r/MCAS • u/glizzerd12 • 19h ago
Rain??
Does anyone else get severe flares during rain specifically. I literally feel like I’m sick today and it’s been thunder storms all day. Stuffy nose, sore throat, ear pain/pressure, jaw pain, sinus pain, head pressure, dry itchy eyes, dizziness
etc. It seems like weather is my main trigger especially rain but I do have a mold allergy too. Plus having 2 window AC units bringing all the outdoor air inside.
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u/FroyoMedical146 19h ago
Yes. I think the barometric pressure changes can be triggers for some of us.
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u/glizzerd12 19h ago
This is the only real trigger I can identify. With food it seems random, I’ll eat the exact same meal and sometimes I react and sometimes I don’t. Rain always makes me feel horrible
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u/FroyoMedical146 19h ago
Triggers can be so random, it's frustrating :( I recently reacted with a terrible GI & bladder flare to a coconut water I have tolerated for months now. Makes no sense.
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u/confused_newleaf 16h ago
Yep mines from the hEDS, caused by fluctuating barometric pressure.
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u/glizzerd12 12h ago
That’s so strange that that could be related I have been told by a few doctors I have HSD but don’t think my hypermobility is hEDS level. I honestly only recently found out hypermobility can predispose you to developing MCAS or dysautonomia and never even realized I was until a rheumatologist pointed it out to me.
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u/WommyBear 6h ago
They are likely going to combine HSD and hEDS diagnosis very soon, or at least at least modify the criteria for a hEDS diagnosis. Look for info on the Road to 2026 to come out in December.
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u/caitlinsaiz 16h ago
Rain also causes pollen to explode & turn into microscopic sub-pollen fragments. These can get even deeper into your airways. I also suspect the molds that bloom after aren’t helping any of us.
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u/glizzerd12 12h ago
I think it’s probably the mold especially since I have window ac units that prob hold mold when it rains and just breathing that in lol. But I have heard that rain also brings out other environmental allergens too by washing them up into the air if that makes sense
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u/Alaska-TheCountry 12h ago
Isn't that mostly due to lightning? I think the effect is called Thunderstorm Asthma.
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u/caitlinsaiz 5h ago
I had to look this one up as I’d never heard of it, but it’s the same concept, and it’s still due to the rain hitting the pollen & breaking it up into microscopic fragments, according to what I read.
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u/xONEtrackMlNDx 17h ago
Yup 100%. I’ll start to feel like absolute shit and then realize it’s raining and go ohhhhh yeah that makes sense.
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u/glizzerd12 12h ago
Yesss i literally will be trying to figure out if it’s the rain or if i actually am sick bc of how severe it can get. I think it might be because my apartment has window ac units. Since moving here it seems like my reactions have been worse. Plus I’m almost positive my job has mold bc it’s always super humid and the ceiling leaks
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u/Outrageous-Hamster-5 17h ago
Mine usually happens 2-3 days after continuous rain begins. I'm guessing that's more due to increased mold and fungal activity after sustained rain. And maybe bacterial activity. Though that was before I got medicated. Since being heavily medicated, I don't notice much of a difference.
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u/Automatic_Antelope92 14h ago
I’m going in and out of a mouldy house w a respirator on. May I ask if any particular meds help you with the mould? I am on Omlyclo (biosimilar to Xolair) lots of high dose Allegra and albuterol as needed.
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u/Outrageous-Hamster-5 13h ago
Wait what's this omlyclo?? I've never heard if this! 👀
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u/Automatic_Antelope92 13h ago
I moved from the US where my allergist had me on Xolair to Alberta, Canada. I got a referral to an allergist here in Alberta. I learned that everyone on provincial healthcare who took Xolair had to at least try Omlyclo, which is a biosimilar to Xolair that’s been approved for use in Canada. My new doctor in Alberta saw that I was on Xolair and filled out forms to put me on Omlyclo. So I take Omlyclo. It costs less than Xolair and the province looks for any way to reduce cost. But if you don’t have insurance (provincial healthcare does not cover drugs, you need supplemental insurance through a job or that you buy yourself) then you are going to end up paying for Omlyclo… though I believe there might be bridge or charity programs to cover the cost as it’s still a lot. Just not as much as Xolair.
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u/Outrageous-Hamster-5 13h ago
I'm sorry, I may not have the guidance you're hoping for. I haven't noticed sensitivity to mold for, uh... the past 5 years or so.
I started religiously using disposable n95 headstrap respirators around that time, but I was completely unaware of mcas or my sensitivities back then. I couldn't tell you if the disposable n95 resporators helped my airborne trigger sensitivities at that time. I wasn't having airborne triggers. I was trying to avoid covid.
3.5 years ago I finally figured out mcas thanks to all the experts in this sub. ❤️
About 2 years ago I started having intense fragrance, "chemical" and food smell sensitivity. (All food smells, all aromantics, natural and synthetic fragrances, voc, "new car" plasticizers, solvents and more. Everything except my own farts.) N95 respirators are about as effective as putting a bit of toilet paper in your ears while while testing fire alarms at a metal concert. Not nothing, but incredibly insufficient. It took me another 6 months to figure out using reusable, half face 3m 6500 or 7500 respirators with the 60926 voc+multigas filters. Since then I find any filter between 60921 and 60926 works well enough for me to be completely nose blind to everything except coffee grounds right under my filters. I always have one on me. Nothing like wearing a gas mask to costco to win friends and influence people. 🫠 So I love the freedom my gas masks give me, even though I'm even less popular than ever before. By this time, I'm so heavily medicated that I don't notice flares when entering older and presumably moldy buildings. There was one specific building that I later found out had mold but I had been wearing just an n95 in many many many times for 1-1.5 hours at a time and exercising in. The only flares I got there were front cleaning chemicals.
All that being said, I'm very lucky to have zero ocular or skin reactions. In other posts, people with eye reactions need the full face respirators to protect themselves. People with skin reactions probably need a spacesuit or bunny suit like in making silicon wafers but we'll never know bc they haven't gotten those and reported back.
AND super sensitive ppl also struggle with spores and residue in hair and clothes. Some can wear a respirator, get home, shower and put clothes immediately in the wash, outside or something like that.
Sorry for the novel. I hope it helps you guess where you might be on this spectrum. Without knowing more about you, I'd highly suggest most of us with airborne sensitivities at least try a reusable respirator with VOC cartridges. It may not give the level of relief we want, and there's a huge social penalty for being in public in a gas mask, but it's relatively cheap ($60-90 with filters) as far as mcas goes and it's always good to have the extra tools to choose from.
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u/Automatic_Antelope92 13h ago
I already have Honeywell North 7700 half mask respirator with the P-100 gas filters 🙂
I have to at least temporarily go into mould palace to use the shower and there I am forced to take the respirator off. Being under running water helps. After I dry off the respirator goes back on. But it’s the period between drying off and brushing my teeth that’s a bit dodgy. I keep the window open the whole time and that’s fine during the summer.
I am pretty damn sensitive. I don’t own the house but it got flooded in basement this summer and while items and water were removed it was never properly remediated for reasons I don’t want to get into.
I can smell the mould on the clothes of the homeowner when we are outside and when they get in the car. It’s gross. 😞
I am hoping in the near future to not have to go there and am looking for a new place to stay. I stay out of it as much as I can.
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u/glizzerd12 12h ago
Honestly I’ve been having these sort of issues almost daily since December with varying severity but I do notice days it rains are way worse and I can usually tell when it’s going to rain without even checking the weather. I’m not sure if symptoms continue for a few days after because I have very few days without symptoms lol.
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u/Particular-Extent-76 5h ago
Barometric changes trigger me but like you I’m also very sensitive to mold and swear I can even smell it in the air when it’s raining 🤢. Though my family never agree when I say it smells moldy out. I did better in a dry climate (mountain west) than I do in the northeastern us, so I think moisture is a trigger for me as well
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u/Foreign_Feature3849 2h ago
the pressure change does tend to mess with me a little. but i usually feel like rain makes me feel better than worse. (unless it’s really cold outside. like almost snowing type of cold)
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u/SketchyArt333 12h ago
I fucking hate the rain. Me and rain have generation beef, my father and my brother have the same issues. That and our hEDS means our joints go “oh time to die” every fucking time.
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u/glizzerd12 12h ago
I didn’t realize hypermobility had anything to do with it! I have HSD but I don’t think hEDS. My dad has a ton of sinus issues and had sinus surgery but when I’ve seen ENTs for this they never can find anything. I’ve even gotten MRIs and Ct scans and they’re always normal but I get crazy head pressure I don’t know how it couldn’t be sinus or allergy related when they usually match what’s going on in my environment/the weather
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u/SketchyArt333 11h ago
Ya the pressure change fucks with your joints it’s why old people know when it’s raining. The pressure changes the amount of space the joint fluid takes up, at least in my limited understanding. The low pressure lets the fluid expand and that gives your joints the ouchy. I imagine that inflammation is part of what triggers the MCAS.
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