Are your “allergic symptoms” and pain related to idiopathic Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)?
Hives, rashes, itching, problems breathing, and pain in your stomach or other parts of your body may all be related to allergies. Your doctor may have tested you, but did not find what you might be specifically allergic to, for example types of foods or substances surrounding us like pollen, dust, and mold. If you didn’t have evidence of an allergy to any or only a few of these substances, then what is causing your symptoms?
Your symptoms may be caused by excessive activity in a special cell in
your body called the Mast Cell (MC) which is stimulated whenever you experience any irritation. The MC helps to fight off infections and help repair damaged tissue by producing many different powerful substances. However, when it is overactive, these substances may be produced by the MC after exposure to ordinary stimuli including a hot shower, sunlight, perfumes, cleaning solutions, and a variety of foods. Overactive MCs may cause diffuse pain in various parts of your body.
Doctors have been aware that increased numbers of MCs can cause serious symptoms in different organs. When there are too many MCs the diagnosis is often Mastocytosis, which requires specialized treatment. When the number of MCs is normal and the MCs are just overactive, the diagnosis, which is a relatively new discovery, is often idiopathic Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and can be diagnosed with several blood and urine tests. However, if you have symptoms in 2 or more organ systems, for example skin rashes, heart burn, asthma like symptoms, and your symptoms improve with an anti-histamine, you may be diagnosed with idiopathic MCAS without complicated testing.
Our body makes a substance that can down-regulate the activity of the MC. It is called palmitoylethanolamide (PEA). It is in the family of substances, called cannabinoids, and is related to the molecules that are present in marijuana. Other substances can down regulate the MC such as Cromolyn Sodium. Since one of the main substances produced by the MC is histamine, medications that block histamine. such as antihistamines used for allergies and histamine antagonists used for heart burn, may be helpful in reducing the symptoms of overactive MCs.
If you have diffuse pain and other symptoms, like the ones above, that have been difficult to diagnose and treat, you may have MC problems that can be treated.
Filed under: pain management
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