Broadwaybabyto<p>When I was first diagnosed with MCAS I thought “a condition I can control!”</p><p>I genuinely believed that since there were clear & obvious triggers - I could put in the work, overhaul my life and be free of attacks. </p><p>When a patient plans - mast cells laugh.</p><p>I threw myself into research trying to learn how to adopt a low histamine diet, clean my air and change my body care and cleaning products. </p><p>I (falsely) assumed that if I made enough changes - sacrificed HARD enough - I wouldn’t have to deal with flare ups.</p><p>It was exhausting. Many of the changes DID help. A low histamine diet, cleaner air, a proper med and supplement schedule and non toxic cleaning products all helped to reduce my overall “bucket” so that my symptoms were less severe.</p><p>The problem was - I continued having attacks. From minor attacks to full blown anaphylaxis - no matter how much work I put in the attacks didn’t stop. </p><p>It was incredibly frustrating - and I began tracking everything I ate, used or did in an effort to find patterns. </p><p>In the end I realized that sometimes - there are no answers. “Putting in the work” doesn’t guarantee you won’t have attacks. </p><p>It’s a help - and we should do whatever we can to minimize our symptoms - but chronic illness (and especially MCAS) doesn’t care about your plans.</p><p>I had to learn to let go. Constantly blaming myself, over analyzing every situation and trying to nail down exact triggers was exhausting me. </p><p>It wasn’t helping my physical health and was destroying my mental health </p><p>At a certain point - we have to accept that chronic illness can be wildly unpredictable - and flares are NOT our fault. </p><p>Setbacks happen - and the best thing you can do is give yourself grace and remember that the pain WILL pass.</p><p>This applies to Covid as well. I see far too many people who are covid cautious being blamed for their infections. Being grilled as to what their exact precautions were as people try and exploit a perceived weakness somewhere. </p><p>This isn’t helping.</p><p>If you’re masking and doing everything you can do to avoid covid - you’re doing a great job. If you got infected anyways - that’s the fault of our institutions and governments who’ve allowed the virus to run rampant and encouraged people NOT to take precautions </p><p>Just like we have to let go of trying to find every possible trigger for our chronic illness - we have to let go of the blame when people get infected with Covid. </p><p>Blame, shame and guilt aren’t helping anyone - and they aren’t good for your health. </p><p>To be clear - “letting go” doesn’t have to mean giving up. It doesn’t mean you stop trying to improve your health or stop mitigating for COVID. </p><p>It simply means you stop fighting the reality that you’re sick. You lean IN to the conditions and try and find ways to accommodate</p><p>It’s a difficult thing to do. I’m still having to work at it every single day. But it’s worth making the effort. </p><p>Society, HCWs and even friends & family can be cruel to those with chronic illness - we don’t need to be cruel to ourselves. </p><p>Which brings me to my third and final article in my series on living with MCAS - Learning to Let Go. </p><p>This post explains how I learned to be kinder & gentler with myself and accept that setbacks WILL happen and they’re not my fault:</p><p><a href="https://www.disabledginger.com/p/learning-to-let-go-how-to-accept" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">disabledginger.com/p/learning-</span><span class="invisible">to-let-go-how-to-accept</span></a></p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/CovidIsAirborne" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CovidIsAirborne</span></a> <a href="https://zeroes.ca/tags/CovidCautious" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" 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