I think that the possible covid was incidental. In fact, I was very asymptomatic during it because I was taking a lot of antihistamines and vasoconstrictors. What happened is that I got a sinus infection afterward and took antibiotics. I've noticed that I get a lot of symptoms on antibiotics (I think it depends on the specific ones) because some of them do block DAO. That caused me to have an attack big enough that it became obvious that I was reacting to foods -foods would hiss in my ear. I didn't do an elimination diet. I simply reacted to foods and wrote down those foods.

There is a lot of confusion regarding histamine and mast cells. If you are histamine intolerant because you don't have enough DAO, then that has nothing to do with your mast cells. In fact there is some evidence that histamine binding will actually reduce mast cell activity overall. I have shown no evidence of allergies or reactions to any other substances.

Also, if it's because you have some autoimmune condition then that is also a completely different mechanism and you would have symptoms of that condition. I do not have the symptoms of any autoimmune condition. In fact, the extra vasodilation makes me feel great (when I am not actually in the midst of a reaction). Also, autoimmune conditions are relatively common and doctors would recognize my symptoms. Every single doctor I went to said they had not encountered the symptoms before. One factor in my case is that I have very good cardiovascular fitness so my vascular resistance is low. This makes vasodilation easier and I will be more symptomatic.

Beverly