Question:
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.
Joan’s answer:
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
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