1: How Anxiety, Histamines & Progesterone Are All Connected - Michelle Shapiro, RD
Hormone Healing RD
Amanda Montalvo
5 • 831 Ratings
🗓️ 15 September 2025
⏱️ 70 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Join us for our Histamine and Hormones Training on September 28th!
Why do some women feel amazing during certain phases of their cycle while others feel absolutely wrecked?
In this episode, I’m joined by Michelle Shapiro, RD, a functional dietitian who works with clients navigating Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and histamine issues. She also lives with MCAS herself, bringing both professional insight and personal experience to the table.
Why do histamine flares hit hardest right when hormones shift? Tune in as we break down the menstrual cycle, step by step, and look at how mast cells and histamines interact with rising and falling hormones. The patterns aren’t always what you’d expect, and tracking them can change everything about how you handle symptoms.
You’ll Learn:
- The role of mast cells in the immune system and why histamine release can trigger so many symptoms
- The link between rising estrogen and increased histamine release
- Why people with histamine issues can have paradoxical hormone symptoms
- How long histamines actually stay in your system, and ways to avoid long-term suffering
- What happens when conditions like POTS and hypermobility overlap with histamine issues during the cycle
- Practical strategies for tracking cycle patterns to spot histamine-driven flares
- The debate around antihistamines, pregnancy, and de-stigmatizing medication for symptom relief
- Why lowering histamines must come before deeper root-cause work like gut or mineral protocols
- The connection between histamines, mast cells, and endometriosis
Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[10:17] How estrogen and histamine interact to trigger symptoms during the menstrual cycle
[13:53] How progesterone and luteal phase shifts trigger unexpected symptoms in histamine, POTS, and hypermobility clients
[21:47] Tracking cycles and temperatures to spot patterns and histamine flares
[25:53] Using antihistamines and other strategies to manage flares and reduce stigma around medication
[48:09] Understanding the immune system’s role in endometriosis and its connection to histamine and progesterone
Listen to Other Hormone Healing Episodes with Michelle:
MCAS, POTS, & Hypermobility Part 1 | Listen Here
MCAS, POTS, & Hypermobility Part 2 | Listen Here
The Root Cause of Reflux | Listen Here
Resources Mentioned:
Ovia Cycle-tracking App | Website
Natural Cycles Fertility Awareness App | Website
Oura Ring | Website
Tempdrop Wearable Sensor | Website
Read Your Body App | Website
Podcast with Nina Boyce on Fertility Awareness Method | Podcast
Find more from Michelle:
Michelle Shapiro RD | Instagram
Michelle Shapiro RD | Website
Michelle Shapiro Nutrition | YouTube
Find more from Amanda:
Hormone Healing RD | Instagram
Hormone Healing RD | Website
Hormone Healing RD | Facebook
Hormone Healing RD | YouTube
Hormone Healing RD | TikTok
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The functions of histamines are so vital that can affect our heart, our nervous system, anxiety, |
| 0:06.7 | depressive-like symptoms. Can you walk us through what can happen if you are someone dealing |
| 0:11.5 | with histamine issues? What they could experience in days 7 to 14 is flu-like symptoms, |
| 0:17.7 | extreme anxiety, insomnia. I have to be honest to do it. You have to use a sledgehammer |
| 0:22.2 | approach with histamines in the beginning and you have to just bring them down. You have |
| 0:25.7 | built these deep, deep paths in your brain as a protective mechanism and we have to make new ones |
| 0:32.5 | now. Everyone will tell you progesterone is calming and cooling. The anxiety from the progesterone is so profound. |
| 0:39.2 | I've never met a doctor who has warned a histamine client of this reaction. |
| 0:43.3 | Find your pattern, find your consistency, and then look for improvements from there. |
| 0:47.7 | Don't try to put yourself into a box because a lot of times it just doesn't matter and it'll drive you crazy. |
| 0:52.3 | It's just not perfect. |
| 0:53.1 | But your pattern will be perfect. |
| 1:01.7 | All right. |
| 1:02.3 | We are now in season eight. |
| 1:04.5 | I'm so excited to be here. |
| 1:05.6 | It took a very long podcast break, but I am back. |
| 1:08.8 | And I have a very, very packed season for you. I ask you guys what |
| 1:13.4 | you wanted to learn about. And I'm covering a ton of those topics as well as things that continue |
| 1:18.7 | to come up for a lot of our clients. So today we're going to be talking to Michelle Shapiro. |
| 1:23.2 | She's been on the podcast three times. This will be her fourth appearance on the podcast. |
| 1:27.8 | If you have not listened to her previous episodes, I highly recommend it. |
| 1:31.3 | She is an integrative and functional registered dietitian in New York City, and she's helped |
... |
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