All of the above lol. And I can't seem to predict yet what will cause what.

Sometimes it's throat itching and swelling with tongue sometimes too. Sometimes chest pain and short of breath. Sometimes tingling in my extremities, scalp, tongue and face. Sometimes GI upset, or urgency. Sometimes, itching, flushing. Usually PVCs. Sometimes tachycardia and low BP. Sometimes immediate while the thing is in my mouth--in which case I've learned to spit it out and rinse like mad. Sometimes up to 6-8 hours later. Sometimes all of the above happen!! Usually if it's all of the above and rapidly progressive I need to take rescue meds and make sure I'm in a position to get to the ER if necessary.

I usually need to void (urinate) more during reactions and I do overall in general since all of this which I think lowers my intravascular volume and makes me more prone to POTS issues. I try to drink lots but most just goes straight through and then some! This was much worse when I was bed ridden with severe symptoms when standing.

Other factors like heat exposure, stress, scent/chemical exposure can lower my threshold.

Makes it hard to sort things out which is why I went on such a rigid elimination/reintro diet to try and sort out what I could and kept a diary. Even with that it's still hard to know sometimes, but I've definitely learned SO much along the way.

Also, triggers can change with time, at least mine do so that can be confusing.

Let us know how it goes.  

My 4 yr old son has MCAS and presents with various symptoms to food; some immediate, some delayed as much as 12-24 hours.  He's on a limited diet of 6-8 foods and we trial one food at a time and watch for reactions.  Some symptoms include abdominal pain, swelling, itching (with or without flushing), rashes/ hives, flushing, nausea, vomiting, bp drop, fatigue and pain.

I also have MCAS and usually present with itching (no rash), abdominal pain, nausea, heart palpitations, and chest tightness.

Keeping a detailed food diary of what you eat and reactions can be helpful in figuring out food triggers.

Good luck!
Tina

Pam,
I certainly don't want to add to your increasingly difficult time finding foods, but I have been reading up on sulfites and just last night read some posts on the salicylates forum on sulfites.  They mentined Lays and other brands of potato chips.  It might be worth checking out those posts.  

Lyn

Thanks for all the replies. I went to vanderbilt this week for my follow up appointment and the doctor ended up admitting me directly from the clinic since I have had no improvements. They did medication trials which SUCkED and pushed my body to the edge. My doctor does not feel that I have MCAS because my flushing is so sporadic (maybe once a week maybe once every two weeks) and my only reactions to foods are fatigue and a slight BP drop which she attributes to post prandial hypotension because of the severity of my POTS. My physician back home was supposed to run a n-methyl histamine on a 24 hr urine they did last time I was in the hospital. Which I got back and they tested for everything under the sun except that! Ugh. I'm not totally convinced my reactions are just that. I have been very carful with what I eat at home but while in the hospital I really ventured out to try to produce a reaction for them to see. I ate things like bacon, cheeseburgers, wheat toast with cream cheese, rice crispies with milk, baked potato chips, chicken and ham sandwiches of which none really produced any of my symptoms I have at home (doesn't it always seem to go that way) not even a flushing episode from all of the stress!! No reactions to alcohol swabs either.  Crazy When the smallest things trigger them at home sometimes. I follow up with my doctor at home next week and will drill him on why the n-methyl histamine was not run when I clearly had a flushing episode from the stress of going through the ER and I feel that they would have shown up then if they were there. I appreciate the responses and encouraging words. I will continue my low histamine diet at home with my "safe" foods until I have been given a definite all clear on the MCAS stuff.

I am currently wondering the same thing.....does my house have black mold???? We have had several pipes burst over the years due to copper piping that is not compatible with the boron we have in our water here. I am wondering if because of all that, we still have mold?? I was telling Pam in a pm that like her, I have a hunch mold started all my problems as well. Our family moved into a beautiful, but old (built in the 30's) house when I was in 3rd grade. We were always having plumbing issues. A few years ago, a dreind of theirs bleached out some of the black mold he found under the house. But im sure that what he got was just the tip of the iceburg. To this day, I can smell mold when I walk into my parents house. Since all these shinanigans started, I've tried to stay away for their house as much as possible. I am interested in having someone come out to test our house. More $$$$ out the door!!!!