Question
I have been having a lot of problems in the last 4 years. I can’t eat lemons or any citrus. I stay away from fruit. I can’t eat olives, tomatoes, as of late. I’ve cut out night shades completely. Peppers have been know to shoot the bp up. I had to call an ambulance about 2 weeks ago as I finished dinner and my bp started to go up. Face and chest were bright red. I ran to the phone and call an ambulance. Took 2 benedryl and waited for the ambulance. My bp was 224 over 114. I thought I wasn’t going to make it. Confusion, headache, shaking and red skin. I’ve been told I had sensitivities and sent home. I am seeing an internist now. Hoping she can help me. I’ve had to call an ambulance twice now. Nobody seems to know what is going on. I have a 24 hr bp machine on right now to see what the bp is doing. I can’t go out to eat anywhere as everything has to be made special. Even mayo has lemon in it. Frustrating for sure. Thanks for listening.
Answer
Hi Shirley, Since you have found some foods affect you, you are justified in investigating further with all the other foods that have a similar chemical structure and also produce reactions. Your reaction is severe but you are not alone in having a BP increase with foods. I have just noted that I have two articles where smells are the main culprit for increased BP. But the salicylates [nightshades], additives, amines [ these are important to some], and MSG and other glutamates are what I call “the usual suspects”. Other suspect foods includes additives and many of the more highly flavoured foods you would have when eating out. I am pleased to say there are enough foods left to make a manageable eating plan of home cooked foods. You could begin with my book Are You Food Sensitive? https://foodintolerancepro.com/buy-food-sensitivity-products/ and apply all the info to your symptom of increased blood pressure. Chapter 3 has all the Suspect chemicals to consider with an important summary page on each. As you go through the diet detective process you usually lower all the suspect foods for an elimination diet trial. IMPORTANT: take two weeks to lower all suspect foods gradually so you do not have worsening of symptoms during the withdrawal period. Then allow 3 weeks before expecting to see much change. So your elimination diet trial time becomes six weeks. Then you can very gradually test foods you want to try, remembering that the more scared you are the smaller the amount of the challenge food you begin with and increase over 7 days. Remember that any big change is your challenge at that time. Examples include any medication your doctor suggests, any infection, any hormone therapy, or any big stress. All the detail is in Are You Food Sensitive? and later use the companion book Tolerating Troublesome Foods https://foodintolerancepro.com/tolerating-troublesome-foods/ with detail on why reactions change and info on over 300 foods with hints on careful testing as well as stories of what the many real food sensitive people have reported affects tolerance.
I wonder if that’s why citrus seems to cause migraines in some people. Interesting.
Food sensitive people are very sensitive to the foods that bother them. I have met people who could have OJ with no pith and not get symptoms, but with any pith present symptoms happened. Then there are the ones who know that it is the citrus oils in the peels that are the problem as they are so much stronger. Then their worst reactions are to cakes with “mixed fruit” that contains citrus peel, or an old-fashioned orange-peel cake. When investigating diet they still need to start from a general low chemical diet such as in Are You Food Sensitive? also available on AmazonKindle https://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Food-Sensitive-investigate-ebook/dp/B00J7PC5VQ Different food sensitive people can have different symptoms in different parts of their bodies. It can affect BP and migraine, and for me and those with eczema, and IBS, citrus is often an aggravator of symptoms. And in infants it can be one of the fruits that cause a rash on the skin around the mouth. Citrus contain salicylates so they are among the foods to be excluded on the Low Chemical elimination diet. Do enjoy learning more from the articles on category salicylates https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/salicylates-are-important-exclusions-2/ It is all very interesting!
This could be Tyramine Intolerance which I have and discovered through Dr Janis Jonega’s old blog – her book “Dealing with Food Allergies ” Saved me- I followed the low histamine / low tyramine diet and had no reactions for months until I started adding back in anything aged or fermented. I also have MCAS now but rely on fresh tyramine free foods and eat as healthy as possible. the high BP/ hypertenisive crisis from tyramine is scary. Best wishes for wellness. I highly recommend a good functional MD to help!
Thank you for your comment S Walker. You are right. Tyramine sensitivity is the most medically acknowledged dietary reason for fluctuating blood pressure. It is good that you found Jonega’s work and that it helped you so much. The important good news update on the early diets that looked neat and tidy is that they are often a good starting place when investigating diet. It was good that you added on histamines. But challenges can be done after the initial elimination diet and these show that people vary in tolerance. And Shirley does sound as if she should be looking at the night shade group of chemicals amongst the others.
There are two important ideas to remember: Different food sensitive people can have different suspect compounds causing their particular symptoms. One amine sensitive person may tolerate home-made gravy and bananas at just the right level of barely ripeness, while another may tolerate some chocolate and a good red wine. So the second important idea is that individual differences occur in tolerance even within the suspect chemical grouping, especially for amines. It is now known that there are different levels of tyramine even within the one block of cheese! Individuals can test very fresh white cheeses first and go carefully from there. Do enjoy reading more about these ideas in my free articles in the category Tyramine Sensitivity Syndrome https://foodintolerancepro.com/category/tyramine-intolerance/