Life's an Itch

Before being diagnosed with HIT, I suffered horrendously with itchy skin that had no rash. It felt like a million fire ants crawling under my skin. The rash would only appear when I was on holiday. I would be up at night screaming from the itch. I had to wake up and have ice cold baths at ridiculous hours of the morning. The itch would make me feel like I was going insane, I became snappy and couldn't think straight.

Due to the itch only appearing while abroad we started to go through reasons that it could be happening. We thought it could be a sun cream allergy, Solar Urticaria (allergy to the sun), allergic to pollen, extreme heat rash, and more. I saw countless doctors about the itch as nothing they gave me helped. I tried tablets, allergen sun creme, factor 50+ allergy, you name it I tried it all. Nothing seemed to stop this insane itching. The worst part for me is that I couldn't find anyone else who had this issue. One day I stumbled across a page where people were talking about "Devil's itch" or "Hell's itch." I had found all of these people with the same kind of itch, and although I always struggled putting how it felt into words, suddenly there was a group of people who knew exactly how I felt.

I went on living with the conclusion that I had The Devil's Itch and there was nothing I could do about it. I stopped going on holiday so I would avoid the agony. For me, this was one of my worst conditions I was living with as I couldn't spend time with my family abroad and it made me fearful of going out on sunny days.

When I began to be tested for HIT my doctor asked me if I suffered with any rashes. I told her that I struggled with this horrible unexplained itch that only happened when I was abroad. Immediately she told me that it sounded like the Urticaria linked to HIT. I went from being interested in Histamine Intolerance to wishing that I had it. If I could be diagnosed with something then I could start to treat it.

Once looking into Histamine Intolerance something became very clear. When abroad all I ate was Histamine! As a family we tended to go to Europe so I was eating was tomato, cheese, cured meats, processed meats, beer, wine, citrus fruits, pickled vegetables, red berries, the lot. All of these foods are NO NO foods for HIT. The sun can also make your body produce histamine. By only eating histamine and being out in the sun all day I was slowly poisoning myself.

When on a histamine free diet, you can be out in the sun and have no issues as your levels are not at toxic level. Changing my diet was exciting as I couldn't wait to see if I could last in the sun on holiday. After being histamine free for 7 months, we went away to Miami for a wedding. I was terrified to be out in the sun as reality could come crashing down if I still had the awful itch! Luckily for me the itch was gone! All of those years sitting at the doctor's with no one able to help were wasted. I sunbathed every day, went swimming, spent days out in the sun, and not one single itch.

Unfortunately for me I have fair skin so still suffer from things like heat rash and sun stroke. This is about being sun smart and I avoid these by wearing good sun creme and keeping out of direct sunlight. If you suffer from "Hell's Itch" or any other unexplained rash then look into HIT. What you eat shouldn't torture you. I hope this information helps others suffering.

Skin Problems Linked to Histamine Intolerance

• Skin rashes, itchiness
• Eczema,
• Urticaria
• Acne (pimples)
• Puffy skin
• Swelling around mouth and eyes
• Flushing of the face, neck, and chest