FOOD

• Following a low histamine diet.

  • This may reduce your bucket but you may also have triggers that aren't low histamine, so avoiding all trigger foods where possible too.

  • Keeping a food diary to establish triggers and symptoms from certain foods.

  • Look into other triggers beyond histamine like oxalates, salicylates etc.

  • Working with a dietitian or nutritionist to ensure that any restrictive diets aren't detrimental to your health.

• Increases in blood sugar can trigger histamine release, so eating low sugar or refined sugar free foods where possible 

• For low histamine and refined sugar free recipes, head over to My Accessible Kitchen, with recipes I develop to suit many elimination diets.

• Looking at all labels carefully and advocating when eating out about dietary restrictions. You can create your own Allergy Cards and Foods That You Can Eat cards with my free templates on this page.

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BEAUTY, HYGIENE AND HOUSEHOLD

• Using unscented beauty and hygiene products 

  • Asking people you live with to do the same

• Patch testing everything before use

  • This may include getting sample sizes of products or finding brands that offer refunds if the products don’t work for you

• Swapping to more natural alternatives and unscented versions of household cleaning products

• Opting for dried flowers rather than fresh ones for home decor if pollen is an issue

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SOCIALISING

• Ensure you have all regular medications alongside abortive medications like asthma inhalers, EPIPEN and antihistamines when going out in public.

• Asking people to kindly avoid spraying perfume or fragrance before you meet up with them or they come to your home.

• Avoiding giving hugs to greet people. Even if they're not wearing perfume, their laundry detergent, shampoo or beauty products may have scents that could trigger you.

  • Before they approach you explain "I'm not doing hugs - air hug / fist bump / hand shake" if they ask why explain you have allergies and sensitive to scents. This may take some getting used to but I've found it's highly worth it.

• Keeping away from places with tobacco smoke, vapes, wood burners, BBQs or simply staying out of the kitchen when food is being charred.

• Showering (including hair wash) as soon as you're home from any outside location.

• If people have pets that trigger reactions, even dander on their clothes can cause reactions so asking them to wear fresh out the wash clothes their pet hasn’t been on could help.

• When you have guests over or are staying overnight elsewhere, using an air purifier with a HEPA filter to prevent reactions from additional triggers (like their beauty and hygiene products and laundry detergent etc). You can even bring a small and portable air purifier (that looks a little like a lantern) with you for travel.

• Opting for socialising outside in open spaces if you are able to; at home or an another outdoor space.

• Wearing a mask with an adequate filter to reduce exposure to airborne allergens, VOC's and fragrances.

• Full rest and home isolation before and after exposure to triggers.

  • For me I aim to do this for many days to weeks depending on how my 'histamine bucket' is.

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CLOTHING AND FABRICS

• Opting for super soft bed linen to avoid reactions from rough fabrics. Always wearing clothes that are breathable cotton or soft fabrics that you tolerate. If you want to wear a knitted jumper in winter, wear a soft cotton basic top underneath to avoid rashes from fabrics.