Idiopathic Anaphylaxis?!

          Today I had an allergist appointment. I was actually super excited about today's appointment because I was looking forward to getting a second opinion on what has been causing all of my anaphylactic reactions as well as getting a pulmonary function test, which I've never had done before. This doctor was beyond amazing. He actually took the time to fully understand all of my symptoms and every reaction that I've had since August. He also took the time to call my current allergist in Nebraska so they could consult while I was in the room. I couldn't have asked for a more thorough appointment. One concern this doctor expressed was my symptoms matched eerily close to a textbook mast cell activation case. So he ordered a blood draw that will show preliminary results for that. I haven't had a chance to look up what mast cell activation actually is, but he said I really didn't need to start worrying about it until we have these blood results back. So hopefully within a week or so we'll know where I stand with that. But, I will cross that bridge when I get there. Right now I have other things to worry about.
     We also did a quick skin prick test for a cinnamon allergy which is what my doctors back in Nebraska kind of linked my reactions to. The skin prick test wasn't nearly as daunting as I expected it to be. They did a positive control test, a negative control, and the cinnamon slurry. I reacted as expected to the positive control test which means it swelled up as well as became extremely itchy. My cinnamon test became red and what looked like hives developed around it but there was no itchiness. So we had to rule this test inconclusive. The doctor told me to try to stay away from it as much as possible, but the cinnamon probably wasn't the root cause of my anaphylactic reactions. So at this point he decided I have idiopathic anaphylaxis which means we don't know exactly what is causing my reactions but I am still having life threatening anaphylactic reactions.
     The plan for now is to wait on the blood draw as he thinks the mast cell activation may be causing my body to give itself anaphylaxis. If that blood draw comes back normal than at that point we will discuss doing further allergen testing. Even though I didn't leave the office with set in stone answers I feel confident that someone is listening to me, how I am feeling, and what I am going through. I think this doctor is definitely on the right track and I am looking forward to working with him more to figure out what is the root cause of all my allergy dilemmas.

With Love,
Elizabeth <3