Tag: MCAS

Go slow until you know

Caveat: the following does not constitute medical advice, but merely education and illustration of one case. Talk to your doctors and other practitioners before starting or stopping any medical therapies, whether prescribed or over the counter. While there is no cure for the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and the newly invented Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (since 2017) yet,

Beware of Gatekeeping

I’m doing a lot of warning lately, aren’t I? “Beware of Hammer Syndrome” last month. And now, “Beware of Gatekeeping” this month. Hey, it’s October 2018 as I’m hatching this post, so it sort of fits with the Halloween mood, right? (Beware of Ghosts! Boo!) Editors note: This post was first made available in early

Beware of Hammer Syndrome

Hammer syndrome? Wait a minute Jan – you’re already talking about Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), multiple Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) among other things. You could say you’ve put the “syn” in syndromes, don’t you think? So what’s “Hammer Syndrome”?? Good news: it’s not a disease

Weight and EDS and MCAD

This post is apt to be fraught with emotional triggers and landmines due to the nature of the subject itself. Weight loss and management have been a sore point for millions of people for many years, especially in the post war era in the so-called “first world” when big oil and the chemical industry radically

Seeking Zebras of Color

I don’t know how this doesn’t get more press or notice, but it’s become increasingly and glaringly obvious to me that all of the awareness raising around EDS, MCAD and “friends” (what I call the Chronic Constellation here) is almost exclusively being done by white people. And mostly women. Or at least that I’m aware

Wherefor art thou Dysautonomia?

“Homeo(stasis)… oh homeo(stasis)… wherefor out thou dysautonomia?” to mangle a phrase with apologies to all you brilliant Shakespeare scholars. And mix some medical metaphors to boot. Anyone who’s been exploring either the Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (including the forms of EDS) or the highly comorbid Mast Cell Activation Diseases (all forms of mastocytosis, but also the

Finding Your MCAD Triggers

As many of you know, we’re unfortunately finding Mast Cell Activation Diseases aka “MCAD” of all kinds (forms of masto or the newly recognized MCAS and even newer HaTS since 2016) to be relatively common in Ehlers-Danlos patients, which is why I’ve written about them at length. I’m so grateful to Patricia Murray-Wood for following

Reframing autism and more

I know, you came here originally to learn about a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I originally came here to write about a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome after experiencing a massive onset “cascade” or storm of symptoms that got me diagnosed finally at 45 in 2012. But like Alice down the rabbit hole encountering

Trust – and heal – your gut!

You may have noticed I don’t give much dietary advice here. In fact, to this point, I’ve given virtually none. And this is for a very good reason: just like medications and just about everything else with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome with a dose of Mast Cell Activation Disorder on the side (any flavor) among plenty of

Introduction to MCAD June 2015

As the current coordinator for the PNW Chapter of The Mastocytosis Society covering the greater Pacific Northwestern region of the US plus a few neighboring Canadians, I’ve been eager to help educate both patients and doctors as much as possible to this collection of diseases involving mast cell activation that goes so rarely diagnosed. Alas