Advice re: new allergy or detox? Histamine reaction Day 4 - wet cough, sneezing

[HollyBee]

I was wondering if anyone had experience with a histamine reaction early on. I've developed a wheezy productive cough since day 2 that feels a bit like asthma, and some intermittent sneezing and post-nasal drip that seems to be worse after eating then resolves (congested bronchi feeling stays though). I've had very mild seasonal allergies in the distant past, and have a slight mold allergy.

 

I've never had any kind of noticeable reaction to anything I've eaten before, and at first I thought it was possibly a "healing crisis" carb flu type reaction to not eating dairy or grains. (I've done low carb before but always with full fat dairy and a little whole grain (like Kavli crackers). The is the first time I've ever been dairy and grain free.)

 

Has anyone ever heard of a histamine reaction to foods like almonds or coconut? I'll list my four days below in case anyone has any ideas. Other than some nausea, which resolved, I've been feeling pretty great except for the allergy symptoms. I'm coming off of a really terrible carb, sugar and PUFA  laden diet. This seems to be getting worse, so I'm not sure if I should let it run it's course (if it's more of a detox symptom) or medicate (benadryl) or try to lay off the nuts and coconut (which would really be depressing). 

 

I guess I'm leaning towards wait and see, watch and wait, but after my last meal, I'm getting some swelling in the roof of my mouth, so I don't want to aggravate any possible developing allergy by keeping on with the food. Anyone have any thoughts about differentiating allergies from detox symptoms? Thanks for the expert advice folks! I love this forum....

 

Day One

 

1. coffee with coconut oil

2. Baby greens and tuna

3. Baked salmon with turmeric, ghee and steamed asparagus, coconut oil baked sweet potato cubes, mango with lime, fresh mint and blueberries 

4. Handful of macadamia nuts

 

Day Two

 

1. black coffee

2. scrambled eggs with ghee and dry salami, salad with avocado, tomato and chopped snap peas with an avocado cilantro shallot dressing, melon slice

SNACK - young coconut water

3. 2 tablespoons of pecan cashew butter and some strawberries

 

 

Day Three

 

1. black coffee

2. baked snapper with cardamom and limes crusted with sliced almonds and coconut meal, asian pear slaw with cilantro, grated carrot, snap peas and scallion dressed with coconut oil and lime juice. Sliced peach.

3. sliced pot roast with avocado chimichurri, baked sweet potato cubes, and garlic kale, strawberries

 

Day Four

 

1. black coffee, strawberries and 1 tablespoon of pecan cashew butter

2. Baked chicken tenders with baby greens, leftover asian pear slaw, melon and creamy cashew vinagrette

4:30 SNACK - strawberries and a small handful of cashews

3. Almond meal baked chicken tenders with coconut cream mustard dipping sauce, brussels sprouts, melon slice with blueberry compote. 

 

[GFChris]

Swelling in the roof of your mouth sounds like a reaction to something you ate. Have you had issues with nuts in the past?

EDIT: On another note, I see you're only eating 2 meals a day with few veggies. Aren't you hungry???

[Susan W]

It's tough to read your food log because there are no breaks but you do seem to eat a lot of nuts and/or nut butters.

Also..this is allergy season. I always say I have no allergies but I have had a deep non productive cough for weeks.

[HollyBee]

Nope - never had any food allergy issues...allergy testing some years ago for sinus stuff revealed a mild mold allergy. I do have systemic inflammation issues (my reason for Whole30) which seem more hormonally influenced and have caused some mild mouth swelling in the past. 

[HollyBee]

GFChris - I have a hard time forcing myself to eat when I'm not hungry, not to mention a little nauseated, so wasn't quite making three, but that's much better now so I expect I'll be hungry enough to eat three meals or at least two and a mini-meal most days. 

 

Susan W - not sure about the breaks, they are showing up for me. Should I be doing something differently? Also, if it weren't so out of the ordinary I'd say allergies, but this definitely feels different. I think it's either a detox symptom or a new food allergy. Can it be both? And if it is a new food allergy - how do those things generally go. If not severe can they go away so you can tolerate the food eventually?

 

Thanks for the advice 

[GFChris]

Your food log displays fine for me, with breaks. I hope you feel better soon. Maybe it makes sense to call your doctor if this doesn't get better?

[Susan W]

Oh you know what? I am on my phone so it could easily be a tapatalk thing. There have been forum issues lately so ignore my comment.

[Kirsteen]

Holly, your symptoms, especially the swelling sounds like an allergic reaction to something. The most common culprit with most people is nuts. Nuts are also a major player for a lot of people with systemic inflammation.  However, if all these symptoms are new to you, I'd recomend getting some medical advice. None of us here are qualified to diagnose you, especially over the internet so if it doesn't clear up, I would definitely seek professional advice.

 

On a totally unrelated note, here's a link to the meal template http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf. Eating a lot of nuts and fruit can certainly throw your appetite off and make it harder to eat proper meals. i really hope you get to the bottom of this soon. good luck

[Tom Denham]

What you are describing is NOT a detox symptom. Detox symptoms involve feeling sluggish, having a mildly upset stomach, being a bit tired, but not coughing, sneezing, or a runny nose.

[HollyBee]

Hey Everyone - Just wanted to circle back with an update, in case some future Whole30'er stumbles across this thread looking for advice. I tried isolating what I thought might have been problem foods to no avail, but now, on day 7 I woke up with what feels a whole lot like viral bronchitis. My normal singsong speaking voice is coming out like a combination of Kathleen Turner and Harvey Fierstein. I think it's a safe bet, this has nothing to do with Whole30....except that my early symptoms may have been more mild and confusing due to the great nutriton I've been imbibing. Till today I hardly even felt sick!

 

Thanks for the advice ~

 

(and also for future readers, I often get mouth swelling and other random inflammation when I'm coming down with something, so I guess that's what happened....)

[TCrab]

I am glad I found this thread.  I have been having some symptoms of nausea and some mild headaches, as well as very poor appetite.  My rosacea, which was pretty well controlled, was flaring up for no evident reason.  I wondered if this was somehow part of my Whole30 detox symptoms, or that perhaps I was having an allergic reaction.  

 

After reading your updated post, HollyBee, I think I might actually be sick.  I am thinking that my symptoms have just been very mild because my immune system has improved since I started my Whole30.  Two other members of my family (not eating the same way I am) have started to show some of the same symptoms now, so I guess the mystery has been solved.