1. Schizophrenia biotypes: Histapenia symptoms

The discovery of the histamine biotypes

Carl C. Pfeiffer, MD, PhD, working in New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s,  discovered extremes of histamine in approximately two-thirds of his schizophrenic patients. He found that the mental symptoms responded well to nutrients which brought histamine into balance.
He dubbed the low histamine biotype, histapenia.
Over the years, Pfeiffer found that almost 50% of his schizophrenia patients fit into the histapenic biotype. Dr. William J Walsh recently suggested that the major biochemistry for 90-95% of paranoid schizophrenics is histapenia.

Symptoms (tendencies)  -- see the pic from my book here

Often, classic schizophrenia or paranoid schizophrenia symptoms.
High anxiety, perhaps panic attacks. Suspicious. Paranoia.

Racing thoughts, grandiosity. General overstimulation. Somewhat hypomanic.
Insomnia. Often turns day into night.
Dysperceptions. Voices. Distorted sense of reality.
Learning disorders, underachiever in school. Problems with abstract thought.
Often artistic or musical. Increased religiosity.
Depression, but usually less than in other biotypes.
 Note: If copper, zinc are sufficient, symptoms usually revolve around anxiety and panic. But with high copper, or low zinc, insufficient B3 histapenics tend to experience not only anxiety and panic, but also,  paranoia, voices, and psychosis.

Physical tendencies

Often overweight. Low metabolism, low libido.
Restless leg syndrome, hyperkinetic movement, ringing in the ears.
Dry eyes, mouth (increasing tendency to tooth decay). Dry skin, tendency to eczema. Hairy.
Food and chemical sensitivity, particularly perfume sensitivity. Seasonal allergies uncommon. Estrogen sensitivity. Increased estrogen (e.g., postpartum) often associated with psychosis.
High pain threshhold. Any pain clusters in the head, neck, upper body.
Reacts poorly to methionine, SAMe, antihistamines.

Labs

Low levels of whole blood histamine and, often, absolute basophils.
Low folic acid, high copper, often low serum zinc.
Elevated norepinephrine and/or dopamine and, often, serotonin.

For more on histapenia, see my compendium on nutrient-based approaches for schizophrenia, Natural Healing for Schizophrenia.
When you order here you can call for a free educational phone consult.
You may also be interested in Natural Healing for Bipolar Disorder, available here.

Reminder: This information is presented for educational purposes only, and is not intended for diagnostic or treatment purposes. If you need treatment for schizophrenia, or any other medical condition, please consult a knowledgeable physician.