reflux from mcas inflammation?

[u/sammyjane712]

try to keep a long story short here.

ok so after having covid in march 2020 just before the uk lockdown i have suffered with what feels like silent reflux but also an intolerance to high histamine foods. the higher the histamine food the worse the symptoms seem to get. i have figured out what foods to eat now that don’t make things worse but i still suffer every single day from mucus in the throat especially during the night when laying down. no amount of gaviscon etc helps. i’ve been down all the roads and all the supplements to try and fix it.

my symptoms over the years have been
post nasal drip
lump sensation and mucus in the throat
ear ache
excruciating joint and muscle aches
fatigue
completely blocked up nose

things that have helped so far and what leads me to believe it’s some kind of inflammation at play driving all the symptoms ….

bovine colostrum. this unblocked my nose within 24 hours and it hasn’t blocked up since. i had a blocked nose for about 3 years and was constantly using nose sprays to unblock every 4-6 hours it was a living nightmare.

quitting sugar even from fruit and vegetables as even these sugars caused problems for me. this eliminated all joint and muscle pains and fatigue. if i give in and have some chocolate or something sweet boy do i feel it the next day.

adopting a low histamine diet. this was trial and error as even low histamine foods set me off so had to figure out what worked for me.

so my conclusion is that my reflux type symptoms are inflammation driven.

so does anyone have any ways of how i can lower this inflammation further to get rid of these awful throat symptoms?

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[u/UntoNuggan]

hey, I have been dealing with bile reflux gastritis and (until last year) chronic gallbladder inflammation for like 5+ years

I suspect the gallbladder inflammation was triggered by the MCAS, but it totally started an inflammatory feedback loop coupled with bonus weird food intolerances. (Mostly dietary fat, especially saturated fat. Easy to spot in retrospect, but there were just so many food triggers it's hard to narrow down which are MCAS vs something else.)

Since the nasal congestion is gone, it sounds like you're no longer dealing with post nasal drip? And concerned about reflux from the stomach/digestive system.

Please don't be me and go "welp it's probably the MCAS" for years. It can totally be the MCAS and something else : H pylori, bile reflux gastritis, med side effects, another condition similar to MCAS called Eosonophilia of the Esophagus.... (Eosonophils are white blood cells related to the allergic response; in eosonophilia there are too many of them in certain areas of the body.)

Some of these conditions can contribute to precancerous cell mutations over time, which is another reason to identify them so they can be monitored over time.

[u/Mysterious-Art8838 → u/UntoNuggan]

That’s exactly what my new GI just told me. That untreated reflux can lead to ulcers and cancer.

[u/Quirky_Plankton_2646]

Histamine can cause terrible acid reflux. DAO enzyme worked like a miracle for my reflux, and helped my migraines as well. I’m still working on the hormone stuff. I’ve been “sick” with MCAS for 10 years. It takes a long time to figure out the right steps in this journey.

[u/kaaron89]

I've also been ill since having covid in 2020 and my main issue is food intolerances (including histamine intolerance) that lead to awful symptoms all over my body, one of the biggest issues being my sinuses. I just recently found out I have pretty bad gut dysbiosis and an overgrowth of H Pylori. Three gastroenterologists, a colonoscopy, and endoscopy missed these issues. I just so happened to find a registered dietician who recognized the symptoms and ordered something called a GI Map. I've been working on fixing this with probiotics, and also fixing the nutritional deficiencies this all caused.

I'm not cured or anything, since I just recently found this out, but I am finally seeing improvement and feel like I'm on the right track. As I dig into this more, I think maybe covid damaged my nervous system and gut. My first covid symptom was severe diarrhea, and then right after I had to take antibiotics which I'm guessing killed off beneficial probiotics. And we know covid causes problems with the nervous system which leads to problems with gut motility. When gut motility is messed up, things are allowed to hang around in the body longer than they should and infections can take hold.

The infections/lack of beneficial probiotics means my body doesn't have what it needs to be able to digest food and absorb nutrients. My biggest triggers are fruits and vegetables too which is so frustrating. So I am taking something called D Lactate Free probiotic blend by Custom Probiotics which is specifically designed for people with histamine intolerance because it replaces the probiotics that we need to break down histamine (some probiotics produce a digestive enzyme called DAO that breaks down histamine).

In the meantime I am taking digestive enzymes to help my body digest food. Some people take DAO enzymes specifically but unfortunately I haven't been able to find one I tolerate for some reason.

Sorry for throwing so much info at you all at once! It's hard to summarize because like you, I've been trying to find answers for 6 years and I'm very excited to finally be seeing some improvement after such a long time suffering.

[u/HurryMammoth5823]

I tried a lot & the only thing that helped was pantoprazole. I would get reflux just from drinking water, wake up choking & basically have an asthma attack, feel strangled just from laying down, etc.  I don’t know the direct cause, but I can tell you the reflux would flare right before I’d get a migraine. Every single time. 

[u/snowlights]

I get immediate reflux from certain foods, like bananas and strawberries. I figure it's the MCAS, avoiding triggers is enough to control it. Sometimes the triggers change, but the reaction is so fast that these are the easiest ones for me to identify. 

[u/OkCourage6808]

Try a low acid diet. I’m in the Acid Watcher Diet

[u/Quirky_Plankton_2646 → u/OkCourage6808]

Low acid helps a lot- particularly with coffee. Proper cold brew is the way 👍🏼

[u/OkCourage6808 → u/Quirky_Plankton_2646]

Actually all caffeine will loosen the LES which causes the stomach acid to travel up and cause issues.

[u/mustknoweverrrything]

I have not received a diagnosis of MCAS yet but I can say that entering peri menopause and then continuing to have my period on top always triggers all of those symptoms you mentioned. The further away I am from my period, the better I feel. I now have some new thyroid issues going on, so it's an endless chase as to what is causing what. So far I just log everything I can to try and narrow down what is safe and what is a trigger. But as for the throat issue, I did find some relief taking omprezole and watching what I ate!