A few days ago I heard from a client of my food sensitivities clinic. She was complaining of vertigo, a sensation that had plagued her before and had sent her to doctors and medications in the quest to end the dizzy feeling. She had not experienced vertigo for some time but was ready to make a doctor’s appointment to see if another prescription drug could make it stop.
My first question to her was, “What did you eat that was different?”
“Nothing!” she insisted. “I didn’t eat anything new or different than normal.”
I encouraged her to think carefully about her diet over the last few days. She was skeptical that the vertigo could be caused by something she ate because she associated food sensitivity symptoms with the chronic constipation that used to plague her before she took the Mediator Release Test (MRT) four months ago, changed her diet in a few simple ways, and now no longer suffered from that problem.
Sure, food sensitivities can cause chronic constipation, but inflammatory reactions from different substances may manifest in different ways in a single person’s body. Acid reflux and diarrhea are among the most obvious possible reactions, but migraines and headaches, body and joint aches, nerve pain, tics, and yes, even vertigo can be a result of eating an inflammatory food or additive.
“Ah yes,” she remembered. She had enjoyed a dirty martini the previous night with dinner and then had sipped the olive juice directly afterward. Sure enough, olives are on her list of yellow reactives. It had been four months since she had eaten anything containing olives and, if she needed any further convincing as to the accuracy of the MRT test, this incident proved that she was indeed reactive to olives.
Now that we had identified the culprit and correctly diagnosed the situation as inflammation triggered by a food sensitivity reaction, we could take action to help her recover. Our goal was to remove the inflammation and bring her back to an un-inflamed state as quickly as possible.
Most importantly, she was to retreat back to her original “safe diet” based what the MRT found were the least inflammatory foods for her body. An inflamed body is more sensitive to things that it may normally be able to tolerate, so she doesn’t want to inadvertently trigger more inflammation and prolong the reaction.
The second remedy I suggested was to take a dose of homeopathic anti-histamine. A food sensitivity reaction provokes a release of mediators, chemical messengers used by the blood cells to cause inflammation. The most famous mediator we all know is histamine. We know that if we have a stuffy nose in the springtime and take an anti-histamine, we will experience temporary relief while the effect of the histamine release is counteracted.
The homeopathic anti-histamine doesn’t have the side effects of pharmaceutical anti-histamines such as Benedryl. It doesn’t make you sleepy or dry-mouthed, and if it’s not the right remedy, nothing will happen. If, on the other hand, it is the right remedy, you’ll notice a difference in how you feel within minutes.
I suggested she take one dose, then another 15 minutes later, and another 30 minutes later, if needed.
The vertigo began to recede after the first dose. Within an hour after taking the second dose, it was gone completely. She felt fatigued but no longer dizzy.
Homeopathic Anti-histamine Remedy
Homeopathic anti-histamine is a helpful remedy to keep ready and in the house to counteract unintentional exposures to allergens. Taking it shortly after symptoms appear may significantly reduce the severity and duration of hypersensitivity reactions.
Pre-mixed homeopathic remedies are available here by specifying which one you want in the Comments field of the shopping cart.
