In doing more research this week, I felt I was validated when I read an article about truly knowing and listening to your body.  How many of you trust your body’s signs and signals?   I think we must always consult our doctors on a regular basis, but really, we know more about our own bodies than anyone else could and I feel that we really should trust in that more than most of us do.   I have been dealing with some very off the wall Histamine reactions for about 20 years now. They come and go very sporadically. There has never been really any rhyme or reason to them. The same foods and situations would cause a reaction one time and wouldn’t another. The severity of the reactions also vary.

Through the years I have documented so much, I have taken it all to my doctors and they had no understanding of it.  I have had food allergy testing, blood work and really nothing could be explained. I have read much about different diets; Blood Type diet, gluten free diets and low inflammation diets.

Along the way we have adapted bits and pieces of each into something that works for us. However, with a few of us having different blood types and knowing what foods we can tolerate and what foods our bodies crave and the others cannot stomach can get a bit challenging. For example, I am the only one in my immediate family who can tolerate and eat a red sauce, in fact I crave it and can eat it without pasta. They others do not enjoy it and often have heartburn or what have you after eating any type of red sauce.

All of this meal planning can get very cumbersome and so often we have gotten frustrated and go back to what is easy, until we began to feel tired and sluggish and find the motivation to once again figure this eating thing out.

Recently, I found a simple salad that I love and can replicate. It was a very healthy salad: Spinach (the only leafy veggie I was able to really eat without getting sick), strawberries, blueberries, feta or goat cheese, almonds and salmon. I got my fruits and veggies and proteins in and not a lot of calories.

So last week, I picked up some salmon and made it one night and was as happy as can be. No problems. Two days later, I made the EXACT same salad and an hour later I had THE WORST,  to date Histamine reaction. I seriously thought I was going to end up in the hospital. This one came on FAST and furious.

On top of all my normal symptoms; hives, swelling, difficulty breathing and horrid stomach pain I also experienced a racing heart rate, my eyes turned red and I thought my head was going to explode,. I felt like I was on fire and almost lost consciousness. My precious husband brought me my antihistamine and grabbed my epiPens. After I took the pill, I must have lots consciousness for a split second because as I came to, Kip was holding a bag in front of me and I was violently vomiting. I began shaking and felt very distant. He was just about to get me in the car and race me to the ER when I started feeling a bit better.

We both had to wonder, what caused all of this? Once stable and in bed, we plugged my symptoms into WebMD and found something called Histamine Intolerance. There are foods that you should avoid and foods that are good for people with this issue. Who knew? Shouldn’t someone have known about this?

Come to find out I had three things on the list that are high in histamine. Spinach (WHAT?) Salmon and Strawberries which are a histamine liberator.

Why did this meal not cause me trouble the first day? I have eaten these foods many times and never had trouble. The issue was probably in the freshness of my salmon. All of these foods can be eaten but they must be fresh. Next time I will omit the strawberries and only use blueberries.

But quite literally my dinner nearly killed me.

What a crazy and very scary journey but I am thankful to have found a name of what I am dealing with and a guide to help me navigate in meal planning.

Frontier Day 2012

China day 2012

Hayden & Mom 4th grade China Day

Japan Day 2nd grade

China Day 2nd grade

India Day 2nd grade

Greece Day 2nd grade

http://www.csrussells.com/stampin-news

Before

After wishing for new windows for so long, we finally got phase 1 installed today. I am so happy with them. We got the picture window, perimeter grid style and I absolutely feel blessed. I hope that with just this phase we will see a huge difference in utilities.

During

After

Awwwww…..fresh, crisp Spring air!!!

Getting a little more personal with the amazing camera my precious husband got me for Christmas this past year.

Under the guidance of a professional photographer, I learned a few good pointers. If only I could have him or someone like him at my side all of the time.

I have known enough to be able to “capture the moment” but always wanted more from my photographs. I want to be able to capture my family’s personalities in the photo’s that I take. My new mantra: To shoot less “cheese” and capture the story as it unfolds before me.

As mommy’s that is sometimes hard to step outside that box, because our subjects are so stinkin’ cute, right?  “Smile for mommy!”

Well, this mommy is going to work on telling our life story in our photographs.  I am so blessed to have such fun little subjects to photograph.  =)

Back in the day, it was pierced earrings, perms, hair straighteners, hair coloring, funky clothes. Mostly all temporary changes.

While we were sitting in a hospital waiting room, watching the news and saw the “latest trend”.   (See link below)

I had to question why would someone go under the knife for something like this. I am thinking this is showing my age. Just hoping that this trend and many of the others that are so cool now will not appeal to my children!!

The latest Fad

I have really loved watching you become the little lady that you are. Your smile always cheers me up. I love how passionate you are about life. You inspire me to be a better mommy and to enjoy all of the little things in life. Happy New Year and God Bless You.