tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post5035424903816516500..comments2024-03-27T20:20:54.505+01:00Comments on Epiphany: Histidine for Allergy, but as an effective MTOR inhibitor?Peter Lloyd-Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-46515424813855866452019-07-22T09:45:11.367+02:002019-07-22T09:45:11.367+02:00Thanks for the detailed comment. There are old pos...Thanks for the detailed comment. There are old posts about Dr Theoharides in this blog . It seems that mast cell problems are common in autism, but vary in severity. There are a wide range of therapies, (from quercetin, luteolin to cromolyn sodium) in fact a good list can be found in Theoharides' patents. <br /><br />Histidine seems a good one, because it usually lacks side effects. I tested Quercetin and got side effects normally associated with the use of steroids.<br /><br />Cromolyn Sodium and Rupatadine are among the drugs often found effective. Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-5352635257650509792019-07-22T02:38:53.484+02:002019-07-22T02:38:53.484+02:00I have Asperger's and mast cell activation syn...I have Asperger's and mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) which Dr. Theoharides' has written about as a subset of patients with ASD. About 30 years ago I read a book on amino acids by a doctor in England and the chapter on histidine was especially interesting to me because I had such severe food and environmental allergies. I was astounded at the improvement with even 500 mg a day. I have taken it ever since. <br /><br />I'm a personal trainer and nutritionist and actually wrote a paper about histidine for athletes because I was working which explains how it helps:<br />http://accessfitness.com/the_role_of_histidine_in_athletic_performance.pdf<br /><br />Although some studies show normal histidine levels in people with autism, mine were actually a bit low on two different tests. I have often had very high serum histamine, but not because of the histidine supplementation...it actually goes down when I use it.<br /><br />Histidine has been shown to be neuroprotective and can cross the blood-brain barrier. It has a very calming effect for me and totally removed the IBS symptoms I'd had most of my life. I don't see any reason to ever use more than 2 grams a day and that would be more appropriate during peak allergy season. 1 gram / 1000 mg should be adequate. I do avoid extra B6 and zinc because that's what drives the conversion to histamine and just make sure I get enough in my diet. If you get too much histidine you'll start getting a stuffy nose and constipation, and that's when a little extra zinc might help (15-25 mg). <br /><br />I think the majority of us with autism have chronic brain inflammation and the histidine has really knocked that down for me which helps with both sensory processing issues and allergies. Luteolin supplementation has been the other life-changer for me. I really recommend Dr. Theoharides' YouTube presentations on brain inflammation in autism. TwoStone Studiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02921069288295533588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-22142382751973303332019-07-18T09:19:44.198+02:002019-07-18T09:19:44.198+02:00Nancy, the RDA is quite low, but some people great...Nancy, the RDA is quite low, but some people greatly exceed it.<br /><br />RDA (recommended daily amount) for amino acids<br /><br />https://globalrph.com/medcalcs/amino-acid-essential-dietary-calc/<br /><br />If you read this paper below, you can see that some people went as high as 65g a day.<br /><br />https://vkm.no/download/18.645b840415d03a2fe8f2600f/1502800356013/Risk%20assessment%20of%20%22other%20substances%22%20%E2%80%93%20L-histidine.pdf<br /><br />“The reported findings of increased urinary zinc excretion and symptoms of zinc deficiency in six patients with progressive systemic sclerosis receiving L-histidine supplementation in doses of between 8 and 65 g/day have been pointed out by previous reports.”<br /><br />Most allergy drugs have side effects in some people and you may have stumbled upon the best solution in your case.<br /><br />The only side effect of histidine at high doses seems to be loss of zinc.<br /><br />There are many ways to measure/test for allergy. One good one is measuring histamine in urine. But now you have no allergy there is no point taking this test, except to establish a baseline.<br />Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-20067296348831483182019-07-18T03:45:48.314+02:002019-07-18T03:45:48.314+02:00Thanks, Peter. I am wondering if there is a point ...Thanks, Peter. I am wondering if there is a point where histidine can be too much. We are in a hot, humid phase here in Maine summer and my son is definitely avoiding his usual crash in this weather due, I think, to the histadine. I am up to 3.5 grams this week. Should I be supplementing zinc? CM-AT, in reading your previous posts about it, seems one size fits all and I would not know what amino acid was helping or making things worse.<br />I do wonder about allergies. Is there one kind of testing preferred over another?<br />NancyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-72632927067739952532019-07-17T10:39:51.942+02:002019-07-17T10:39:51.942+02:00Nancy, I am glad that you are achieving such good ...Nancy, I am glad that you are achieving such good results.<br /><br />These amino acids do seem to help in disorders like autism. They all have multiple effects and I think it is a case of seeing which ones give a benefit in your specific case.<br /><br />I think you can try a bit more histidine and see if the benefit increases. Does your son have allergies? Perhaps this is why it helps?<br /><br />Trying other amino acids is not a bad idea, just be careful in case the effect is negative rather than positive.<br /><br />One drug being developed for autism, CM-AT, is based on the belief that some people with autism do not produce enough amino acids from the food they eat. Some people with autism have very restricted diets which may cause a lack of some amino acids.Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-68804249405985398602019-07-16T04:06:36.587+02:002019-07-16T04:06:36.587+02:00Peter,
I shared that after about a month, my son w...Peter,<br />I shared that after about a month, my son was still having a significant reduction in rages/SIB with 30 mg of propanolol over 3 doses a day.<br />About a week ago, we started to have some return, albeit far less than baseline, of edginess and sometimes anger out of nowhere.<br /> I remembered that we had run out of histidine. My son had been taking 2 X 500 mg/day for well over a year, maybe longer.<br />I added it back in and we went back to the new propanolol-improving state.<br />I went back and reread your posts about histadine. I upped the dosage to ore like 3 g/day. It has been pretty amazing. Happier guy, singing a lot, almost no rages.<br />Little changes in cognition (taking initiative to do small chores, noticing when someone needs help, tiny increases in speech) all since the increased histadine. Histadine and propanolol seem to be working well together.<br />I am wondering how high we can go in the histadine and I am also wondering if I should be considering lysine and/or threonine as well.<br />I welcome your thoughts.<br />NancyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-54744150135963806872019-01-28T10:34:40.822+01:002019-01-28T10:34:40.822+01:00I do not know the answer. Bromocriptine has many o...I do not know the answer. Bromocriptine has many other effects being an agonist of dopamine, serotonin and andrenergic receptors, so unwanted side effects would be expected. <br /><br />Riluzole is much more specific and so a better way to reduce glutamate in those that have too much. <br /><br />If either helps let us know.Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-34297380353863423682019-01-28T05:00:01.848+01:002019-01-28T05:00:01.848+01:00Peter, what do you think a sufficient dose of Brom...Peter, what do you think a sufficient dose of Bromocriptine for our purposes would be?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-72586256040729496422018-07-28T15:28:23.085+02:002018-07-28T15:28:23.085+02:00Rapamycin was initially developed as an anti-funga...Rapamycin was initially developed as an anti-fungal agent. However, its major application quickly changed after rapamycin was proven to have immunosuppressive and antiproliferative properties. <a href="https://www.bocsci.com/mtor-signaling-pathway.html" rel="nofollow">mTOR Signaling Pathway</a><br />Cristinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09132605239133207262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-42468945619760076532017-08-24T15:11:06.077+02:002017-08-24T15:11:06.077+02:00Maria, Mirtazapine is not really connected to this...Maria, Mirtazapine is not really connected to this post. Mirtazapine, is interesting because, at far lower doses than it is used as an antidepressant, it is a highly potent H1 antihistamine which gives the sleep effect.<br /><br />Unlike Benadryl which substantially loses its sleep effect after a few days, the effect of 3-5mg of Mirtazapine lasts much longer. This is why I think that in some people with a disturbed sleeping pattern, a couple of weeks on this dosage can "reset" the sleeping clock and you can then cease the medication and keep the new sleeping pattern. Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-68799396805467378862017-08-24T02:04:53.523+02:002017-08-24T02:04:53.523+02:00Peter, how would taking Mirtazapine affect the fin...Peter, how would taking Mirtazapine affect the findings from this post, if at all? Separately, my son has some sleep issues and we are on day 2 of Mirtzapine and sleep onset seems to be better but obviously too early to tell. Thanks, MariaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-32162411804236406342017-06-06T10:25:04.375+02:002017-06-06T10:25:04.375+02:00Interesting article on fullerenes and mast cells h...Interesting article on fullerenes and mast cells here:<br /><br />http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-8062.2010.00212.x/full<br /><br />Thanks Peter for your blogs, keep up doing an excellent work for our children.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-47646057203240093612017-05-26T12:12:30.607+02:002017-05-26T12:12:30.607+02:00Thanks Peter, in my son's case histidinemia ha...Thanks Peter, in my son's case histidinemia has been ruled out. Blood levels are mostly normal anyway, it's just urine levels that are consistently high. I may try a low dose of histidine and see if it has any effect on his chronic rhinitis.Joannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-43406295662087795822017-05-26T12:09:11.382+02:002017-05-26T12:09:11.382+02:00Thanks Peter, in my son's case histidinemia ha...Thanks Peter, in my son's case histidinemia has been ruled out. Mostly his blood levels are normal anyway, it's just urine levels are consistently high. I may try a low dose of histidine and see if it helps with his chronic rhinitis.Joannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00511623782117398222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-22823340378999086232017-05-25T15:19:52.769+02:002017-05-25T15:19:52.769+02:00High levels of histidine in both blood and urine a...High levels of histidine in both blood and urine are symptoms of histidinemia, but this is very rare. People with allergy are found in studies to have unusual levels of histidine. Diet will also affect your levels of histidine.<br /><br />I think you could just try a small amount of histidine and see if it makes the allergy better or worse. The potential exists for either result. <br /><br />For my son it works well. Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-90889419562869155022017-05-25T14:26:24.888+02:002017-05-25T14:26:24.888+02:00My son has symptoms of allergy/possible mast cell ...My son has symptoms of allergy/possible mast cell activation. He has always tested very high for histidine in urine but normal for blood, although one blood sample showed elevated 1-methyl-histidine. Do you think the high histidine in urine could be a sign of histidine wasting? Would that suggest it might be worth supplementing?Joannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-22568997946515410602017-05-21T22:16:54.181+02:002017-05-21T22:16:54.181+02:00Thanks Agnieszka for you thoughts - and I bet you ...Thanks Agnieszka for you thoughts - and I bet you are right! B6 (p-5-p) for my son is needed to support DAO, but maybe because of this the added bit of histidine pushed him over a threshhold. And maybe this negative reaction means he could benefit from a histidine decarboxylase inhibitor like green tea?? Do you use green tea or an ECGC supplement with your son. I thought I remember reading somewhere it should be avoided when there is mast cell activation. Before I gave the histidine a try, I was reading on a histamine intolerance forum many people having luck with it. Go figure....Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489962611979985947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-79969014813711189922017-05-21T20:16:44.788+02:002017-05-21T20:16:44.788+02:00I am still not sure what is the mechanism of histi...I am still not sure what is the mechanism of histidine use for allergy, but as P5P is a cofactor of histidine to histamine conversion maybe it worked as a booster of this reaction and with sufficient amount of histidine available it resulted in histamine overproduction and hives? Is that possible?Agnieszka Wroczyńskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04738535364585304041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-67226436961436322832017-05-21T19:09:57.415+02:002017-05-21T19:09:57.415+02:00yes, every day now - and one of the reasons I felt...yes, every day now - and one of the reasons I felt ok about trying this histidine experiment. : / Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489962611979985947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-60080330875713006882017-05-21T19:00:43.666+02:002017-05-21T19:00:43.666+02:00Hi Tanya, out of curiosity do you now give B6 or P...Hi Tanya, out of curiosity do you now give B6 or P5P to your son? Agnieszka Wroczyńskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04738535364585304041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-57317112515711290112017-05-21T14:03:18.179+02:002017-05-21T14:03:18.179+02:00actually more than a few years - he had been on ke...actually more than a few years - he had been on ketotifen when the first signs of asthma, exercise induced asthma, cropped up. This was before we knew about mast cell issues (many many years ago). I was going with Peter's comments and citations in this blog about the paradoxical effect histidine has on preventing mast cells frm releasing hstamine. My son's mast cell skin symptoms are usually hives. Stress is the biggest mast cell degranulator trigger for him at this point. It does get confusing sorting out differences between mast cell and/or histamine intolerance.Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489962611979985947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-88920967448520717432017-05-21T13:54:56.670+02:002017-05-21T13:54:56.670+02:00yes Em, he has been on mast cel stabilizers for a ...yes Em, he has been on mast cel stabilizers for a few years now. Prescription as well as natural supports. Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489962611979985947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-2944711603025041082017-05-20T23:57:44.018+02:002017-05-20T23:57:44.018+02:00You will need to stabilise his mast cells for hist...You will need to stabilise his mast cells for histidine to have a positive impact or its just feeding the histamine fire.Emhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02924636442485818957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-75462014531540043742017-05-20T23:25:13.726+02:002017-05-20T23:25:13.726+02:00yes he likely is. He has unstable mast cells and ...yes he likely is. He has unstable mast cells and allergies. So the paradoxical effect only works with mast cells? I know he has DAO snps, not certain on hnmt snps, but just assumed. I think this means SAM-e instead. Or more support for methylation (which I thought I was doing enough ) or supporting another histamine processing gene NAT2 which requires pantethine? The salami - any kind of cured meats my son reacts to badly as well. A histamine-y food. Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01489962611979985947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-655962722302095847.post-88532705118866275782017-05-20T19:35:14.641+02:002017-05-20T19:35:14.641+02:00Tanya, it looks like in your son the histidine was...Tanya, it looks like in your son the histidine was converted to histamine and then you got the classic signs of allergy.<br /><br />My son recently had the same rash all over his body after eating someone's home-made salami. He was allergic to something they put in it.<br /><br />Is your son histamine intolerant? Many people with austim seem to be. My son is not. Peter Lloyd-Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10173383229834614994noreply@blogger.com