will really enjoy reading Tolerating Troublesome Foods for ideas on how to manage food to minimize reactions. The 5-HTP may be making a difference to some of your symptoms that is useful. So you can use diet to minimize the tyramine effects. You should discuss this issue with your treating doctor. The other idea is to consider using some other treatment for your symptoms, and see if not using the 5-HTP means you decrease your tyramine sensitivity symptoms. Joan Breakey Dietitian
Thanks, Joan,
That’s definitely me — I’m finding I can eat certain things just after my period but not the week before. I’m not taking hormones currently, although I have before. Is progesterone likely to be a key help? Does one of your books go into that area in detail? Thanks for the help.
Nancy
Dear Nancy,
It is worth discussing management of your hormones with your doctor, especially one with a special interest in woman’s medicine as food sensitive women need to get hormone treatment adjusted until it is just right, or it can feel ‘very wrong’!
My latest bookTolerating Troublesome Foods is really great for tyramine sensitive people and other amines as well. It discusses the shades of difference that can have a food move from pleasant and tolerated to producing a really bad reaction.
You can read Chap 1 for free and get an overview.
Chapter 2 covers many aspects. All tyramine sensitive people know that reactions are complex and individual, so diet therapy is geared to you as the food sensitive person not to the particular symptoms you get. You can learn how to use the Family Sensitivity History to get clues that help you get to your own best diet faster. There is a full page of symptoms showing food sensitivity is a multisystem disorder with all the variability of tyramine reactions, and descriptions of ‘what to expect when you are reacting’ with the most common symptoms.
Chapter 3 describes how your tolerance is different depending on factors in you that are constant; factors that vary [hormones is a good example, but there are others too]; factors in the environment, and the many factors in the food itself.
Chapter 4 covers how to apply what you have learnt to your own particular self.
Chapter 5: the Best Guess Food Guide has mountains of information on just how to improve you tolerance by understanding factors in each food that help make it better tolerated.
Chapter 6 provides lists of foods from low to high risk so you can see lower risk foods at a glance and so expand your diet in the way that suits your own food likes and your own lifestyle.
Tolerating Troublesome Foods contains all the complexity of food reactions that I have learned from the thousands of people who have worked through diet investigation so I am happy to provide the information all in one book.
Joan Breakey MAppSc BSC Cert Diet DNFS TTTC
I think I have a tyramine sensitivity. You mention that it can vary with a woman’s monthly cycle — seems to be very much the case here. Can you explain what it is about the last part of the cycle that would increase tyramine sensitivity?
Dear Nancy, Many people who have tyramine sensitivity are also sensitive to other amines, and many are also sensitive to other chemicals in food that are often reported as causing reactions [additives,and chemicals in highly flavoured foods]. In addition they are often sensitive to factors in the environment, particularly strong smells, and to factors changing in themselves. I call this the “Total Body Load” to emphasize that the greater the total body load the closer you are to your threshold, the more likely you are to react to any of the factors that you are sensitive to. Many women report that they are more sensitive in the week before their monthly so much so that foods they can eat just after their monthly they react badly to in the last week of the cycle. Each will still get their own particular physical symptoms, and they may have sleep disturbances, mood changes, like much worse pre-menstural tension [PMT], or fuzzy thinking.
There is an important part of this to think about. That is that if you change or use a different hormone treatment you may decrease your amount of reactivity. Another point to remember is that particular times when hormones change, such as pregnancy or during breastfeeding your liklihood of more symptoms may be much less or more. What can we learn from this? We can remember that when symptoms are less then the diet can be more liberal, and when symptoms are distressing then diet can be given more attention. These ideas are explained more fully with information on what to expect when you are reacting, and how to manage food so you improve your tolerance in Tolerating Troublesome Foods. See http://btdev.in/dev/fip/tolerating-troublesome-foods/
You can see comments and free download of Chapter 1 as well as how to obtain the ebook for immediate download. Nancy, I wish you well in learning to manage your diet and your hormone cycles together. Joan
To all who have had an episode of tyramine reaction:
I have had 9 visits to the ER in addition to multiple episodes at home where I have headache, intense chest pain, nausea, scary crazy thoughts, very high BP, and tremors. It took some detective work, but each episode followed ingestion of foods high in tyramine. But I found what might have made me sensitive to tyramine.
Foods high in soy proteins contain something called daidzein, which is believed to act as an MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitor. MAO lives in our intestine, liver, lungs, and throughout the nervous system. MAO breaks down tyramine, dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and other monoamines. If a person’s MAO is inhibited, and tyramine is ingested, they can have what is known as an Adrenergic Storm and hypertensive crisis.
I thought I was having a heart attack when I had these things happen. I have had numerous MRIs and all kinds of tests. No answer was given other than ‘anxiety’. But I believe it was diet that was causing these episodes.
Stay away from concentrated soy proteins, such as powdered mixes. And avoid foods high in tyramine.
Dear Stephen,
I am very glad your reactions has been finally understood after some very serious reactions.
I have asked some knowledgeable colleagues about diadzein in concentrated soy mixes. One dietitian knew of a report of a patient whose symptoms included high blood pressure, severe headaches, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. The authors proposed the hypothesis that it may be due to daidzein acting as an MAO inhibitor in a high dose concentrated soy supplement. Another dietitian reminded us the good news that where concentrated soy protein produced the amine sensitivity any potential MAO inhibition would be reversed once the concentrated soy protein was discontinued.
It is known that there is an MAO inhibitor in one antidepressant. This antidepressant is not often used these days. Doctors who prescribe it also prescribe a diet low in tyramine. That is how the ‘MOAI diet’ originated with its emphasis on exclusion of strong cheeses. Those who had this medication became tyramine sensitive, so needed the diet. There are other people who have reactions even though they are not on any MAOI medication. When I was first doing diet investigation with these patients I found the MAOI diets were not excluding enough foods to control symptoms. This was because these patients were sensitive to many other amines, as tyramine sensitive people often are.
Then I discovered something interesting! There is another enzyme that helps with the metabolism of amines. It is called a sulphotransferase. I suspect that highly reactive people are slow metabolisers of amines so these accumulate and produce symptoms.
See http://btdev.in/dev/fip/category/evidence-base/
So now I have worked with many many people who react to amines. It is interesting that soy products are not often reported amongst foods eaten before reactions. Dietitians who are familiar with the compounds in soy products and their metabolism, advise that soy compounds in the amounts usually used by vegetarians and soy milk users are unlikely to be a problem. But as you say, a possible reaction where ‘concentrated soy proteins’ used as supplements, could occur, so great caution should be advised with those.
If you suspect amine sensitivity do minimise all amines, and other suspect chemicals initially, and then gradually test your tolerance using the guidelines in Tolerating Troublesome Foods so you can enjoy as many low-risk foods as possible.
See http://btdev.in/dev/fip/tolerating-troublesome-foods/
This link gives you a page of info on the book and comments, and a free download of chapter 1, and how to obtain e-book for immediate download.
All the best with your diet detective work! Joan
I don’t understand the difference between a tyramine and a histamine sensitivity. I could have either of these from the descriptions of symptoms that I have found, and from the foods that cause these symptoms. The major things that I don’t have of either is that I do not get diarrhea (a symptom of the histamine intolerance), and I don’t get headaches (a symptom of tyramine problems). I once had incredible an incredible migraine problem, but it was alleviated when I started avoiding scent and perfume contact. My reactions to offending food happen fairly fast after ingestion. I get flushed skin, and I get an incredible amount of fatigue (quite debilitating). I was about to order a product called “Histame” which supplies the DAO that is lacking in those individuals with histamine sensitivity, but cannot find if this product will help if my condition turns out to be a tyramine problem. I do take antihistamines (Loratadine 10mg) every day for my severe mold allergy, but still get the other reactions I mentioned, and even suspect that my reactions may be more severe when I take the antihistamines. Another important factor is that if I eat any soy sauce, or cured meats, I have a physical swelling that lasts at least 3 days. I also have a body that gains weight quite easily, as in the inability to eat any carbohydrates without gaining weight. I do wonder if my problem isn’t both the histamine and the tyramine. I hope you have some wisdom about my issues. Thank you
Dear Kate,
Tyramine and Histamine are two types of amines. There are others as well. The tricky idea is that where people are sensitive to them each person has their own particular group of symptoms, just as you have, and they are sensitive to their own particular amines. So I am supporting you in realizing that particular amine sensitivities do not mean particular symptoms, like having diabetes or coeliac disease does. You already know it also means that it is harder to get recognition of your condition of being food sensitive and also hard to find the right diet! In fact there is no one right diet for all amine sensitive people. This does not mean that you cannot progress to your own best diet. Each individual can find their own by doing what I call ‘Diet Detective Work’. Use the ideas that where any amines are suspect all amines need to be investigated, and what is more, some other chemicals can be investigated at the same time. Using the idea of considering the ‘total body load’ of suspect foods and chemicals many can be reduced and then low risk foods can be reintroduced and occasional or small amounts of favoured foods are more likely to be tolerated. Your attention to avoiding scent and perfume contact is a good example of substances you are wise to still consider. Do discuss your use of medications with your doctor and remember that antihistamines that have colour coating may cause reactions because of the additive colour. You can check out all the Articles on my site on food intolerance and on amines. See http://www.foodintolerancepro.com
I cannot sum up all you need to know here but you can gain from the wisdom I have gained from over 35 years working with food sensitive people by using my books: Are You Food Sensitive? and my new book Tolerating Troublesome Foods. It teaches you all the factors that affect tolerance, and has hints on tolerating over 300 foods. Your symptoms are severe enough to go to the effort. As well you could benefit from help from a qualified dietitian in your area. You may find that if you attend to your food sensitivity dealing with your weight may become much less complicated. My good wishes in your diet investigation. Joan
Thank you for this information–it is very helpful indeed. I am wondering if you know of any way to quickly flush tyramine from the system other than the obvious avoidance of foods and beverages that contain large amounts, and also, how long it takes for tyramine to leave the body normally.
Thanks again,
Linda
Each tyramine-sensitive person has their particular reaction and their own clearing time. The important idea is to use whatever medication relieves it, or change your environment if that helps e.g. dim lights, have a soothing bath. Over years people have tried many products to flush it out. Several glasses of water over 24 hours may help with some reactions.
Use of urinary alkalisers – plain, unflavoured products, or a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in water 3 times a day, not near meals, is reported to help where the reaction includes an effect due to other suspect compounds as well as amines. [Remember that tyramine sensitive people can also react to additives, spicy foods, acidic fruit, tea, mint and MSG to name a few. See Are You Food Sensitive? for more detail.] The urinary alkalisers are reported to decrease the reaction to these other compounds.
How long does the reaction take to resolve? Individuals vary. Some have bad reactions that last a day and then they say it takes 3 to 5 days to get over the effects. Others say they have up to 4 days of problems. Rather than avoidance of all suspect foods, each amine sensitive person can decide what they might test, and decide just how risky they feel like being! Remember the old saying – ‘there are no poisonous substances, only poisonous doses!’
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your web site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched all over the place and just could not come across. What an ideal web site.
Thank you Henry for your thoughtful comment. There are some people for whom all my details are not important. It is great that people who are really food sensitive are benefitting from what I have learnt from those who really do have bad adverse reactions. Do return as more articles are coming, and of course there are my books for extra detail! Joan Breakey
Hi,
I have a true Tyramine allergy. I get these symptoms after eating cheese, specifically. (Also, hot dogs, lunchmeat and black olives.)
Before you laugh at my diet, know that I am in grad school. 🙂
I’m 26 and have always been able to eat anything from a “weight” perspective, but evidently not cheese, hot dogs, lunchmeat, black olives or red wine (sadly.)
– mild headache (not migraine)
– labored breathing / chest tight & rapid heartbeat!! (that’s the main sign)
– lethargy almost immediately (eyes become gray underneath like a sailor who is seasick; you’ll know when you see it.)
– total nasal congestion (this is the weirdest thing EVER!)
– the worst, exzcema on inner arms, front of ankles and back of knees
– diarrhea within an hour maybe 2
– almost a dizzy kind of “spell” feeling/ loss of circulation
This is a true Tyramine allergy that I was only able to localize recently after I ate a stick of Sargento Colby Cheese in the middle of the day and nothing else. Oooh boy was I a mess.
hi Holly,
You have shown something important! This is that each person has their own pattern of symptoms that they have when they react. The other thing that is really fascinating is that some of your symptoms are also some of the symptoms described by those who have what used to be called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”. So the question arises as to whether they were really reacting to amines as you do. It is all very tricky! Monosodium glutamate may be a glut-amine at some stage of its metabloism so capable of producing histamine changes in the body. The other point is that we all have what I call our own “metabolic” fingerprint – the way our biochemical pathways change and metabolise the chemicals [natural or additive] in our food. I describe this in more detail in my lots-of-new-information book called Tolerating Troublesome Foods. It has information about adverse reactions to food, with the new Best Guess Food Guide with over 300 foods and their Risk Rating: the likelihood of reacting. The detail provides much information about how to eat food with the best chance of NOT reacting! You can learn much about how to manage your diet to eat more of your preferred foods while reducing others you may not like as much anyway. See
http://btdev.in/dev/fip/tolerating-troublesome-foods/ Gives page of info on the book and comments and free download of chapter 1 and how to obtain ebook for immediate download. Kind regards Joan Breakey
I was diagnosed with tyramine intolerance about 3 years ago after suffering bouts of severe headache, vomiting and swelling/blotchiness of the face – depening on the levels of tyramine consumed symptons could last up to 12 hours. Post diagnosis has very much been a learning curve of getting to know which raw fruits and veg contain higher levels of tyramine than others and at what stage of maturity they may be not worth risking. I have found some such as plums and avacados are already beyond my tolorance at the point when they are just ripe enough to consume and also most citrus fruit is also off the menu. I have also found my intolorance has worsened over the years and something which may not have affected me a year ago now makes me ill. Eating out also became a bit of a lottery not knowing how meals are prepared – have they used freshly squeezed lemon juice – was the wine cooked through and how freshly prepared is the salad. On the alcohol front it has been a case of trying to find out which spirits are fermented based and which are distilled.
In desperation I did visit an alternative therpist who through using desensitisation/homeopathic remedies has improved things a little (I can now have a slice of lemon in my G & T!) though its a long way from a cure.
The rouble is I now have a worsening wheat intolorence also resulting in headaches and bloating – being a food lover it does make life difficult at times espcially working in an office of cake lovers but I just have to teach myself to resist!
something about your tutorials make them stand out
Dear Benjamin,
Much thought goes into each of my Articles so I am pleased that they benefit people.
Joan Breakey
Hi,
My name is Alin and I am a 33 y.o. male from Stamford, CT. I am a fit , athletic , sport person.
A month ago a called 911 because after a soccer game my heart went into a irregular heart beat and also very high pulse. I was taken to the hospital and they’ve done all kinds of test on me and everything came
up negative. (heart, circulatory system, etc) My heart went back to the
normal pulse, second day, after they gave me some medicine called flecainide. I was told that the event happened to me because of the combination of many factors together: being tired, dehydrated, playing soccer on 90 degrees. Since then I have not encountered anything like and never before that, also. After the cardiologist told me that my heart is very healthy and I could go on and play soccer but don’t exhaust myself, I started getting worried what could have really caused the event. Now, i have to mention the fact that prior 3 days to that event, I went to a soccer tournament for 2 days and I played a lots of games fact that got me extremely tired. After i got home I got diarrhea and I remember eating a lot of cherries right before the soccer game that was followed by the event. I have been having trouble with blood pressure for years (many time oround 140/80 or even more) but no doctor could find a reason and all of them told me that is just the way it is and some of them put me on medication(which I refused to do that on long run). Now, here is the big thing: After I came from hospital where I stayed 2 days, I started a diet of vegetables only. After 3 days my blood pressure went down from 135-140/80 to 115/70. However, the fourth day, in the morning I ate 2 over ripped bananas. After 1 hour I took my blood pressure and it was
140/80, thing that pissed me off knowing that for 4 days I had been eating vegetable only and knowing that pressure really went down, and only eating two damn bananas went up to 140/85 again. Don’t get me wrong, 140/85 blood pressure is not really a big deal, BUT, definitely the bananas cause that and for a young male like me is not normla to have blood pressure 140/85. Then I started reading and I found out about Tyramine. Yesterday I ate cherries and peanut butter and some other nuts, avocado and last night right after I ate the nuts and cherries I noticed that I was scared about something, even though of course I had no reason to be scared. My heart was pounding strong in my chest, with regular pace, but very strong. I took my blood pressure and It was 150/90. I went to bathroom 5 times on a row for number 2 and about 15 time for number 1. After two hours the symptoms went away and this morning I woke up with blood pressure 122/70. So I think also, like many other people that the Tyramine plays games with me, and it does that for many years. It’s sad that i realized that only now, because anytime after eating my blood pressure went up and I could have avoided that. On the other hand it’s good to know even now, but the problem is that this substance is found in almost everything. What it remains me to eat ?
another question, according to my facts do you also believe that is the tyrmine that does that to me ?
Hi Alin,
Diet factors could be part of your very unpleasant reaction. To find out we can do what I call Diet Detective Work. Amines such as tyramine can cause reactions. You can look at what you can eat from all the amine charts on this site: http://btdev.in/dev/fip/category/amines/
An important Diet Detective idea is to think about the Total Body Load of all suspect foods and environmental factors (such as those you mentioned: tiredness, dehydration and increased exercise), adding up to your particular threshold where your distressing symptoms occur. The advantage of using this idea that it allows you to eat some low-risk food when the environmental load is down. The other benefit is to consider lowering other additives and suspect chemicals that often cause reactions in amine sensitive people, also then allowing you more leeway with some amine-containing foods you may want to eat. This is because amines and some additives and salicylates are all metabolised along similar metabolic pathways. You could use a general low suspect-chemicals diet, perhaps at the Easy Elimination Diet level of strictness, and avoid bad reactions. You can learn all about it from my book Are You Food Sensitive? Available from: http://btdev.in/dev/fip/food-sensitivity-advice
As well you can consider whether you want to investigate diet further so that your usual level of blood pressure could be lowered on a long term basis. Then you would better tolerate any tiredness or increased exercise without your very unpleasant symptoms, and from the book. You will start with fresh good quality foods and gradually expand and find your own best diet.
Joan Breakey
I have a friend that suffers from horrible migrain headaches that last hours or even days and has a brain fog feeling almost everyday. He has noticed that cheese and acidic juices,etc…may cause them. He thinks he may have an allergy to tyramine,the question i have is does it start affecting him immediately after he ingests a food with tyramine or could the headache come a couple of days later. because he has been trying to determine what could be causing them, and he went to the movies and ate popcorn< two days later he had a bad migraine.
We are just looking for some answers.
Thank you
Dear Bekka,
Yes, reactions can be delayed. Migraine and brain fog are two symptoms that many food sensitive people have. Tyramine is one amine that is often implicated in migraines. There are other amines as well. And, as well as amines, food sensitive people are often sensitive other groups of food chemicals that are metabolised [or detoxified] in a similar way. These are salicylates which are high in acidic fruits, and additive colours, flavours, MSG, and some preservatives. This explains why migraines may not come on when expected. They come on when sufficient foods that add up to a reaction are eaten and the critical threshold is reached. You can get answers. I call it diet detective work! In addition to reading the Articles section notes on Amines, and the one on Smells, do also see my book Are You Food Sensitive? on http://www.FoodIntolerancePro.com It allows you to work through the diet investigation and gradually work out what you can manage. Note its guidelines on managing migraine through the withdrawal phase. The additional good news is that the brain fog feeling may also respond to diet change. Diet responders report feeling just ‘so good’ once symptoms are controlled. I wish you well. Joan Breakey Dietitian
For several years I had experienced uncontrollable flushing of my face, at least several times a day. I consulted with many doctors and specialists. Most of them thought I had anxiety concerns. I tried anti-depressants but quickly realized it wasn’t for me. I was so frustrated that I started trying various holistic treatments and therapies but none would give me full relief of my symptoms.
I recently saw an allergist who determined I have no allergies but in passing he mentioned tyramine and it’s effects. I was interested since I’ve always thought the problem was intolerance to some type of food but didn’t know what.
I have been avoiding the trigger foods for a week now and feel so much better. There are some days I still feel a little heat flash but not as much as before. I am still working to get rid of the problem completely. I am confident I am on my way to being my “old self” again!
Thanks for the blog. It was helpful to me and I’m certain many others as well.
Hi all,
I wanted to share my “cure” for this…
I am in the throws on testing my self for an intolerance to Tyramine. I get immense headaches/migraines and nauscea after drinking alcohol…and I’m not talking getting hammered as I haven’t done that since my teens…but one glass of wine or one pint of beer sets me off for more than 24 hours of pain everytime which totally put me off drinking for life which is no fun!
Having searched high and low for solutions I noticed the Tyramine and have taken precautions since. Before I know I’m going to have a drink, I take an anti-histamine. I’ve also started taking B6 supplements as this is the vitamin that helps turn protein into chemicals your body can handle. Also, as a bonus, it helps your body produce serotonin…so you’ll be happier!
I already have a lactose intolerance and since changing to lacto-free milk I’ve been so much more comfortable! (Also, it is still real milk so the other half is happy to drink it too).
Anyway, I tried my new “cure” out last weekend firstly with a pint of beer one night and TWO glasses of cheap wine (cheap wine tends to be worse I find), and so far, no headaches!!
I should point out that I haven’t noticed getting any headaches from eating certain foods…so that is something I will look out for. Hopefully this will solve all!
I will keep going with it and hopefully won’t come across another alcohol induced headache.
The conclusion:
– Take B6 supplement every day to help your body naturally process the protein
– On days you know you will or might drink, take an anti-histamine (I took loratadine 10mg)
Wanted to share in case it helped anyone else with this. 🙂
Thanks,
Laura
Dear Laura,
It is good you have found a treatment that suits you. Other treatments that people who are having adverse reactions to food include plain panadol begun exactly at the onset of symptoms, and urinary alkalisers, though this last one works better with highly flavoured foods such as tomato or spicy foods or foods high in additives [including the soft drinks people use as mixers with alcohol]. Having good nutrition is important for everyone who has adverse reactions to food. We can get most of our B6 from our dairy food sources. Some other food sources of vitamin B6 are Wholemeal flour, wheat bran, peanuts, walnuts and hazel nuts, bananas [ just ripe], canned salmon and canned tuna [making sure you use them on the day you open them so amines are minimised]. The next important option for you Laura, is use the treatment to show you how to prevent the symptoms. Antihistamines are useful as a treatment where you have had compounds that cause a release of histamine. This does include some alcoholic drinks, so you are on the right track. The good news is that alcohol itself does not usually cause a release of histamine, so you may manage a plain alcohol such as a good quality unflavoured vodka [drink it with soda water or mineral water], or red label whisky. I hope you have solved your problem. If not and you still have headaches you can do even more by reading the other blogs, the Articles section on Tyramine and Amines in food, on http://www.FoodIntolerancePro.com and my book Are You Food Sensitive? It is all diet detective work! I wish you continued assertion in looking after yourself. Joan Breakey
Spot on with this write-up, I genuinely think this site needs much much more consideration. I’ll probably be again to read much much more, thanks for that info.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent info I was looking for this info for my mission.
I’ve found this site really interesting. I think I have a tyramine sensitivity, but I have never met anyone with the exact symptoms as me. After eating something high in Tyramines, I wake up in a confused state from sleeping. I am panicked, my heart is racing and it takes about 5-10 minutes for me to get back to reality. I’ve worked out that figs, aubergines, over ripe bananas, gravy powder are dangerous for me, and I am still learning what else is. It is very frightening waking up in this state. The hard thing is that Tyramine is in so many things, and yet some things don’t effect me, such as red wine. I also have suffered from migranes, but normally they are related to the “time of the month”
Dear C Norris
Thank you for sharing your unusual symptoms with other readers. Your symptoms are very unusual and special in a way you may not have thought of. They are probably a very good description of what we call “night terrors” in children, but children cannot describe what is happening to them nearly as well as well as you have done. Parents often say the child cannot be consoled for quite a while.
Your unusual symptoms, if considered separately have been reported by others. Occasionally some adults will tell me they wake up having a panic attack, others report their heart racing. Many report some degree of confusion, or use words like ‘fuzzy thinking’ or ‘brain fog’. Your severe confusion on waking combined with the others, does sound very frightening.
Tyramine and other amines are in many foods. It is important to realize that there are many different types of amines, and that each amine sensitive person can be sensitive to their own particular ones.
And to make it more complicated, people who are sensitive to amines are often sensitive to other chemicals in food, some natural such as tyramine, some as additive colours, flavours, some preservatives, and glutamates. Gravy powders can have some of these as well as the flavours that may have amines derived from the browning of meats.
These other suspect foods do not show up as separate problems but they can add up to “aggravating the underlying condition”. I call them “the layer underneath”.
See the long article on Amines on http://www.FoodIntolerancePro.com in the section on Articles to learn more about amines, and my book Are You Food Sensitive? to learn how to do diet detective work to manage your diet using all the tricks I have learnt about being able to get away with as many foods as possible.
Your idea of the migraines being related to the “time of the month” is important as it shows the importance of all the in-the-person and in-the-environment factors that affect just whether you will reach your threshold for symptoms to occur. You can read all about the idea of the “Total Body Load” in Chapter 2 of my book describing the detail of all the factors such as hormones, stress, or smells, which contribute to whether or not you will have a reaction.
Overall the best way to find out what you do and do not tolerate is to use the Diet Detective Method to cut out sufficient foods to start with [but not too many] and reintroduce them using all the tricks so you have the maximum chance of tolerance. All the information on how to do this is in Are You Food Sensitive?
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge of your amine sensitivity with others.
All the best with your own diet detective work!
Joan Breakey Specialist food sensitivity dietitian.
After years of suffering from debilitating migraines and sever nausea with vomiting, I have finally found some great information regarding migraines, cyclic vomiting syndrome and the link to tyramine. I wish I new this 10 years ago. Only if you know me and have actually observed an “episode”, no one ever believed me. Not my doctors, employers or friends. I would wake up in the middle of the night with severe nausea and a bad “headache”. Vomiting always followed. The thing that is bad is that it would last for hours to days. The vomiting was so bad, that I would retch/vomit at least 10 times and hour. I would go in the shower and have to lay down and let the hot water just beat on me for at least 20 minutes. This is the only relief. After 12 hours, I usually end up in the emergency room because of the dehydration and non stop vomiting. The migraine would never go away until the vomiting stopped. Now that I look back, I can see the pattern. I love liverwurst, ham, pickles, everything that is on the list for foods to avoid. Thank you for this web site.
Hi, I have a problem but don’t know if I have the same allergy as I only find I get the problem with raw cheese., even before I have had one chew on it I become red in the face and my face goes very hot. Could you please tell me if it could be an allergy to Tyramine or do you think I should go on looking.I have not really noticed it with anything else except alcohol.I would be grateful for any help you can give me. Many thanks June Boon
Your reaction is very interesting June. We can understand it more using the diet detective approach. Can you give us more information so everyone can understand your situation. What symptoms do you get? Are you free of these symptoms as long as you stay away from raw cheese? Do you think your reaction occurs when you get a smell of it, or when it touches you lips or tongue? What about raw milk or yoghurt? Which alcoholic drinks are most problem: wine, beer or spirits. In diet detective work the more clues we have the better!
Kind regards Joan
All I can say is WOW, reading the above is the breath of fresh-air I’ve been looking for, so I really have to thank everyone.
Like others my, self-made Food-Diary showed a direct link between food and mood, and I have had the same reaction from the medical profession. 1990 to 2010 being told ‘Its all in your mind’ or ‘Your normal’ but only in the last 4 weeks of me getting angry with Dr’s has anyone done anything and have recently started an MAOI, which, in theory, may help.
I have found the ideal solution is a total exclusion diet for 48-72 hrs, but as this isn’t practical I have to eat and put up with the consequences.
For me, one thing that does help a great deal is SucroGuard by BioCare.
My quest is to find professional help that is a cross between a Nutritionist & Chef as, as others have said you crave those foods that make you ill.
Thanks again to everyone as it really does help knowing I’m not going mad – there is also a family connect with my sister and mother having similar problems.
Julian
Dear Julian,
It is great to you believing in yourself and being assertive about diet investigation.
Do discuss the use of MAOI medication as that may be going in the wrong direction. It is the treatment with MAOIs which is liable to produce reactions to amines, including tyramine, and patients are put on a low amine diet for that reason. MAOIs are Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitors, that is inhibitors of the enzymes that break down the amines, such as tyramine; because psychiatrists consider low levels of monoamines such as noradrenaline and serotonin contribute to depression the medication aims to increase these by inhibiting their breakdown. So the medication may improve the patient’s mood.
Those who are food sensitive are those who have reactions even without having MAOIs. So using them could make your reactions worse. In fact you are more vulnerable to the more dangerous side effects, such as a hypertensive crisis, so you need to be under the care of a local dietitian.
You can also get supportive help via my book ‘Are You Food Sensitive?’ on this site. It is a diet detective process that gives you a good way to start – without going on a total exclusion diet for 48-72 hours – and then you gradually see what you can get away with over months.
If you follow that process one of the benefits of the diet detective process is that the cravings go after the first couple of weeks and you can test things gradually so you don’t go back to the have a big feed, feel great, followed by feeling really bad, with cravings and then having another big feed cycle.
From the chef point of view the important thing to remember that it is “very fresh, good quality food” that is better tolerated. The Diet detective Approach is to say “if any food smells too stale, aged or strong to you, it is wise not to have it”.
Your knowledge of others in the family having similar problems is important information. Do read Chap 2 on Understanding food sensitivity, and Chapter 4 for Family factors to consider to understand the whole idea of food sensivity better.
Kind regards
Joan Breakey
Sophie & Chiara
I’m so happy to have found this site and your comments as I have been suffering from a similar problem, which I have since diagnosed as a Tyramine sensitivity. On many occasions after drinking two glasses of red wine in the evening I am awakened 3-4 hours later with a rapid heartbeat and increased blood pressure, unable to sleep. I’ve also noticed that I’ve had negative mood swings on some of these evenings. At first I chalked it up to simply drinking too much, but then realized that I was not consuming enough for that — especially since I could have three or more glasses of white wine or champagne without a negative reaction. Now on two occasions when I’ve had red wine plus aged cheese (parmesan, asiago, etc.) and cured meats (salami, pancetta, etc.) for dinner I’ve woken up violently nauseous with the same circulatory symptoms. The combination of amines must be too much for my system to bear.
Unfortunately, my doctor has not been very helpful and only points out that I do not suffer from migraines, which — in his mind — blows my Tyramine theory.
The hardest part is that I *love* red wine, aged cheeses and cured meats! Not to mention, some red wines and foods are fine, others massively problematic. Trying to avoid the bad ones is key. I know it will be difficult to eliminate these foods from my diet completely… but I’m comforted to know what it is and that I’m not alone.
Dear Victor,
Thanks for sharing your symptoms of Tyramine sensitivity with others.
What is the trick with regard to getting away with some of these foods?
It is really summed up by you noting the flavour and the dose and adding that to what I call the Total Body Load.
Where flavour is concerned there are two aspects. Some people react to any foods with any amines, others can manage one type of amine eg bananas, but not another eg chocolate. So you can try your favourite foods one at a time to understand your own particular tolerance.
There is another idea that is important to consider. The amount of amines increase as foods ‘age’, that is, if they are stored longer. These aging amines are not the same as the usual ones inherent in the food as made by the manufacturer. They increase in time after production. I have encouraged people to try buying very fresh aged cheese to try, with success in some. They have the fresh aged cheese only on the day they buy it, and not after it has been stored a few days.
The amount you have also matters so you may decide just how much of the amine containing foods you feel you want at a particular time. You can also decide which amounts of the combination of amine foods are most important to you.
That brings us the next important idea. It related to the Total Body Load idea [explained in full in Are You Food Sensitive?] Whether you manage to tolerate a particular dose is dependent on your physiology and on your environment. This includes how tired you are and how stressed, and which phase of your monthly cycle you are in. It also includes whether you are coping with some smells that are not good for you, or if you are coping with an allergy season, or an infection.
So I wish you well in testing foods you like to see what you can manage in your particular lifestyle!
All the best
Joan Breakey.
Tyramine and food additives can change mood.
Yes, Chiara. Mood is a separate symptom that diet can change. It is very important and often reported by diet responders. You are not alone in your reaction.
When work was begun on hyperactivity the activity itself was the focus [especially by Feingold]. Then it changed to the other important concerns of ADHD. That is attention and impulsivity. And all the other issues that go along with that. See my thesis, and Chapter 1 of Are You Food Sensitive? on this site for interesting findings. The important thing was that after much research by several teams in different parts of the world the finding that the aspect that diet changed most was not the core ADHD symptoms, though these did change. The symptom that diet changed most was mood. It was “irritable, touchy and cranky”. Did you read my article on Diet and Mood? I will add it in the Articles section.
The mood change is important and it explains why in some research parents were better able to identify when children were being given the test additives in double blind placebo controlled trials than teachers were. In addition to ADHD features they were more likely to notice changes in mood as well than teachers were.
But diet changing anything is still not well accepted as the variety of symptoms it can aggravate is many, and not everyone with the symptoms responds in a neat and tidy way. You are right to wonder how many other food sensitive people do not know that diet may make a very big difference to their lives. Research is limited as mood changes are much more difficult to research. Many find out by doing what I call Diet Detective Work [see Are You Food Sensitive? at http://www.dietinvestigation.com/are-you-food-sensitive.asp%5D. Diet responders find that not only does diet help with their irritable bowel, or a rash, or migraine, but report changes like yours: mild headache, shortness of breath, nausea, and a hot flash.
Some diet responders are like you in being particularly sensitive to one group of suspect chemicals, the amines, some are sensitive to others as well.
You have your particular cluster of symptoms when reacting. Others may have similar ones, or different symptoms.
You will also have your own sensitivity to particular amines. Initially it is wise to exclude all foods reported to have amines of any kind. After a month or 6 weeks of exclusion you can test amine containing foods one at a time using the ideas in Are You Food Sensitive?
You may also learn that most people who are sensitive to amines are also sensitive to other food chemicals such as additives, and natural chemicals such as spices, and you can learn where these fit in. Sometimes problems are blamed on sugar but reactions are to the additives.
Thank you Chira for letting others know this type of change does happen with diet.
Joan
This site is exciting for me to discover. I recently diagnosed myself with tyramine sensitivity, which I may have had for months or years. My main symptom was moodiness. This was virtually impossible to connect with diet until I started keeping a food diary after a particularly strange and sudden onset. One day I was talking to my husband and became extremely angry, for no reason. It felt like someone had turned a switch in my brain and was flooding it with “mad.” As a scientist, I had been frustrated for a long time by such experiences and decided to try to figure it out once and for all.
The next day I began a food diary and noticed something immediately: The day I became angry, I had eaten processed meat three times (a lot for anyone, but especially for me). I began tracking my diet and mood for about a month and confirmed that certain symptoms occurred when I ate foods on this list: http://www.headaches.org/pdf/Diet.pdf
I also began to notice physical symptoms, which included mild headache (sometimes but not always at the back of my head) and rapid heartbeat. Last night about 1 hour after a dinner including prosciutto and parmesan cheese, I had an attack like the one Joan describes, with shortness of breath, a little nausea, and a hot flash (I am 29 years old). The attack itself lasted about 10min but right after I ate the culprit foods, I began to feel nauseated.
Sometimes I wonder how many people out there have a similar amine sensitivity and have just been labeled “moody” by their friends, family, or themselves. I feel in control of my emotions for the first time in my life. It is a liberating, wonderful feeling!
I also recently discovered that Tyramine intolerance was causing problems. I had migranes 4-5 days per week, nausea after eating the foods with tyramine followed by rapid heart rate sometimes diarrhea heartburn and gas. I had depression from constant pain. Horrible stiff neck and shoulders, felt as though my eyes would explode at times. had hot flashes after eating that would make me break out in a sweat. I also had the brain fog BAD! At one point the headaches and brain fog made me believe I had a stroke. Fortunately after 4 years of hell I found that tyramine was the problem. Now I simply take a regimen of super B complex, co Q 10, and Magnesium to stay healthy. These helped the migranes along with pain reliever and honestly I’m afraid to stop taking them. I feel like my prayers have finally been answered. I truly feel diet is key and that everyone’s will vary in sensitivity. Good luck everyone!
Diana, you have reminded readers of something important. Your reactions affect your gut, heart, mood, pain threshold, muscle tension and thinking. Each person has their own “target organ sensitivity”. You have many distressing symptoms but they are not the ususal food sensitivity ones. This means your doctor is unlikely to have seen someone with just your combination of symptoms. If you had only migraine you would probably get more sympathy! You are right! Diet can have an important role which can be found by diet detective work. I am glad you mentioned brain fog. It occurs more often than is mentioned but people just put up with it. I am no longer surprised when my IBS patients say that along with decrease in gut pain after diet investigation they are really enjoying a reduction in brain fog. Do keep checking out my resources, especially Tolerating Troublemsome Foods, that show how to manage the individual variation in sensitivity.