r/AskReddit 12h ago

What's the sickest you've ever been in your life?

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u/orange_bigcat 9h ago

I have a condition (mast cell activation syndrome) where this happens all the time.

One time I was out eating sushi and had an anaphylactic reaction to prawns. I’d eaten prawns 2 days prior and was fine. Then a few months later, I accidentally ate prawns again, and had no reaction. So at any given time, I could develop a new allergy for a day or two, and then it could go away 🙃

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u/tournamentdecides 9h ago

MCAS seems especially bad because of the mental block it creates around consuming anything or putting anything on your skin or just existing. Everyone I have interacted with who has it seems to really struggle.

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u/Straight-Balance830 4h ago

Allergy Russian roulette fr fr

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u/kathyface11 8h ago

I have mcas too and it’s mainly trigged by medications and not food thankfully. But it’s a gamble every time I take a med, I can be allergic to something one day, then not allergic the next.🤷‍♀️

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u/Chobitpersocom 8h ago

I hate MCAS. How do I know what's got my histamine all up in a flare now? Will I need my inhaler or is it just itching this time?

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u/Miserable_Skin9738 8h ago

My best friend has this!!!!!!! SO SCARY! She was working out at the gym and randomly had an anaphylactic reaction. It’s to random things so she can’t anticipate it. Never seen someone so sick in my life

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u/Leading-System-3002 8h ago

Some people are allergic to exercise!

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u/AlexeiMarie 6h ago

also even more convoluted, some people have food-dependant exercise-induced anaphylaxis, which is basically "you can eat that food or you can exercise but if you do both you might die"

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10606284/

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u/rubys_arms 6h ago

My best friend too! She once walked into the kitchen at work and BAM, anaphylaxis. She still doesn’t know why

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u/HumorPsychological60 8h ago

Just in case you wanted some hope I had pretty severe MCAS but after 3 years of working incredibly hard on my gut health and nervous system I can eat anything I want again! Today was my unhealthiest day ever, I had pizza, pastry, sweets and chocolate (and some veg in the midst of it all). Gluten and cheese have been the biggest wins to me tho. Never thought I'd get those back.

Still have an epi pen just in case

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u/sacredblasphemies 6h ago

Out of curiosity, how do you "work on your gut health and nervous system"? Is it just eating high-fiber foods/whole foods? Fermented foods?

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u/ladysnaffulepoof 4h ago

Were you diagnosed? Are you on medication for it? Because sure, working on gut health def helps and… it doesn’t just go away. Even secondary MCAS. Please don’t give people false hope. Most people with MCAS can never have this full a recovery without proper medication.

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u/procrastinatorsuprem 7h ago

I have that. I'm allergic to wine and alcohol and have reactions to cutting fruits and vegetables sometimes. Fun times.

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u/blondechcky 7h ago

I’ve been reading about this because I’ve had allergies that have come on randomly and stopped randomly my whole life. But I don’t fit all the other symptoms.

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u/Electronic_Land3776 6h ago

Wait, wait. That's an MCAS thing? I don't have MCAS but I've been diagnosed with "MCAS like symptoms," basically I don't meet all the diagnostic criteria but still exhibit enough symptoms to be notable. I haven't developed random allergies for just a day or two but I've got allergies to various scents that seem to fluctuate day to day, luckily the reaction isn't strong but if it's MCAS related I'm gonna frickin lose it. I swear to god every day I learn that another thing I thought was just a quirk in my body is related to one of the several disorders I've got

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u/comma_space_erase 8h ago

Dude, yikes.

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u/2woCrazeeBoys 5h ago

I just commented that I had a weird severe reaction to prawns! Never before or since!!

I'll be looking that up now, thanks 👍

Touch wood, I've never had it happen any other time but it scared the hell out of me.

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u/Hourglass316 4h ago

I have this and have been in the hospital like 6-7 times in the last year for anaphylaxis. The worst part is I react to anything going in through an IV, even the needle itself causes my arm to swell up real bad. They are really limited on what they can give me too help. I eat nothing but plain white rice, one brand of frozen broccoli, plain baked potato and plain baked chicken.

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u/V65Pilot 4h ago

Sometimes it's something specific, maybe a spice, or the packaging. I'm currently in the hospital and had an allergic reaction to the chocolate pudding. It was mild, so I'm assuming it was an ingredient. My palms, tops of my feet, behind my knees and butt cheeks all got itchy, which is my bodies early warning system. By the time they got a dose approved, my body has worked it through...

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u/Correct-One7382 2h ago

Hello!! I am in this club too. And forever terrified of purple carrot (I think it was called that) meal boxes. Although I don't get severe anaphalactic shock, I just get bloating, bad back pain, difficulty breathing, occasional fainting, can't eat for days etc. Do you get anaphalaxis?