I mean...I disagree with nothing that you’ve said, but if you have mcas you’ll appreciate it’s rarely as simple as “need x, so supplement it”.
Absolutely. I have found that, unfortunately, that taking MCAS meds is a necessity. My doctor has me on 3g ketotifen, 1.6g cromolyn sodium, 6g curcumin, 1g quercetin daily, as well as injectible Benadryl (I'm allergic to all oral forms) as I need it, and he would consider Gleevec if my problems were worse, which several of his patients have responded to.
Attached is a document by leading specialist Lawrence Afrin on drugs and supplements for MCAS.
To quote a few of your examples:
Vitamin C - I react to it
I learned that most vitamin C is corn-derived. And, though it's never shown up on an allergy test, corn and it's many derivatives consistently gives me hives, nausea, intestinal misery, and chest tightness. Seeking out fruit or cassava based vitamin C has helped, as my body us usually depleted of it. It would be counterproductive to avoid it.
This is more complex. Likely, it is helping mobilize some toxins and you don't have all the othebr stuff in place to be able to deal with it, so you are reacting. All of the cofactors I mentioned above are used in the folate cycle, the methionine cycle, glutathione production and/or the transsulfuration pathway, which, coupled with adequate water and fiber intake and a well-functioning digestion/elimination system, you should e able to get rid of whatever you mobilize.
But, if you are missing key cofactors, you are likely to have unpleasant symptoms. Avoiding this unfortunate situstion and nutrients you think set you off is not a recipe for getting well...it is a recipe for staying sick and getting worse.
Having comprehensive nutritional testing like a Genova Diagnostics NutrEval to learn the status of all of these nutrient cofactors, and ideally working with a functional medicine doctor to be on a comprehensive supplement plan so you can properly metabolize environmental toxins can lead to vast improvement in MCAS and ME/CFS symptoms.
That’s why I wanted to get some suggestions regarding intake of folate without just taking it in a supplement, as my reactions are not pretty and severely impact my (already severe) illness.
If you want to take folate not as a supplement, then you will want to eat lots of leafy, dark green vegetables, where folate comes from naturally. Many of us, though, have trouble assimilating enough folate from food, so IV, injectible, and oral supplementation can be a big help.
But, relying on the internet for suggestions for a severe illness, when you likely have a complex situation that someone knowledgeable should be helping you with, based on your labs and your specific situation, may not be the wisest thing to do.
Folate and vitamin C are pretty important nutrients, so figuring out how to overcome obstacles in getting them into you is critical to finfing a path to wellness.
