Living with a mast cell disorder is like being a human and trying to live on Mars, you’re living in a world that is dangerous, unknown and clearly not made for you to be there. It is becoming really really good at adapting because your health and well being depend on it. It can be tricky, but it is not impossible.
Mast cells are a type of white blood cell that play a major role in immune function and allergic reactions. Mast cells are formed in your bone marrow and are located throughout your body but with clusters in your marrow, stomach, skin, heart, lungs and brain. These cells are mediator cells meaning that they contain certain hormones and chemicals and the release of such chemicals/mediators can happen when your body senses something is wrong and triggers the mast cells. This is commonly called mast cell activation.
Mast cells carry several different mediators and each mediator has an effect on the body. The most common and well researched are the mediators histamine, tryptase and heparin. Histamine release is the driving force behind allergic reactions and the well known symptoms that come with those (hives, rash, swelling, headache, GI upset). When you take benedryl, you are taking a class of drug called antihistamines which help reduce and calm down released histamine. Important clarification, mast cell reactions are not the same thing as “true/IgE mediated allergies”. Unlike “true allergies” mast cell reactions can be triggered by different things at different times and triggers can be things like heat and emotions.
Mast cell disorders are systemic and complicated disorders that can vary greatly from patient to patient. For me, my mast cells have reacted to everything from coughing to the sun, to peanuts one day and not the next. I have had more anaphylactoid reactions then I can count and have to carry several emergency meds with me at all times. I wear masks in public because cigarette smoke and perfume are some of my worst triggers. Yet despite all these precautions and more, I still maintain a constant reactive state and always run the risk of spontaneous anaphylaxis. Sometimes it isn’t even possible to figure off what started a reaction… it is frustrating to say the least. That being said, it makes you a master at adapting and very very aware of chemicals in foods and products. This is a really big topic to chew off so I plan to do several posts about it if I don’t bore you all silly.
Chronicles of a Professional Patient 
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