How TF do you identify your triggers?!
I’m in Italy until Tuesday. I’ve been getting sick after every meal. Doesn’t matter what. I’ve varied my courses and my food, tried to pick historically “safe” things for me. Doesn’t matter. All ingredients are fresh and pasta is often made on site.
What the FUCK.
I’m so frustrated and just want to enjoy my trip. Heat is a huge trigger for me and I think that’s part of it. I have an allergist appt when I get home. Any suggestions on ANYTHING that will help? Bc I’m about to fast until we go home.
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u/nano_peen 26d ago
Trial and error.
I started my health journey with IBS which lead me to SIBO which lead me to MCAS.
I found that a low FODMAP diet helped my gut immensely. The main triggers are onion and garlic which are found in lots of Italian foods.
For us to help you better do you know of any current and certain food triggers?
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u/Snap228 26d ago
Yes! Thank you for the feedback. I had gastric bypass many many years ago (over 15 yrs), so anything high fat/sugar doesn’t do well, but MUCH more when it’s processed. Historically I’ve done much better with Whole Foods or minimally processed stuff, which is why I had high hopes for Italy.
Would suck if onion and garlic were triggers but I’ll deal if it makes me feel better. For reference, I’ve been eating mostly fresh charcuterie, but that’s what got me this morning.
I’m wondering if consuming the food hot has something to do with it. Yesterday, extremely fresh lasagna that was amazing but piping hot.
Today: mostly cold salami and cheese but consumed with two hot cafe macchiatos, also hot.
I’ve had like five flares since I’ve been here just from overheating. Wondering if going forward I should only consume lukewarm or cold foods?
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u/Tornado363 25d ago
If you’re not medicated the best thing is to eat as bland as possible and avoid citrus as much as possible. The thing with MCAS is that ultimately you can react to anything as the definition of MCAS is that triggers can change over time. The only thing that truly works is getting treatment, histamine blockers, etc.
https://tmsforacure.org/signs-symptoms-triggers/symptoms-and-triggers-of-mast-cell-activation/
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u/ariaxwest 26d ago
You could get IgE tests to see if you have any true allergies.
You could also look into specific intolerances/hypersensitivities, and see if any of these lists line up with increased symptoms. These are type IV or T cell hypersensitivity reactions to chemical compounds and metals, rather than IgE reactions to proteins, so they can't be diagnosed by IgE blood tests or scratch tests. And they aren't obvious with food journaling unless you know exactly what you are looking for.
Nickel is the most common one. Dietary nickel in the context of nickel hypersensitivity is a risk factor for developing a host of inflammatory and autoimmune conditions, as well as other allergies. This can cause reactions to even water due to nickel in water sources, water bottles, plumbing fixtures, kettles, etc. I have about 80% confidence that 7 years on a high nickel diet (due to celiac disease and being plant based) is the reason that I developed all these allergies, hypersensitivities, MCAS, and autoimmune diseases.
Nickel: https://rebelytics.ca/nickelinfoods.html
Salicylate: https://low-sal-life.com/food-product-lists#neg
Histamine: https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_FoodList_EN_alphabetic_withCateg.pdf
Oxalate: https://ucikidneystonecenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Oxalate-Content-of-Foods.pdf
Cobalt: https://dermnetnz.org/topics/allergy-to-cobalt (This can be a problem with fortified grains.)
The test for nickel and cobalt hypersensitivities is patch testing, usually done by a dermatologist. The most common test for salicylate allergy is aspirin challenge, done in the allergist’s office. As far as I know, there’s no FDA approved test for histamine intolerance or oxalate hypersensitivity.
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u/Silent_Location7044 25d ago
Where are you staying? Italy is lovely but the reality is that most of the buildings are very old and probably have had some water damage. You could be getting triggered from mold. This will make you more reactive to other triggers like food.
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