StridAst

Curious, a lot of people with a mast cell disorder especially mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), have dermatographism. Do you have it, or the symptoms of it? (Wierd allergic type reactions to things you can't have antibodies to. Like stress, sunlight, heat, cold, exercise, chemical smells, etc)

Also, curious does pressing harder when your dermatographism is flaring bad make your marks last longer?

(I have MCAS and dermatographism myself, just curious as to other's experience)

He has played very few. Unless you count his role in ST:TNG supporting the evil federation in their unfair subjugation of so many planets. (Remember, one man's hero, is another man's villain.)

All joking aside, what I would really love to see Patrick Stewart play is an antihero.

Ever looked into mast cell disorders? Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and Mastocytosis both can cause chronic hives, breathing problems, and reactions to sunlight. (Among other things like anaphylaxis). Also odd reactions to medications are common.

More to the point, MCAS is a common comorbid condition with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. (I.e. a lot of people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome have MCAS or sometimes Mastocytosis)

Yep, mostly just curious to compare dermatographism symptoms with someone who doesn't have MCAS. (Hence the need to ask if you had it or not) :)

For me, pressing harder definitely makes it stick around longer. Most of my dermatographia is gone in a half hour or so, but whenever I have a serious MCAS flare it sticks around longer as well. Antihistamines keep it well controlled except during a major MCAS flare-up.

MCAS has two types of diagnostic methods. I did the 24 hour urine test. Had to store all my urine for 24 hours in the container in the fridge. A sample of which is tested for mast cell mediator metabolites. There's also a blood test for tryptase that can be done. They need a baseline, then compare it to tryptase levels taken during a significant flare of symptoms. My doctor wanted to do both types, but I'm pretty much chained to a toilet during my bad flares. So we haven't figured out how to get my blood drawn during a significant one. However my urine test was more than enough to diagnose me.

An allergist or immunologist who either works at a research hopital or clinic is your best bet. But also one who recently graduated from medical school works to. MCAS is only recently discovered about a decade ago, so many allergists know little about it yet. Here in Utah there's the University of Utah hospital's allergy/immunology department, then a couple of random allergists who more recently graduated and set up their own practices.

It's symptoms are nearly identical to the other mast cell disorder type Mastocytosis which has been known about since the 1930s. So you can find a lot more info about Mastocytosis available online. They are a bit different, but still extremely similar.