Histamine reaction busting meditation

My Silva post a few weeks ago led to quite a few people asking for more details on how I used meditation to get me over the worst of my histamine reactions. Well, guess what? Last night was fairly unpleasant, well a little scary really, but I thought it would be a good time to finally show you what I’m talking about.

I was finding it difficult to breathe and was panicking because my throat seemed to be closing up (very rare for me) so the audio is a little uneven and I ramble a bit. My guess on how long the meditation lasted was totally off too – a good indication of how you lose sense of space and time when you’re in a deeply meditative state. My first guess was 5 minutes! But the meditation (the taped part anyway) was over 11 minutes! You just don’t notice time pass…it’s wonderful.

So here you go, my personal meditation, based around the Silva Method and others, to help me neutralise a bad histamine intolerance reaction/mast cell activation episode.

I was told stress can cause anaphylaxis, so calming down is a top priority. Please do not hesitate to call emergency or your doctor if you have a histamine reaction. I am not advocating the use of meditation over medication. Always be safe.

You can meditate while waiting for emergency services, while you administer an epi, while waiting for the doctor to arrive, while being treated with IV antihistamines. It’s not an either or situation.

Also please remember that my reactions subside quite quickly nowadays thanks to a year of intensive high nutrient antihistamine and anti-inflammatory foods and as such may be less intense than yours. Mine were horrific back in the day…

I’ll be sending out an MP3 version to my mailing list – please sign up here if you’d like a copy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg5sSem3Tis

9 responses to “Histamine reaction busting meditation”

Nona

September 15, 2013

So beautiful. It just so happened that I really needed to hear that tonight. To say thank you is really not enough. I want to develop that same kind of courage, the same willingness to break one of those experiences into bite-sized pieces and actually MANAGE it.
Uncertainty is so crippling when fear is the perennial reaction!
thelowhistaminechef

September 16, 2013

I’m SO glad it was timely for you. Indeed it is. You will get there – it takes a while. I’ve been practicing this particular drill for almost a year and meditating on and off for much of my adult life. I also used to practice self hypnosis in my 20s to try and deal with my “anxiety” that never existed!
Nona

September 18, 2013

I know. The psychological aspects of these problems can be absolute hell. It’s so interesting that you thought to turn in that direction for help so early on. If any psychologist had got his hands on me within the last five years, I’d have been labeled schizophrenic or otherwise completely whacked! And it was all to do with diet, as I guess it is with most people.

I’m glad you’re ok, by the way. You sounded so calm that I forgot how sick you actually were!

There are so many situations where a well-trained mind could prove invaluable. I am interested in losing the aspect of dread and despair that tends to lurk in the background during all my meals, for instance. I think it contributes to my tendency to overeat.
I also need to restructure my whole relationship with myself to jive with the realization that it might not all be my fault – I think you’ve mentioned experiencing these things yourself more than once. I have done so much black and white categorizing of foods and made so many untenable promises to fast for ridiculous amounts of time or cut whole swaths of my nutrition out for good. It’s the natural, “us vs. them,” me vs. sunflower seeds way of thinking. High time for a change!
Nele Muylaert

September 18, 2013

i can’t believe i’ve been soooo behind on this. This is so wonderful. Getting over fears, and reacting with breath in the moment, has saved my life. I combine it with yoga when I can, and if not, meditation will always help me no matter what.
Ann

September 19, 2013

The 3 times my throat closed (once white wine, once licorice, once vinegar) I was fortunate enough to have access to water. Sipping the water allowed my throat to re-open. I haven’t gone to the epi-pen yet, although 2 MDs have written prescriptions, I don’t know that I’ll inject it correctly or what it will due to me, since I’m allergic to many meds. I don’t eat or travel without immediate access to water. If you can’t travel with an epi, bring a bottle of water.
thelowhistaminechef

September 22, 2013

I saw a very interesting study showing that sipping water can deal with stomach acid just as well as zantac, for the first 4 hours. Dehydration causes histamine release and people keep sending me “research” on water being a natural antihistamine (I’m sure it is but I would love to be sent scientific research in respected journals). Very interesting, thank you!
thelowhistaminechef

September 22, 2013

That’s wonderful to hear!!
thelowhistaminechef

September 22, 2013

Absolutely – we must accept that we are not responsible for what has happened. Even if we were partly, we must forgive and move on. It doesn’t matter why we’re broken, just that we’re going to fix it.

You’re making a whole lot of sense there. Very much on the right path. Just keep going… 🙂
EI

October 23, 2013

Have you read Dr. Batmanghlij? He touches very directly on the link between deep dehydration and histamine in his book. One of my worst episodes including intense heart palpitations, deep drop in blood pressure (really had to cling to consciousness!), shaking, numbness, etc… was after nursing my son in the middle of the night when I hadn’t had much water that day! I drink crazy amounts of water now from fear of that happening again!!

Welcome!

Yasmina was an award-winning broadcast journalist with a decade of experience covering war zones for CNN and the BBC. She devoted her journalism skills to researching and writing about histamine. Click here to learn about her. Each post is carefully and fully referenced with the latest scientific research. Not sure where to start? Here’s a four week meal plan and overall Histamine Reset.