Five Effective Tips for Addressing Pain with MCAS

Addressing Pain with MCAS – Pain can be a common symptom of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and many chronic illnesses. In this post, I provide five tips for dealing with pain when you have a chronic illness.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What is MCAS?

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a chronic condition that affects all organ systems. MCAS is serious and disabling and people with MCAS experience often significant and debilitating symptoms daily, including anaphylaxis, which can be fatal.MCAS is often found in combination with other chronic conditions such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).

Frequently healthcare providers do not know about MCAS, and the tests for MCAS are problematic because they are not uniformly reliable. MCAS can be difficult to manage. Treatments include blocking mast cell mediators with anti-histamines and mast cell stabilizers, as well as avoiding triggers.

Check out this post on how to manage MCAS.

1. Addressing Pain with MCAS – Look at your symptom progression

It is tempting to throw pain medications at your pain it crops up. You just want it to go away! But what if you react to pain medications, or need to use them sparingly?

Part of dealing with pain is to know your symptom progression and to have a rescue plan in place when you notice you are heading down the symptom progression. When you start noticing symptoms, that is your cue to start your rescue plan medications.

Pain may be a new symptom of your progression, so it is helpful to look at it as a symptom to be watched. Notice when you have this type of pain: What other symptoms are happing at the same time? What new food(s) did I try recently? What environmental triggers have I experienced lately?

So, one component of knowing why you are experiencing pain is to look at the big picture. You may need to put on your detective hat to figure out if there are any correlations. And maybe there aren’t! If you sustained an injury then the cause isn’t your food or environmental exposure. But knowing that mast cells proliferate wherever there is an injury to the body, means that you will likely need to start your rescue plan to address the mast cell activation resulting from the injury.

2. Addressing Pain with MCAS – Tune into your body

Pain can come in many forms and from a multitude of causes. So, in addition to looking at your symptom progression, it is helpful to tune into what type of pain you are experiencing.

Is it a new acute pain from exertion? Then maybe it is an injury from overuse. You may want to implement your rescue plan and then use the rest-ice-compression-elevation injury protocol.

Is it skin pain from irritation, abrasion, rash, hives, or a physical injury? Then you may need to use your rescue plan to address how mast cells are amassing in your skin while at the same time treating the injury itself.

Is it body pain from an old injury? Mast cells will overreact in places where you have experienced an injury in the past.

Is it body pain from a bump, a bruise, muscle pain, or achiness? Then you may need to address the injury and follow up with your rescue plan to address how mast cells are amassing in that area of the body.

Is it a headache? Headaches can happen for millions of reasons, from atmospheric pressure changes to hormonal fluctuations to environmental exposures to toxins or triggering agents. Atmospheric pressure also causes pain due to increased (or decreased pressure on the body). See my post on Atmospheric Pressure Changes and MCAS.

You may need to do some sleuthing to figure out why you have the headache. For instance, has it come on after an emotional upset? a storm? or after you were exposed to an allergen? You may want to begin by implementing your rescue plan while you try to figure it out.

If you still haven’t figured out the cause of your pain ask yourself:

• Am I under a lot of stress? or new stress?
• Is someone harming me? (Get help!!)
• Is there something in my life that I am unable to control? (see my post on Boundary Setting Techniques)
• Is my home or work life chaotic?
• Have I experienced a traumatic event in my life? Trauma can resurface at any time, and unless it is addressed it can lead to debilitating conditions. Trauma indicates to the autonomic nervous system that you are constantly under assault, which causes mast cells to react to the perceived threat (see my post on Vagus Nerve Health).
• Are you a caregiver or is there someone in your life that is dependent upon you for their survival? (see my post on Caregiver Survival Tips).
• Has something in your work or home environment recently changed? For instance, did you recently install a new wifi router? (see my post on EMFs) Was there a water leak that might have caused mold growth? (see my post on mold toxicity and MCAS) Did you recently install new carpeting, blinds, or paint that could be off-gassing into your living or working environment? (see my post on safe living spaces with MCAS).
• Have you suddenly developed anxiety or depression? New research is seeing connections between mental health and the presence of infections in the body such as long Covid, PANS, PANDAS, and autoimmune encephalitis. See your doctor right away if you have a sudden change in your mental health, if you are feeling like you want to harm yourself or another person, or if you feel hopeless.

3. Addressing Pain with MCAS – Use tools

• Check out this post for tools and products for pain.
• Use frequency!
• Use red light! Infrared light is beneficial for inflammation, and there are many ways that you can use it for pain.

Like anything new that you try with mast cell activation, start slow, and increase gradually. You may need to start with one minute of infrared therapy and wait a day or two to make sure you don’t react to it. And then increase your use by one minute each day until you feel results. Some people with MCAS may not be able to tolerate infrared light, so use caution.

4. Addressing Pain with MCAS – Look at your diet

Inflammatory foods can cause pain and inflammation in your body. Many of the inflammatory foods are also high in histamine and high in carbohydrates. Eating according to a lower histamine Keto diet helps ensure that you are keeping the inflammatory potential of your food out of the equation. See my post on fasting and the keto diet for MCAS.

One of the first places I look, when I am experiencing a sudden bout of pain or inflammation, is my diet. When my bucket is at a good level I can tolerate a little bit of heavy cream (like once a week), and a little bit of cassava flour (also once a week). If I have been splurging and having these foods more often I am very likely to have a pain flare-up.

5. Addressing Pain with MCAS – Get help

At any point, as appropriate, see a doctor, or another practitioner. Pain is a signal that something is not right. Don’t ignore your pain; address your pain or discomfort by seeing a doctor. Have it looked at by a chiropractor. Get a massage. See a functional medicine practitioner or homeopath, a counselor or therapist. Do physical therapy, or take a home remedy. If you have access to a practitioner who uses Pain Neutralization Technique I highly recommend it for addressing all sorts of body pain from migraines to back pain to painful menses.

Products for Addressing Pain with MCAS

Here is a partial list of the pain-relieving products that I turn to when I am experiencing pain. See this post for more specific ideas for addressing pain.

• My number one topical pain remedy is Energetix PhytoGel which contains homeopathic Arnica. It’s easy to apply, and is helpful for a wide range of types of pain, from muscle aches to burns to joint pain. I discuss homeopathy for MCAS and chronic illness in this post.
• My second favorite topical pain remedy is Energetix BioCatalin Lotion. This lotion is especially helpful for sciatica, gout, and arthritis.
• My favorite oral pain remedy is Energetix Relief Tone for wounds, bruises, sprains, fractures, and other injuries.
• Frequency healing – ask me for more details!
• Red light is excellent for reducing inflammation and I discuss it in greater depth here.

The bucket theory

The bucket theory offers a helpful analogy for understanding symptom reactions with MCAS.Think of your body as an empty bucket that you want to keep from overflowing. Different foods and activities fill your histamine bucket at different speeds but they combine to form the total level of histamine in your body (how full your bucket is). A fuller bucket means you have more histamine symptoms. When you manage triggers, reduce exposure to known triggers, and take medications and supplements to reduce histamine, you can manage the level of your bucket.

Know your typical symptom progression

Knowing your symptom progression in a symptom flare is the key to developing your own rescue plan. In this post, I discuss how to determine your own symptom progression. Once you know what typically happens in your symptom progression you can design a rescue plan to address those symptoms.

Get my free ebook, symptom log, and meal plan!

Want a tool to easily keep track of your symptoms? Sign up for my newsletter and you will receive my free 50-page ebook of lower-histamine, grain-free, sugar-free recipes, my free symptom log, and a free two-week meal plan!

Sign up for the SSP!

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is a listening therapy based on Polyvagal Theory that helps heal nervous system regulation. Many people with MCAS have nervous system dysregulation stemming from infections, toxic exposures, concussions, and trauma. The SSP is an easy-to-use app where you listen to specially filtered music for 30 minutes each day for a 5-hour cycle. Studies show the SSP has a profound effect on mental health and chronic conditions

You can sign up for the SSP here!

Order my book!

Rocks and Roots chronicles my journey solo backpacking the Superior Hiking Trail and overcoming nervous system dysregulation, gut dysbiosis, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome symptoms to hike 328 miles successfully.

Check out this powerful frequency device

Healy is an individualized microcurrent device I use to reduce inflammation. Check out this post for more about Healy.

Sign up for a session!

I provide one-on-one in-person and remote chronic illness and caregiver coaching and Sacred Self-Healing Sessions based on the Sacred Self-Healing Method, a proven novel co-creative healing modality detailed in my Books. 

Click here for more information.

What do you think?

I’d love to have your reply below!

Disclaimer

The preceding material does not constitute medical advice. This information is for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, cure or treatment. Always seek advice from your medical doctor.