Histamine Hell
When the 'High Priestess of Perimenohellopause' thought heart attacks and angina just weren't enough to be dealing with…
Jan/Feb 2024. Covered in cold packs, freezing winter temps. hence the hat etc..
I was ‘gifted’ Histamine Hell….
The pain is intense.
I am crying with the constant, agonising scratching just under the surface of my skin, driving me to claw at my already red, sore and blistered body.
Imagine an ant just under the most superficial layer of your skin, busily scurrying around, stopping, starting, scurrying again.
Now imagine that it has a helmet on its head and its body is a hard shell.
On top of the helmet and shell is a needle.
Unpleasant.
Now imagine, not 1 ant but an army of them, all charging about in different directions. They're busy, oh so busy.
And there's not just 1 army but many; an army on each forearm, on the inner thighs, the outer thighs and the low back and top of the bum muscles.
Hell.
This was my situation most of 2024 and 2025.
The Issue: Severe histamine response to oestrogen, stimulated by an overproduction of cortisol.
i.e. ‘Histamine Hell’
Cortisol - a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands.
Commonly referred to as the stress hormone but it is much more than that. It governs the sleep-wake cycle, manages inflammation, regulates metabolism and maintains blood pressure.
It's not a 'bad guy'!
But.
When cortisol levels become dysregulated, the effects can be severely challenging, ranging from feeling 'wired but tired' to Addison's Disease.
Initial Onset:
End of 2023 - Acute stress caused by advocating for a terminally ill parent who was receiving inadequate and unprofessional NHS care.
Additional Stressors:
2023 - NHS GP stopped providing me with HRT due to high dose of oestrogen. I now have to buy it all privately.
Knowing that I am on a higher than licensed amount adds to my background stress, even though I know the data.
Complications:
I need large doses of oestrogen - nearly double 'guideline' amount due to an inability to absorb transdermally (through the skin)
I absorb oestrogel (a gel that is rubbed into the skin) better than the patches.
More on the absorption issue later. Once I've written it, I'll add a link to it here.
My perimenopause symptoms include; SCAD heart attacks, microvascular angina and coronary artery spasm.
I have a clear, healthy heart. It's just hated the sex hormone fluctuations of perimenopause.
So.
I need to be able to get oestrogen into my system and the best way for me to do that, is through the skin.
Unfortunately, my skin began to disagree in 2023/2024……
Red, sore, angry skin at upper legs due to histamine response.
Oestrogen patches peeling off due to a histamine response
The Biology
There is an excellent booklet on the Histamine Response in Peri/Menopause on the Health in Menopause Website and I urge you to take a look. Click on image for link.
Below, are the points that were relevant for me:
Histamine is a vital chemical in your body playing crucial roles in your immune and digestive systems, and as a messenger (neurotransmitter) in the brain influencing your sleep, mood, sex drive and thought processes.
Histamine is made in several cells in the body, especially in those called mast cells. In addition to the histamine you make in your body, you also take it in through your diet.
Histamine Intolerance is the result of an overflow or excess accumulation of histamine.
Individuals with poor gut health will struggle to eliminate histamine efficiently. This could be due to conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or coeliac disease, or because the gut microbiome is disordered due to a poor diet or antibiotic use, for example.
Chronic stress is also a contributing factor to histamine intolerance as histamine release from mast cells increases under the influence of cortisol – the ‘stress hormone’.
Foods containing high levels of histamine will aggravate the situation.
For example; alcohol, aged or fermented foods, cured meats, smoked fish, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, aubergine and avocado. Unfortunately, I already avoid these foods as well as other inflammatory foods as I’ve had rosacea for many, many years and a gut health issue since 2012.
I say unfortunately because, if it was just a case of eliminating certain foods it would be easy for me to do this.
Calming my cortisol levels, less so.
Just Relax!
Never in the history of people being stressed has the command, "Relax!" been effective.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, a bit more biology:
My body was pumping out cortisol in a desperate attempt to 'help me' to cope with both the acute episodes when my parent was in hospital and chronic long-term stress of dealing with his changing personality.
In an ideal, rose-tinted, pink and fluffy world, I would have been able to walk away from the stress-inducing situations and have a long, long sleep. Often.
But caring for a parent who is dying and whose character has changed beyond all recognition is not something I could walk away from. Plus constantly being told by (uneducated) medical professionals that I would get cancer becuse of my (life-saving) HRT was extremely stress inducing.
Asking my body to down-regulate its ‘Keeping -Jilly- Safe’ cortisol response was going to be challenging.
And Your Last Bit of Biology!
In my 20's my body upregulated testosterone production to 'help me' to deal with a home life that was challenging, resulting in more hair in places that I’d really rather not have any. Even after I had left the situation a year or more ago.
My excellent GP at the time, referred me to an endocrinologist and he explained:
"your body is producing more testosterone in response to stress, hence the increase in male pattern hair growth. Even though the stress has gone and has been for many years, switching that system off will be extremely challenging and may actually never happen."
Bummer.
Back to the histamine/cortisol/oestrogen issue.
My body has become so ‘good’ at stimulating cortisol prodcution that it now responds more than it should do to:
waking up (you’re cortisol levels naturally rise as you wake up)
being happy
exercising
being happy excited
heat: for eg. from lying on one side in bed, showers, sitting where an oestrogen patch may be, working. (I am a massage therapist so whilst using my forearms (an integral part of my day) they heat up and become hellishly itchy as a result.
as well as responding to negative stressors like being unhappy, scared, angry, tired, ‘stressed’.
My body’s ability to produce cortisol has become its’ ‘super-power’….
Natural daily cortisol levels.
Data from Lovallo and Thomas 2000.
Immediate Relief Tools
Local GP Intervention
At the absolute insistance of my online menopause specialist, I went to my local GP. As anticipated, she was beyond useless……
"This has NOTHING to do with your HRT, NOTHING" as she paced around me with my trousers round my ankles to inspect the sores on my thighs.
"And, I don't CARE who your menopause specialist is, you should NEVER have been put on that high a dose, NEVER"
"And I mean.. how do you know you have angina?....." as she shook her head in disbelief, "have you had a heart attack or something?!" Her derision was obvious, she came so close to actual snorting at me. But she caught herself.
After I directed her to the dates of my SCAD heart attacks etc, she stopped hurummphing and charging around the room declaring to me, extremely loudly, about her recent training as a BMS ‘specialist’, but she was NOT happy.
And I have no idea who she thought my menopause specialist was, but if she didn’t care to read about my SCAD heart attacks I very much doubt that she would have bothered to check the letters from my menopause specialist.
She then put me on a steroid cream and gave me a prescription for 2 weeks of antihistamines.
I have had to buy the antihistamines ever since and they’re not cheap either.
A few months later, I received a call from the surgery that they would no longer be providing me with my HRT prescription from my private menopause specialist.
Yea, reducing my sress response was even more of a challenge after that particular GP appointment….
Longer Term Prevention
Private menopause Specialist
Applying Becanase Nasal Spray to skin before applying patches
Suggested a number of supplements but I was to be guided by my Medical Herbalists (she knew their qualifications, calbre and professionalism)
I never thought that THIS would be part of my HRT regime!
A different menopause specialist to my usual one persuaded me to use Lenzetto spray…. this has to be sprayed onto the inner forearms or, failing that the back of the knees (both sites are where the skin is thinner)
As my forearms are the tools of my trade and I’m self-employed, I recoiled from this plan but I was given no other option. And yes, as I expected, it was (another) disaster.
Aug 2025
The forearm issue meant that I had to take numerous weeks off work i.e. losing income.
Sept 2025
Beg of 2024
Medical Herbalists Guidance
My medical herbalists are Wendy Kelly and Clare McQuade at Napiers Herbal Dispensary - my place of work. For information check out the website here
Supplements:
L-Glutamine
Quercetin
L-thianine
Nettle tea
Various tincures to promote sleep, healing, adrenal support and antibiotic effects.
Please do not buy any supplements on a whim!
The above supplements are expensive.
Randomly buying some or all, guessing which may work for you is a fool’s choice.
You need guidance from those who know what they’re doing.
Believe me, spending money on a consultation either via phone call, video or in-person will potentially save you money in the long run. No point in making super-expensive pee!
(I recieve no comission from Napiers)
Wendy Kelly - https://napiers.net/pages/practitioners/wendy-kelly
Clare McQuade - https://napiers.net/pages/practitioners/clare-mc-quade
Currently (March 2026)
Castor oil has been super-healing. The Balmonds skin salvation was helpful initially but, the Napiers Starflower cream continues to be so.
I have just had another week off work but, I seem to be doing well!!
Current Regime
Napiers Starflower cream which can help to improve the integrity of the skin (ooh, if you buy this apply the code Jill10 for 10% off your 1st purchase - then I will get a teeny bit of commission)
Vitmain C
Magnesium Glycinate
B vitamins to support my adrenals.
Takeaways
Once a histamine response starts, it is hell to switch it off.
GPs have no knowledge of histamine response (nor do they read your notes but that’s also for another time…)
Unfortunately, you need specialist advice - which costs.
If nothing else, seek professional guidance on which supplements to take - this can save you a lot of money and may make a lot of difference.
Jill is a patient advocate for women's heart health and has been asked to speak on numerous podcasts, radio and TV newsreels.
She has been asked to give her patient perspective of women's heart health on a number of research projects for Edinburgh Napier University, the British Heart Foundation, The Alliance Health and Social Care (Scotland) and been asked to speak at a Cross Party Meeting at the Scottish Parliament.
All information in these articles should not in any way be misconstrued nor promoted as medical advice.
She is registered on the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC)the independent UK regulator for complementary healthcare practitioners, in her capacity as a sports massage and rehab specialist and, is therefore not permitted to give specific advice on any medications.
She uses her vast experience as a teacher and therapist within the health and fitness industry to help people to advocate and navigate their own healthcare journey.***