I go through the same thing, and like you, consider myself a very patient easy going person. But some days (more than I would like) I can feel this insane irritability building all day, until late afternoon when it comes to a head and I snap. Now that I am aware of these episodes, I try my best to remove myself from my husband and son if possible (or anyone else in my war path!lol) otherwise, I'm just upfront with them and tell them that I'm just not doing so hot right now. But it sucks . It's not me, it's not in my nature.
It helps seeing other people go through this too. I'm hoping that one day when I'm on the right meds, this will become less frequent.
Unfortunately, because of my up and down moods and without a doctor to help me understand mast cell symptoms (thank God for this website or I would be completely in the dark) I have been diagnosed bipolar type 2 and am on 4 meds for this. Nothing really helps (except the remeron, which has high antihistamine properties!!! Hmmmmmm) the more I read and the more I hear from y'all, the more I think I am not bipolar 2. Chances are these meds are doing more harm than good. I know SSRI's are supposedly bad for mast cell disorders, and I'm on Zoloft.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Keri for bringing up this topic again. It makes me feel not-so-nuts! As I posted before, it has taken years to make the connection (I didn't even know I had autoimmune urticaria until 4 years ago, and MCAS more recently), but I know my anxiety, depression, OCD racy thoughts and anxiety and panic attacks are all related to mast cell issues. The simple cause and effect of what happens to me after being around or eating a trigger is enough proof for me.
Too bad the docs don't get it AT ALL.
I was so sick a couple week ago my husband had me make a hasty, desperate call to the Mayo clinic. I had been feeling really bad for a couple weeks. I was on the phone with an intake person for about 1/2 hour telling her my symptoms. She called me back later that day with an appointment. Long story short, several of the doctor appointments they had set for me were for behavioral and psychiatric issues. It made me so mad. I actually called and canceled today.  I'm not paying out the wazoo to be told I'm "somewhere in the bipolar spectrum" again and put on more psych meds.
On a brighter note, I'm so happy and encouraged to hear that your friend was able to get off her psych drugs. That's wonderful! I hope I can get there one day. I've been on them so long now, they're kind PDA mental crutch for me. There are times that I have tried to lower my dose of this or that (under doc approval) but it never seems to work. I am so sensitive that the tiniest change is a big change for me and that the "withdrawl" feeling scares me back to my normal dose.
But it's definitely a catch 22 because I also believe that some of the meds are triggering me. Ugh. But I also think that I do need some! Lol

BTW, what is serc?
Update...I just looked it up! It's a drug mainly given for vertigo symptoms? Is this a drug used for mast cell disorders? I'd love to hear more about it!

Thank you for being so candid about meds and the struggles some (all??) of us go through regarding mental stability and mast cell disorder. There is such a strong link there. I just wish the doctors understood. I think we can all be tremendously misunderstood:(
As far as psych meds with antihistamine properties, I noticed that when I went on remeron (mirtazapine) I went from being in an active state to having breaks (before having any kind of mast cell diagnosis) turns out it has antihistamine properties, not as good as doxepin, but still pretty good. So picking your docs brain for meds thy can kill two birds with one stone is definitely worth it!!
I wanted to throw this out there (I hope I don't jinx myself ) but after reading a few posts by heather I decided to add a Benadryl dye free capsule to my regiment everyday. I've been doing this for a week and a half now, and Though things have of course not been perfect, it seems to be helping quite a bit!
Makes me wonder about all the other lesser talked about antihistamines out there. Maybe some of the older generation ones? Or maybe even new ones?

LMAO! Kelley, you're hilarious! The stories I could tell!!!......I couldn't agree more! When all this started, I truly thought I was losing my mind! I was scared to death. But once I figured out scented laundry detergent and dryer sheets were triggering panic attacks, and my home home became 100% fragrance free, things got significantly better.
That's interesting to me that February is a bad month for you. It's the same for me. February 2010 (valentines day of course) was the day the walls came crashing down on me. I have never been the same. And every February since I have been very symptomatic. Hmmmm????
As far as Benadryl, I seem to have opposite side effects from drugs. If they traditionally make people sleepy they wire me and vice versa. Makes finding the proper medication very challenging.
But you've got me thinking more about the older generation antihistamines. I'm going to look into it some more. I really think adding the Benadryl has done wonders for me (except for the other night when I was practically sleep walking up to bed and stopped by the kitchen for some of those two bite cinnamon rolls from whole foods.....really bad idea . Cinnamon is one of my biggest triggers) I have banned all cinnamon foods from the house from now on! My poor family! Lol
Apparently, even knowing what it will do to me, I have no self control, especially while half asleep