Can someone please recommend me a book on immunology? I'm a beginner and know pretty much nothing about the immune system.
I have special interests in severe dust allergy, itching, and MCAS/MCAD.
I strongly suggest thhe book 'Never Bet Against Occam' by Dr Afrin. Its the best book on MCAS to date, not on general immunology, but will tell you all you need to know about MCAS. Most immunologists know nothing about MCAS.
Its a big heavy book, so not suitable for all to hold and read. It is however available on Kindle.
Itching is one of my biggest MCAS issues, as is dust allergy, although for me they are not connected. My dust allergy causes lung and sinus issues mainly. Foods and drugs cause the itching for me.
Let me know what you think of the book.
Have you tried antihistamines?
MCAS drugs?
Normally for MCAS they begin with an H1 blocker and H2 blocker - both can be bought over the counter, eg cetirizine and ranitidine (zantac) I didn't get ANY relief from itching until I took double the dose of H1 (for me 2 x loratidine a day) and 150mg of ranitidine twice a day. This helped, but it was the addition of the mast cell stabiliser Ketotifen 1 mg at night that helped the most. I still get breakthrough itching, but not as bad. a low histamine diet is also helpful.
Quercetin and vitamin C are natural mast cell stabilisers.
The other problem is that you need a Dr prepared to prescribe things like Keotifen or gastrochrom - most Drs don't understand MCAS. But there is a certain amount you can do yourself. Fexofenadine is a great antihistamine (again taken at higher doses), but I think that is prescription only.
Its a bit trial and error finding the right combo of meds, that you don't react to. They can also take some time (months) to really help a situation.
Good luck!
