Hi Kim!
One of the things I've noticed, and we've talked about this before, is that we can get into what we call the vicious circle of triggering. There are some of us who have some other element involved, like me, which is caused by IgG reacting. I'm a proven autoimmune patient and so I'm allergic to myself and I believe that this is where some of my unknown triggers come from. But this is not what I'm talking about when I talk about the vicious circle of triggering. Hmm, I wonder what name we can put to this...Perhaps something like Mast Cell Cycle Triggering might be a good name.
Anyway, this kind of triggering seems to be created by the mast cells themselves being triggered. My dermatologist explained some of this to me in a simple form as in describing the Krebs Cycle. This is a somewhat complex cycle which involves chemical reactions and the use of oxegen and produce energy and that this entire process has a great deal to do with our metabolism and our cells and involves the mast cell due to how much the mast cell's mediators are used within the body.
She explained to me that when we tend to run low of energy, this cycle tends to cause mast cell degranulation, and the problem is that this degranulation uses up energy as well and since our mast cells are so involved and sensitive, they over react which thus causes too much degranulation which in turn uses up too much energy and thus triggers more degranulation for the degranulation part is needed to help boost the energy but in us, due to the overreaction, we are instead depleted quickly due to the fact that our bodies are overloaded with all of the mediators being released. This is one of the reasons why we get so exhausted so easily and why it affects us so much and how it becomes such a vicious self feeding cycle. This is why we have to diminish our physical activity, sleeping more, resting more, and why we need to take more meds so as to help CUT this self feeding situation.
This is why we are so affected overall, our systems have been depleted but we have no way to stop it. This is when we really get into trouble for the more we are like this, the closer to the "edge" we live in that our bodies are always on the verge of anaphylaxis.
This is why it's so very important to work with your doctors and keep a close eye on Brie, trying to identify what known triggers you can so that you can cut into this cycle and bring it to a halt.
I wish Kim that it were a matter of finding the trigger and avoiding it. This is what you do with normal allergies and that's because those people who are IgE allergic, have but ONE PATHWAY for the mediator release. For masto patients, those who are the proliferative/clonal patient, they have not a pathway which is triggering, but it's the fact that their mast cells are defective in their function and they have way too many of them triggering when they trigger. There also may be pathways involved in the triggering, but science hasn't gotten that far yet.
For the non-clonal patients or those who have some kind of autoimmune element involved, this is more complicated for although they have not proven clonal involvement, this means that they don't have way too many mast cells, but with them, its the issue that their MCs are trigger happy, and this may be that they've got way too many pathways which are being triggered. So far they know about the IgE pathway. Heather's is a high affinity IgE receptor which triggers, so that's another. There's also the IgG pathway, which seems to be one of mine. They also know about complement and then there are the mediators which are more potent that histamine, that of stem cell factor and leukotreins and prostaglandins, and other mediators that they've not yet begun to understand. So, there's a whole lot more involved in this triggering factor that the researchers are discovering which creates some of these issues.
This is why, the quieter you can keep those mast cells, the better.
Lisa
Here's some information on this:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-krebs-cycle.htmThe Krebs cycle refers to a complex series of chemical reactions in all cells that utilize oxygen as part of their respiration process. This includes those cells of creatures from the higher animal kingdom, such as humans. The Krebs cycle produces carbon dioxide and a compound rich in energy, Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This chemical provides cells with the energy required for the synthesis of proteins from amino acids and the replication of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
The Krebs cycle, also known as the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), was first recognized in 1937 by the man for whom it is named, German biochemist Hans Adolph Krebs. His highly detailed and extensive research in the field of cellular metabolism and other scientific endeavors gleaned him the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1953. In short, the Krebs cycle constitutes the discovery of the major source of energy in all living organisms.
Within the Krebs cycle, energy in the form of ATP is usually derived from the breakdown of glucose, although fats and proteins can also be utilized as energy sources. Since glucose can pass through cell membranes, it transports energy from one part of the body to another. The Krebs cycle affects all types of life and is, as such, the metabolic pathway within the cells. This pathway chemically converts carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into carbon dioxide, and converts water into serviceable energy.
The Krebs cycle is involved in the second of three major stages every living cell must undergo in order to produce energy, which it needs in order to survive. The enzymes that cause each step of the process to occur are all located in the cell's "power plant." In animals, this is the mitochondria; in plants, it is the chloroplasts; and in microorganisms, it can be found in the cell membrane. The Krebs cycle is also known as the citric acid cycle, because citric acid is the very first product generated by this sequence of chemical conversions.
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