It all started when she came down withstrep throat.
An allergist put her on a round of steroids and anantihistamine, but the relief was short-lived.
(The CDC didnt even develop insurance codes for the condition until 2016.)
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What is MCAS?
Technically, there are three types of MCAS.
In the case of primary MCAS (a.k.a.
Secondary MCAS is triggered by specific allergens, like foods, pet dander, or bee venom.
So the only potential cause is one we dont understand yet.
Take Dr. Barkoffs run-in with strep.
A similar scenario happened toCaroline Cray, a healthcare recruiter and content creator with MCAS.
I dont even know how many EpiPens I took during that fall semester, she tells SELF.
What are the symptoms of MCAS?
And often those symptoms have to be so severe that they resemble anaphylaxis.
However, theres some debate around exactly how bad or consistent they must be to count.
The diagnostic consensus simply notes that they should be recurrent or permanent and require a therapeutic intervention.
How exactly is MCAS diagnosed?
If neither of these routes turns up anything,thenyoud wind up with the diagnosis of idiopathic MCAS.
Though that might seem simple enough, the truth is, theres still some tricky things to navigate.
Take the symptoms, for starters.
Theres also substantial overlap withPOTSa.k.a.
(Some blood and urine tests can also check for these.)
But because othernon-mast cells can release all of these substances too, theres no established level that confirms MCAS.
How do you manage symptoms of MCAS?
Five years later, shes still working with her care team to reincorporate foods into her extremely limited diet.
(Her many co-occurring food allergies make this more complicated than is typical for MCAS.)
This is where all the experts point to the massive need for more thorough and objective studies on MCAS.
Finding an underlying cause, for instance, could crack open a trove of new solutions.
Despite these limitations, she sees patients daily and says she leads a full life.
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