@justy you may have seen
I agree with @Jonathan Edwards here's a bit of fresh info re ME/CFS and Allergy. I'm just planting this here because it's new info. I also feel you have to get a rash like that checked out for things like Jonathan Edwards said.
Tweets from the IACFSME conference regarding a 200 cohort paper from Levine, Hornig et all paper, via Cort Johnson. Plus also a paper abstract from the IACFSME programme on Allergic Phenotypes.
Tweets from Cort:
"Levine - Allergic subgroup - not IgE mediated more associated w/ non-allerginic rhinitus, Mast Cell activation, autonomic
Levine - Big study! @200 patients in 5 sites- 80% - "any allergy, Sinusitis and hives best distinguished ME/CFS and HC's
Levine - ME/CFS patients with sinusitis or hives experience greater pain than patients without sinusitis/hives
Levine - Plus these patients had much, much higher prevalence of migraine and fibromyalgia..suggests histamine/mast cell
Levine - mast cell may contribute plus GI symptoms also occur - and could be due to histamine, next step - immune testing
Levine - both mast cells and neurons secrete nerve growth factor and substance P plus there's tryptase"
Page 50 IACFSME Programme, papers and posters abstracts
http://iacfsme.org/ME-CFS-Primer-Education/News/IACFSME-2016-Program.aspx
"Allergic disorder phenotypes in ME/CFS and patterns of medical comorbidity and clinical dysfunction
Susan Levine,1 Joy Ukaigwe,2 Xiaoyu Che,2 W. Ian Lipkin,2,3,4 Mady Hornig2,4 Affiliations: 1Levine Clinic, New York, NY; 2Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY; 3Departments of Neurology and Pathology, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY; 4Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
Background: Atopic disorders are more common in ME/CFS and have been associated with autonomic disturbances in some studies. Assessment of clinical characteristics and comorbidity among ME/CFS subjects with allergic diatheses may improve differential diagnosis and treatment selection.
Objective: To determine whether certain allergic disorders are more common in ME/CFS than in controls, and to compare clinical characteristics (severity and pain ratings; medical comorbidities) among ME/CFS subjects with and without certain allergic comorbidities.
Methods: Questionnaire data from the Chronic Fatigue Initiative (CFI) Cohort study (five US sites) were used to compare the frequency of allergic and other somatic conditions in ME/CFS (n=202 meeting Fukuda and/or Canadian criteria) and control subjects (n=202). Machine learning techniques (LASSO, Random Forest) were used to derive phenotypic subsets that differed between ME/CFS and control groups. SF-36 subdomain scores (Wilcoxon rank-sum tests) and prevalence of medical comorbidities (chi-squared tests) were compared between case groups meeting criteria for the two derived ME/CFS phenotypes. Orthostatic pulse changes from physical exams were also compared across phenotypic subsets. Adjustments were made for multiple comparisons.
Results: Machine learning approaches identified chronic sinusitis and hives as the allergic disorders that best discriminated cases from controls. ME/CFS subjects with sinusitis/hives (ME+S/H) had more severe pain (SF-36) and gastrointestinal disturbances, endocrine and inflammatory problems (DSQ) (all padjusted=0.029) than those without these allergic comorbidities. ME+S/H cases also had higher prevalence relative to ME subjects without sinusitis/hives of fibromyalgia (p=0.029); migraine (p <0.0001); tension headaches (p=0.0002), low back pain (p=0.002) and neck pain (p=0.003). Pain ratings were also higher in ME+S/H cases. Orthostatic pulse changes were equally common in ME/CFS with and without sinusitis/hives.
Discussion: A history of sinusitis and hives is predictive of an ME/CFS diagnosis and appears to define a novel phenotypic subset of ME/CFS with distinct patterns of comorbidity and exaggerated pain symptoms. Future studies will investigate whether S/H features are associated with altered immunity (Th2 dominance), including secretion of mast cell products that alter pain pathways. ME+S/H cases may represent a distinct subgroup with unique patterns of somatic comorbidity that may help predict response to selected therapeutic approaches.
Acknowledgments: Hutchins Family Foundation/Chronic Fatigue Initiative and the Chronic Fatigue Initiative"