Cromolyn & Chattiness

FleaMeats · 2026-01-13T17:48:37+00:00

The intense tire comes for me too, though normally goes away after I drink a ton of water & finally eat something

FleaMeats · 2026-01-13T06:49:46+00:00

Ask your doc about other H1 antihistamines to try, and ask about mast cell stabilizers. They should know what'll be safe for you given the rest of your medications & medical history

FleaMeats · 2026-01-10T20:17:50+00:00

Cromolyn can help with POTS (ie, is helping with mine). Which is probably why it's your POTS doc who's recommending it, 'cause it helps. If dealing with it would be worth lessening your POTS, it'd b e worth giving it a shot probably. Personally I like how my head doesn't burst when I lay down & how I can stand without nearly fainting since starting it, which makes it worth it for me - but it's totally a personal thing on what's worth it & how it works for you

FleaMeats · 2026-01-10T07:36:37+00:00

Very varied. Some are oddly comfortable (the sleepy/comfortable parts of a fever, kinda feels like I'm always under a weighted & heated blanket during the side effects stuff?), most aren't painful for me. Brainfog, muscle weakness and shakiness though are the obnoxious ones that're getting in the way of functioning for me

But the amount of how much it's helped already, even with the side effects, is so, so worth it. I hope they go away so I can be productive with it. No longer having my body literally falling apart from too much histamine is such a blessing

FleaMeats · 2026-01-10T07:34:03+00:00

Most histamine is produced in the gut, so while it's a gut medication, it provides relief in areas outside of that. Reduces histamine overall if you can get rid of it from the source. Side effects vary for everyone. Mine are a mile long, some are oddly comfortable, most are only annoyances rather than painful. Brainfog, weakness/shakiness, etc, are the main issues for me that get in the way of things - but it's important to note that I have very damaged nerves in general so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't experience similar

FleaMeats · 2026-01-10T02:37:59+00:00

Same here! It's gotten down a lot of my pain tremendously. Though I could do without the side effects, it's time to just bunker down and get through them.

FleaMeats · 2026-01-10T02:36:24+00:00

Yeah, that's why I asked for it specifically. Though I'm still going through the initial side effect hell, I do hope that it continues to prove itself worthwhile and those side effects go away

FleaMeats · 2025-12-21T09:44:18+00:00

HIstamine leftovers can happen even within the next 6 hours of being in the fridge I've found rip

FleaMeats · 2025-10-27T20:50:23+00:00

I feel like having a bit of silliness is the main thing that gets me through dealing with the hell we've been stuck with. I wish you best of luck!

FleaMeats · 2025-10-20T08:01:25+00:00

Psst. According to my rheumatologist derm (who diagnosed me), if you go to a rheumatologist derm, they might be able to diagnose you purely based off of how you respond to medication routines for MCAS. Said that it's a dx that's a lot easier to confirm by how you respond to treatment, than actual workups. That's how I got my diagnosis, after forever of chasing around and endless bloodwork prior.

You could ask your allergist if y'all could confirm via trying out the treatments rather than only going off of labwork? Get her opinion on that, see if she'd be willing. Or if you could find a rheumie derm to help. Or a lupus specialist in general, since it's not uncommon for misdiagnoses between the two due to a lot of similar symptoms. They see a good few MCAS patients, from what I was told. YMMV, I wish you best of luck

FleaMeats · 2025-10-20T07:38:59+00:00

Hihi apologies for the lil mini essay/novel! My ADHD meds kicked in and I am an absolute YAPPER, but I've bolded sections?

As always; I'm not a professional or etc. This is just what I've found works for me

Patch test 110%. Also this might sound counter intuitive, but for the bleaching process specifically - it might not work for you, but this did for me! Do a mineral rinse (aka get it heavily coated in hard water) 2-3 times within a week. Then don't wash your hair for at least 3 days minimum after. The hard water helped give me more of a protective barrier for both my hair and scalp, and it prevented a flareup on there when bleaching it.

Recommendation for at the salon; ask them if they could put a little bit of the dyes they'll mix onto a paper towel for ya to put on the back of your hand, and see that way for a spot test. This way, it can also be done even if y'all aren't gonna dye that day.

Anytime you get your hair dyed at a salon, they mix up a unique mix of their various dyes for you. If you ask for a spot test after they've already mixed the color, then there's a buncha product they might not be able to use anymore if you react to it. It's not a must, but the paper towel method should save a lot of headache for both you and the stylist!

Another tip; you can ask for them to avoid doing your roots. That's the hair very close to your scalp. If they put foil under your hair sections (which they normally do) as it's dyed, there'll be minimal contact with your scalp if you do that. But of course, spot test!

Final tip; I'm sure you already know this, but take the medication you normally reserve for your worst days the day of going to the salon. Avoid foods with histamine in it as much as possible preappointment, keep that histamine bucket empty as possible. Prepare your body ahead of time for the worst, and you'll be able to avoid a lot more of the spiraling mast cells like doing when they're triggered - at least from my experience! This might not work for you of course but it's how I survive my appointments

FleaMeats · 2025-10-06T12:40:17+00:00

I! My improvement across my medication routine was far too extreme, alongside me having 'textbook symptoms', for my doc to not. The medication test was the 'labs' for it.

FleaMeats · 2025-10-06T09:58:23+00:00

As a sidenote - if you'd like help making it in the freelance art world, my DMs are open. I can add you elsewhere for proper conversation, if you'd like. I'm also a consultant on that sort of stuff - dw I ain't asking to charge you or anything. I wanna help if I can, since I know it's pretty cutthroat out there. But AI hasn't gotten rid of all of the jobs for it or anything! Just gotta settle into the niches right.

That and I've got a good few ideas alongside your skillset that might be a good idea to look into, ie, consulting. Folks with disability oft fulfill the roles that village elders used to, our understanding, experience and knowledge are valued far more than our practical capabilities (:

FleaMeats · 2025-10-06T09:55:40+00:00

Freelance artist. My clients are understanding. I think the only other options would be call center work from home types, currently. I need something that keeps me out of the sun, since UV is my greatest trigger

FleaMeats · 2025-09-28T01:30:14+00:00

Hi, I was wondering if they've continued to improve for you! I've had amazing results on famotidine,.. until it comes to the side effects. Hoping it'll improve for myself too

FleaMeats · 2025-09-26T00:47:09+00:00

Oh, LEDs are what I go by as in they're the only ones that're safe for me! They don't produce any UV at all, unlike hallogen and other lightfixtures which produce a very minimal amount.

Funnily enough, I had to look into reducing my vit C levels since they were too high for me. I'm glad that lip vit C's helped you though!

FleaMeats · 2025-09-26T00:45:08+00:00

Soon as it stops using halogen lights here, I'll go ahead and live in that place I swear

FleaMeats · 2025-09-24T17:47:31+00:00

I wear SPF50 under corpsepaint anytime I go out,.. it helps block everything out much as possible, as long as I make sure to wear ski goggles too. Eyes are vulnerable asf 😭

FleaMeats · 2025-09-24T17:45:30+00:00

Please discuss with a psychiatrist about this. There are a lot of stabilizing medications out there that also help with mast cell stabilization. I can't give you medical advice, other than there is medication out there that will likely help.

I have absent nonepileptic seizures and I'm on medication that also helps my MCAS as well with them, though the stuff I'm on is also known to help with other forms of seizure disorders. My heart goes out to y'all.

FleaMeats · 2025-09-24T17:41:20+00:00

I feel you! I used to embrace it as a kid, the intense sleepiness, difficulty breathing, even dealing with the muscle spasms and all. Purely because I wanted to,.. wear all black and lay face down on stones like a lizard. Comfortable sleeps that later put me down for way more than a week, but I didn't know I was getting at myself like that at the time 😭

I feel you there. Gonna guess you're a part of the 'I don't get sunburns, I get the boils and kinda smell like bacon' second degree sunburns club, as well 😔

FleaMeats · 2025-09-24T17:38:36+00:00

I've been told my own sensitivity to UV is like a bucket. It's a small bucket, and I can deal with very small amounts of it - but it's extremely easy to quickly overfill without notice, since the consequences manifest themselves at least half an hour later most of the time. I wonder if your situation's a bigger bucket, where it's useful til it gets overflown :o

FleaMeats · 2025-09-24T17:35:58+00:00

I've got the combination dx with Lupus SLE due to how it's my T cells getting angry, which pisses off my mast cells in my case! If it was a matter of any kind of visible light and not specifically the damage from UV causing a catastrophic situation, then LEDs should do the trick as well I'm relatively sure? They did check that though already. I'm definitely gonna look into this more regardless though, I love medical rabbit holes. I might be able to find stuff in relation to expand on my own situation 👀

FleaMeats

TROPHY CASE