Histamines and inflammation

[Kelli]

My current course I'm taking right now is Human Biology. I jsut finished studying about immunology. I didn't realize that I would find something in this section that could help me understand a bit about rosacea.

Here's what my text says on Histamines in the body:

Mast cells, which dwell in tissues and function like basophils, act during an inflammatory response. They release histamine and other chemicals into interstatial fluid. Their chemical signals trigger vasodilation of arterioles that thread thgough the damaged tissue. Vasodilation, remember, is an increase in a vessel's diameter after smooth muscle in its wall has relaxed. When arterioles become engorged with blood, the affected tissue reddens and gets warmer, owing to blood-borne metabolic heat.

Released histamine also increases the permeability of the thin-walled capillaries in the tissue. It induces the endothelial cells making up the capillary wall to pill apart farther at the narrow clefts between them. This makes the capillaries abnormally "leaky."

It goes into more info, but this says what I thought made sense. I've read on here about women taking antihistamines a week or two before their trigger hormonal phase. Has anyone just gotten on a good allergy pill before and noticed any changes? Does anyone know of a good antihistamine that doesn't make you drowsy?

Let me know what y'all think of this. It kind of made a light go on in my head.

[KHM]

Kelli -

I believe you are right on - both my allergies and my histamine status (not always the same) have everything to do with how my Rosacea is doing. I also wonder if those who are also dealing with Histamine overload are the same ones with the P&P issues. I think the Histamine lets inflamatory fluids leak into the intercelluar spaces and that irritation sets up the P&Ps. Just my theory.

I had the second worst bout with R in my life during the horrendous wildfire bout we had here in So. California. I was as allergic as all get out because of all the plant material that had burnt and thrown stuff up in the air. Of course all the asmathics in the area were in even worse shape.

I have found a combination of antihistamines and low level anti inflamatories helps. I use Clarinex (1/2 dose each AM because I overdose really easily) Singular and Boswellia in combination. Plus lots of Vit C. These all act on the inflamatory Histamine chain somewhere along its development. This combo is really helpful for me.

Just my 2 cents (why did Bill Gates take the cents sign off the keyboard? it was so useful) :x

[clsykes00]

Undoubtedly, I have noticed an extremely high correlation between my allergies and my P&P (both go up and down at the same time).

Given this, has anyone ever tried allergy shots? Good or bad for rosacea?

Best,
Trey

[irishgenes]

I definitely notice much less flushing with antihistamines. Histamine-containing foods like yogurt and cheese seem to make me flush, but I am not willing to give them up, so I have started taking clemestine full-time because it only has to be taken every 12 hours. I just hope it is safe to use antihistamines for prolonged periods. I have had my blood tested for allergies, and I am not allergic to anything floating around in the air except a little bit of cat dander allergy. I do have a cat and love her too much to ever get rid of her. After being owned by a cat, I can't imagine ever not having one or two.
Clemestine is supposed to not cause drowsiness. Some days I get sleepy, but other days I don't.

[Kelli]

Actually, I'm allergic to everything, except dust and mold (not allergic to penicillin or anything). It's just enough that I tend to get sinus infections fairly often. Wonder if that could be contributing... hmmm....

[Bonnie]

My current course I'm taking right now is Human Biology. I jsut finished studying about immunology. I didn't realize that I would find something in this section that could help me understand a bit about rosacea.

Here's what my text says on Histamines in the body:

Mast cells, which dwell in tissues and function like basophils, act during an inflammatory response. They release histamine and other chemicals into interstatial fluid. Their chemical signals trigger vasodilation of arterioles that thread thgough the damaged tissue. Vasodilation, remember, is an increase in a vessel's diameter after smooth muscle in its wall has relaxed. When arterioles become engorged with blood, the affected tissue reddens and gets warmer, owing to blood-borne metabolic heat.

Released histamine also increases the permeability of the thin-walled capillaries in the tissue. It induces the endothelial cells making up the capillary wall to pill apart farther at the narrow clefts between them. This makes the capillaries abnormally "leaky."

It goes into more info, but this says what I thought made sense. I've read on here about women taking antihistamines a week or two before their trigger hormonal phase. Has anyone just gotten on a good allergy pill before and noticed any changes? Does anyone know of a good antihistamine that doesn't make you drowsy?

Let me know what y'all think of this. It kind of made a light go on in my head.

Hi Kelli,
I use Alavert (it is non-drowsy) as needed for alergies and haven't noticed that it improves my complexion. But it may be different for you. If you are prone to sinus infections I don't know if I would use an antihistamine all the time because you want to keep everything flowing smoothly. You don't want mucus to thicken and get trapped in sinus cavities because that leads to infections. You could at least try it for a couple of months to see how it goes. Good luck!

Bonnie

[KHM]

Getting my allergies under better control was a definate help. I am also allergic to everything - including Penecillin. . .

[Karla]

Hi all

- after reading a Dr Nase post some time back regarding mast cells I started using NasalCrom spray and it made a big difference. Also, my MD convinced me to take Claretin to stop my recurrent sinus/ear infections, which it did, haven't had one since and maybe this is paying off for Rosacea, because I've notice in the past month that I hardly flush and my overall redness is much less. However, I do think the Cutanix cleanser and lotion have made some kind of "repair" to my skin if not the blood vessels. When you start the NasalCrom it says it may take 2 weeks to notice results and I can't remember if it took that long but it became apparent that it did work for me, especially for triggers like red wine which before would not only make my nose flush bright red but also feel hot and swollen. That almost never happens now and my afternood blush (is that the right term?) which is slightly redder nose/cheeks, makeup breaks up - is also much less sometimes, not at all and we've been really having a heat wave here.. I have oily but thin sensitive skin and some if not all of the above things combined have really made a difference but it seems to be cumulative, it's been slow and gradual improvement. The MD said the Claretin can be take half does, every other day or every few days as needed. Someone on one the boards advised me to easy up on the Claretin to see if that was overly drying my eyes, (my occular now seems to be more of a problem than the face) so I now try to skip a few days in between dosage but maybe I'll try splitting the pill. I plan to request an RX for Patanol eye drops which someone here mentioned is a mast cell inhibitor and hopefully that will help my eyes.

I always worry about taking any medication long term and would like to do some research on a natural route for the antihisamine/allergy meds but felt it was necessary to get the rosacea under control first....


Karla

[irishgenes]

I've used Patanol. It is very helpful for the scratchy, burning feeling I get in my eyes after a prolonged flush. And it only needs to be used twice daily.
I didn't get any help from Claritin, so if one antihistamine doesn't work for you, be sure and try a different one.

[Karla]

Thanks Irishgenes!

That's encouraging on the Patanol, did it help with redness in the eyes as well, or is that even a problem for you? Is there any such thing as a mast cell inhibitor oral med, that could be used instead of an antihistimine?

Karla