Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria is not Spontaneous

Have you been diagnosed with hives or "chronic spontaneous urticaria"?

 

Were you told there are no known causes and your only way to manage is with anti-histamines, mast cell stabilizing drugs or steroids?

 

The good news is there is nothing spontaneous in the human body. Every symptom is there for a purpose whether we want to accept it or not.

 

What does it mean when someone is suffering with hives that may seem to have no cause?

 

First of all we have to keep in mind that hives and other histamine intolerance symptoms are an immune system problem. Our immune system is broken down into 2 parts, TH1 and TH2.

 

We want our immune system to be more dominantly in the TH1 state which is where we get our natural immunity from. TH1 cells enhance immunity to respond to viruses, bacteria inside the cells, as well as yeast, fungi and parasites. TH1 also monitor and control the activity of TH2 cells.

 

Our TH2 immune system is responsible for handling allergies and antibody reactions, aka, help our body release histamine in response to these triggers. This can get out of hand when we are in too much TH2 dominance and the body starts attacking healthy cells, which is the trademark of developing autoimmune disease.

 

So what are some things that trigger TH2 dominance?

 

  • Mold in the home and in our food is one of the top triggers for mast cells to release histamine

  • Any stealth pathogen and retrovirus

  • Dental infections which spread to the rest of the body and can also impact the vagus nerve (see my IG video for more details)

  • Artificial colors, preservatives, chemicals in our food or personal care products

  • In those with severe TH2 dominance, sunlight can even trigger

  • Sudden temperature changes, experiencing too hot or too cold

  • Exercise, especially HIIT

 

(This is not a complete list)

 

So how do we fix it?

 

By addressing the actual root causes you will be able to switch your immune system back into TH1 dominance, thereby getting your histamine symptoms in remission. This journey looks different for each individual but it is possible!

Heather Oricchio