Seasonal allergies, MCAS

[Aerowallah]

Has anyone followed this pattern...or can anyone tell me what my immune system is doing?

I've had ragweed allergies every fall since I was a kid.

Fast fwd 50 years to onset of ME after a viral trigger in 2013.

That fall I noticed...allergies GONE! I've read that's not uncommon.

After 6 years of repairing and rebalancing ragweed allergies came back WITH my improved energy. But they follow an odd pattern now. As allergy season starts, pollens prime me over several days, from mild itching of eyes, roof of the mouth, then to itchy nose and sneezing, to day 4 or 5 of peak allergy symptoms when the symptoms COMPLETELY shut off, and my energy crashes--like a mini version of 2013. When this happens just about all foods (not just high histamine foods) make me itch all over. After a couple days my energy comes back...but WITH the allergy symptoms.

Until allergy season is over my immune just toggles back and forth over that line..."normal" energy + bad allergies for a few days...crashed energy, allergy gone or much reduced for a few days...

I assembled a warchest last year of Zn, Mg, Quercetin, & Theanine, and taken altogether they tanked my blood pressure, esp. my diastolic.

What is my immune system doing? Thanks very much for your thoughts!

 

[lenora]

I'm 75, began with no allergies whatsoever (except cigarette smoke), and now have allergies year round. Well, a few weeks in the summer when it's really hot are the only exceptions. Going outside guarantees something, and then in the winter we deal with mold and mildew (and things are extremely clean around here).

It gets tiring to play this same old game of ball, but there's no choice. It helps to have a small Heppa air purifier
in each room, and use HEPPA filters on any furnaces, etc., you may have.

We recently purchased another one on Amazon for about $100...and I understand that may be a lot of money to spend. However, it's mandatory in our bedroom and the filters on this system are very thick and don't have to be changed as often.

Air conditioning helps, things like having the grass cut, don't. Ask your GP about sprays that you can use (usually steroid based, but they aren't absorbed in the body the same way). These help a lot of people, unfortunately I'm not one of them.

As we age, our immune systems aren't as good as they were when we were younger. Flying to another area can make all of this much worse (or in some cases, I guess, better). New products are coming on the market frequently....I also take Quercetin. Does it help? After all these years, I still have no idea. Some days are just miserable....oh, and Xmas decorations and the tree can make things much worse in a big hurry. Good luck. L.

 

[Aerowallah]

Sure, my wife is my control group. She's never had allergies either. But a warming planet and stressed plantlife are dumping tons of tree and (right now in the NE U.S.) grass pollens into the air, and people are developing allergies for the first time, like my wife in her 40s.

It goes to the core of ME. Chronic fatigue is the interruption of energy flow by an immune response. My trigger flu was very mild, and then the ME symptoms kicked in. Now the same thing is happening with my immune re allergies. Good energy, allergy symtoms...then like a circuit breaker, energy crashes and allergy symptoms cease for a day or two, as they did but for years after the onset of CFS. Anyone have that?

 

[lenora]

Well, yes, I do. At first I thought it was a cold, then sinus and finally had a huge revelation....allergies! Every year, without fail, I have bronchitis for at least 6 wks.

It doesn't matter that your wife is just 40, the symptoms can begin at any time and we're living much longer so some symptoms go and others arrive. My hubby who had the worst allergies I've ever seen, and was among the first in N. America to have the allergy shots, suffered horribly. Today he's much better and it's me who suffers. For him the steroid allergy sprays (combined with the shots) have worked. For me....nada! He's 78, by the way.

Things like scented candles are among the worst offenders...we both strongly dislike them. Anything scented from flowers on down will bring on an attack. I've had what could be classified as severe allergies (at least at some points) for about 35 years now. I've tried just about everything and just make sure there's no dust anywhere, that windows have the shutters closed, no dust or mite forming bedclothes (cotton is best) and know that I'll have to live with it. So yes, no matter what your age, unless you were extremely young when they started, they're a problem.

If you want to become a doctor and have plenty of repeat customers, become an allergist. Then some poor folks develop asthma on top of things. I do hope you'll escape it. Yours Lenora.

 

[Wishful]

The immune systems are complicated and interactive, and ME affects the immune systems and is affected by changes in the immune system. If a team of the worlds top immunologists studied you with the best equipment available, they might still not be able to figure out exactly why your immune system is acting that way. Your body might change before they could even get properly started ... and it probably would, just because ME is mean.

If you keep accurate records of everything you consume and do, and the resulting changes in your symptoms, maybe you can narrow down what's going on.

If that odd behaviour stays reliable, and if you managed to find the right researcher interested in figuring it out, that might lead to a breakthrough in understanding ME.

Paging perfect researcher, interesting lab rat volunteer here ...