#MCAS #histamine Hi everyone, I have been trying to learn more about MCAS. I listened to Dr. Russek's lecture from Jan 2022 (resource section) which had some great slides. My genetics doc told me about it when we met a month or so ago, and she thought it may possibly explain what I considered an extreme response to fragrances--migraine trigger, POTS flares, mild GI sx for example to point that my house is fragrance free and kids used to have to do what we called "detergent detox" when they'd get back from a place that used detergent bc the fragrance seemed to linger and trigger my sx. But, I see that really my sx are relatively mild if some folks get anaphylaxis. A week or so ago I started having dysphagia. A dietician pointed out that foods that were triggering it were high in Histamine. I was tracking my sx. Eventually, it got severe enough that I was admitted for two nights this weekend due to not being able to swallow any liquid and getting dehydrated. EGD showed furrowing which was suspicious for eosinophilic esophagitis, but biopsy was normal. My sx improved around 72 hours after starting on a high dose proton pump inhibitor, but there was no evidence on EGD of reflux, and I never experienced heart burn. My only symptoms were low dysphagia, sense of food getting stuck behind my sternum, some pain that wasn't too bad radiating to my back. I don't intend to ask for medical advice--I am wondering if anyone is so inclined to share their personal experiences with MCAS because I am wondering if maybe MCAS may have spectrum of symptoms, and perhaps my GI sx, fragrance sensitivity, and one time isolated bronchospasm when I took a different brand medicine were somehow connected, even though mild. And hearing your experiences can be very helpful on this journey and help me in problem solving some ideas for how to tackle this and manage this. For now, I am swallowing thick soups with no problem, and so darn grateful to be able to because man was I hungry! Thank you in advance!

Posted by Gumby Shrink at 2023-03-02 02:59:27 UTC