Hi all,
I am new and just posted under the newbie section, but thought I'd bring my medication specific questions to this section.

I have autonomic neuropathy and orthostatic hypotension, and am undergoing initial work up for mastocytosis. Told by local dermatologist that skin biospy and tryptase of 2.5 rules out mastocytosis. Now pursing MCAD as possible trigger for my debilitating symptoms.

At the time of my skin biopsy, dermatologist prescribed zyrtec/generic 10 mg three times a day due to my extensive flushing/neck blotching. I've taken zyrtec at 10 mg dose with no noticable issues in the past, so agreed to take it, but wanted to taper it up due to horrible reactions to meds. Took 10 mg a day for 5 days, then added a second daily dose for 5 days with no noticable reactions, until the day after the third daily dose, when my orthostatic issues kept me horizontal for 3 days. I essentially reversed to being bedridden, the same as when I was first diagnosed with orthostatic BP issues. By the third day, I stopped taking the generic zyrtec and 1/2 pill of verapamil that I had been taking for the previous three weeks. I reacted to verapamil about 8 years ago, but my neuro asked me to taper up the verapamil and see if I could tolerate it.

After the 3 day OH episode, I awoke the following day, having felt the clearest mentally in the past 3 years. I couldn't believe how "normal" I felt and even worked on my taxes/finances, which have been neglected for a long time. I couldn't go to sleep that night and ended working throughout the night. I was wired, talking really fast and bouncing off the walls. Somewhere around 40 hours later, I did fall asleep, then awoke with a 14 hour migraine.

I wonder if the 30 mg generic zyrtec triggered the OH. But what about my wired stage. Maybe the verapamil stop triggered the migraine?

I emailed my neurologist and spoke with my dermatologist, but no answers yet. Dermatolgist feels the 30 mg triggered something. He advised taking 10 mg if I can tolerate. I will be seeing both docs in the next few weeks. Until then, i would love your perspective on this. Does any of this sound familiar? Can degranulation or antihistamines trigger the wired effects?

Oh, my meds at that time were 75mg levoxyl, 5 mg zolpidem, 40 mg progesterone cream, probiotics, digestive enzymes, 1.5 mg melatonin, and sleep herbal supplement.

Thanks so much for your thoughts,
Lyn