As an adult, do you find yourself asking “why do I suddenly have allergy symptoms?”. Unfortunately, allergies usually start early in life with most people showing symptoms in childhood or young adulthood. It is therefore a surprise to adults when they suddenly develop symptoms such as:  itchy skin watery eyes runny nose sneezing skin rashes stomach cramps vomiting. But, what causes allergies to develop? A family history of allergies will predispose you to develop allergies at any age but environmental factors should be taken into consideration with adult-onset allergies. The reason for sudden allergy symptoms is a common chemical found in the body called histamine.  Why Do I Have Allergies All of a Sudden? Can you suddenly become allergic to something? Unfortunately, the answer is yes and here’s why: Histamine. Histamine is a chemical found in the body which is responsible for many of the uncomfortable symptoms of allergies. Yet it has many important functions in the body. It can be considered a ‘communication’ molecule sending signals throughout the body. Here are some examples of the positive roles that histamine plays:  It stimulates your stomach to produce stomach acid which helps you break down food It stimulates inflammatory reactions so that the immune system can do its job of fighting off invaders such as parasites.  It promotes wakefulness in the brain. So, is it possible to develop allergies this way? Each time your body produces histamine in response to inflammation, the body requires enzymes to break that histamine down. If your body is in a state of constant inflammation or if you lack specific enzymes, the burden of histamine increases, and you may begin to show signs of allergies. The burden of histamine rises as [...]