Wow! Looks like I won the Rare Disease lottery too!!!
I must appoligize now for this and all future jokes I may make about this very serious problem. The reality is something is going to get us all. I made a decision early on to not let it stop me from enjoying what I can.
I have been suffering from alerigic reactions since I was 23. My biggest complaint was that they caused migraine headaches, but there were lots of other allergy problems present like breathing and sinus issues. I did not know what was causing my migraines for 10 years. During that time I had migraines 24/7. Life sucked! I had no relief with any of the medications they had at the time. I stopped going to doctors about it after about 3-5 years because they were no help. I reacted to the medications, and when I suggested to a doctor that maybe the medications have a similar ingredient that I react to, that doctor told me that I needed to see a phychiatrist. Whatever!
Later I figured out after countless elimination diets, that I was severely alergic to sulfites and sulfates. Sulfites and sulfates are in all medications in small amounts, and are in all types of packaged foods. It is impossible to stay away from them unless you know what foods contain them. I could only eat from the produce isle and meat from the meat counter. Life got better, but the migraines never stopped completely.
Then last year I broke out in this rash that would not go away. The itching was so bad that I would scratch till I bled and bruised. 3 doctors and five months later, a doctor finally took a skin biopsy and I was finally diagnosed with cutaneous mastocytosis this year. It is all starting to make sense now, but I really think it is more than just my skin. The other allergic reactions have to be part of this somehow.
I take as little medication as possible, but I am sensitive to others that do not have this luxury.
Hope you are well reading this.
Phyre