I arrived in North Carolina with a small intermission to my symptoms. I was able to breath again with an inch of clarity. It seemed all the symptoms started in my gut. I read how SIBO / SIFO or general gut dysbiosis might causes immune problems and starkly decided to begin an intense antimicrobial protocol along with a a low fodmap, low histamine diet. There was hope, and that hope was enough to calm my nervous system down.
I began my regime, staying at a friends house, but quickly the whirlpool of symptoms returned. My heart was racing once again and I ran back in forth from the bathroom unable to keep any liquid or foods down. My kidneys were ramped up like a leaf blower, and the electrolyte imbalance and dizzy spells became profound. I tried to reach the blurry red couch before my knees buckled – eyes burning red, heat burning my cheeks. My friend took me to urgent care.
It was too much. I cried on the way home. I cried in my bed that night as the foreign feeling in my body grew and grew like a malicious force. And what made it all worst was typing my symtpoms into chat gbt. MCAS came up more than anything else.
“Can MCAS make you have tacdycardia and panic attacks” – “ Yes”
“Can MCAS cause confusion, dizziness, toxic poisened feelings” – “ Yes”
“Can MCAS cause burning gut pain, loss of tolerance, diarhea” – “Yes”
“Can MCAS cause central sensitization, autonomic dysfunction, dearilization” – “ Yes, yes, and yes”
The answer was always Yes. The disease seemed as though it could cause every symptom to the human body under the sun. And worst yet, there was hardly roadmap to diagnosis or treatment. But only a myraid diet and supplement protocols that impacted everyone differently.
The worst part was I could not longer identify what was causing flares or helping me. My body was in a perpetual state of having flares with the consumption of any food or medication. I could not longer identify self from non-self. The past was haze, present moment pure panic, and the future of impending doom. The disease seemed to have no rhyme or reason to it and defied laws of science I understood.
I was crippled by my chronic stress response and did not know how to turn it off.
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How do you know if you have MCAS?
Well you don’t. And typing in symptoms to chat GBT will not help. But start with a few basic and logical questions.
“Did I recently have an infection, gut trauma/excessive antibiotic use, strange bug bite, move houses, new worsening allergies and did this happen alongside of a chronic stress response or trauma?”
The cause of MCAS is toxic overload in the body which primes mast cells to become overly reactive. This happens due to gut bacteria toxins (SIBO/SIFO), mold toxicity, and certain low level infections. There IS a root cause of why your body is suddenly reacting to everything. MCAS that develops out of nowhere is SECONDARY to something else.
“Do I have at least two body systems simultaltanously reacting?”
MCAS requires at least two systems of the body being impacted at once.
GI - Cramping, abdominal pain, diarhea
Respiratory- Trouble breathing, throat tightness, nasal congestion
Skin- Flushing, rashes, itchiness, hives
Cardiovascular - tacdycardia, low blood pressure, dizzyness
Nuerological- brain fog, panic / anxiety, memory problems, headaches
If the answer is yes to the first two questions. It is reasonable to assume that MCAS is happening. And while we meet feel desperate to go the hospital and have a diagnosis that can be useless or take a very long time.
The last question to ask yourself is
“Do I respond to the first line of defense to MCAS"?”
Give it a couple weeks, but begin taking famotadine 2X daily and allergy pills two times daily (24 hour 180 mg). If your symtpoms improve slightly light gut problems, post meal anxiety, sinus issues, tacdycardia, and brain fog – it is very very likely you have MCAS
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Did I ask myself these logical questions and begin taking the first line approach to treatment?
No. I was in a state of pure panic and had not medical insurance. So what did I do?
I flew to Medellin Colombia to get medical care, testing, and began my long and ardoius journey to recovery.
