Hey everyone,

I know that, of course, the main thing you’ll all be wondering is how I’m doing now.

In general, I don’t discuss my specific symptoms in a lot of detail — even if it’s to share positive news about how they’re improving! That’s because I want to keep my site compatible with neural retraining.

However, I DO want to share my story, and give you some hope! Because it is absolutely possible for things to get better.

So in this post I will talk about some symptoms, but in a positive way.

How am I doing now?

It’s been slightly over two years since I first started on this journey.

• In that time, I’d say my baseline symptoms have been reduced about 80-85%. There are a lot of things I can do now, with no reaction, that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to do again.

• At the same time, I’ve also reduced my medication, ketotifen, by a full 90%.

What have my treatments been?

There were a few major factors in my recovery.

First, as I mentioned previously, I was so lucky to find a really great treatment team, who helped connect me with the treatments that really helped me.

I took (and still take a tiny dose of) ketotifen, which is a mast-cell stabilizing medication. It’s basically a step up from regular over-the-counter antihistamines, in terms of its ability to stabilize mast cells. For me, it actually had way fewer side effects, so it really worked out.

Although I hope to eventually take no medication, for me it was extremely helpful to have it when I was going through the worst of it, and to taper down over time.

Changing the brain

One of the most important facets of my recovery has also been to change what my brain was doing. This may sound kind of far-fetched at first, but it turns out that the activity of the brain and nervous system can actually play a huge role in determining mast cell activity.

The Dynamic Neural Retraining System was a big part of this for me. However, there are really multiple ways to reach this end goal and help move your brain into a healthier state.

For some people, it may be neural retraining. For others, it may be things like meditation or therapy.

In fact, Dr. Castells told me she asks all of her mast cell patients to work with a therapist, because that is how important the mind-body connection is.

Lifestyle changes

I also implemented every single one of the lifestyle changes my doctors recommended to me, such as diversifying my diet and exercising regularly.

The “histamine bucket”

Overall, I paid attention to the concept of the “histamine bucket.” This basically refers to the idea that, with mast cell activation, we have to look at the overall picture.

Ultimately, it may not be any one thing that causes a flare-up, but a combination of factors. So it’s important to be mindful of that bigger picture, and try to space things out that may be difficult for you.

Essentially, be kind to yourself, and know that it’s okay to do things at your own pace.

These have really been the cornerstones of my recovery.

I am so grateful to have found the people and treatments who helped me, so soon into my journey. Of course, it felt like an eternity at the time, but I can look back now and see how lucky I was!

I dreamed that someday I’d be one of the people sharing my success stories and giving others hope.

There are still things I’m working towards, but I feel really good about how far I’ve gotten. Most days, I feel like I’m living a totally normal life!

If you’re wondering if things can get better for you, too, they absolutely can!