Yearly Diarrhea - MCAS? Anyone Else?

Hi there, folks.

Every year for the past four years, in late September or early October, I go from feeling okay to feeling like garbage. Usually it starts suddenly with a few days of persistent diarrhea. It includes nausea, cramping, soreness, and sometimes weeks of rumbling. I get tired and have headaches, but that might just be from lack of calories and dehydration.

Stool tests (including the fancy ones) and endoscopies reveal nothing. Blood work revealed extremely high eosinophils last year (the type of white blood cells that are elevated with MCAS, allergies, and parasites) and they stabilized by November.

I have MCAS, but typically it does not present as diarrhea. I understand that triggers can accumulate, though, and cause a larger flare than normal. That said, my strongest MCAS symptom usually is brain fog, and I am not experiencing that.

For those with mold issues, does diarrhea come on suddenly from exposure to seasonal outdoor mold? And then produce no other symptoms? I didn't have any particular exposure, like engaging with a brush pile, frolicking in a hay bale maze, etc. Just existed in my house.

For those with IBS or IBD, is there any way that I could have IBS or IBD but only once per year, and at the exact same time of year? Does this strange pattern also rule out Candida and parasites? I genuinely do no have diarrhea ever, not even close, except this multi-day extravaganza each fall.

This is SO WEIRD. I cannot figure it out. I thought it was certainly MCAS after last year's eosinophil testing, and that better MCAS management would prevent it from getting as intense as it has in the past, and eventually keep it from happening altogether. I'd felt a little tired and foggy off and on this month, slight digestive discomfort here and there, and I was hoping that would be the end of it.

Anyone have other theories for me? Unraveling the compounding factors with Lyme can feel so Sisyphean. I'm in a very demoralized place right now.

I agree! Every little bit matters with MCAS (and so many things) because triggers accumulate. I also force my family to keep windows closed, shower after being outside, run air purifiers, etc. I have not been outside without an N95 mask in a month. I really thought I'd be okay this year. Grr.

I love where I live, and I am fairly sure that my house is safe inside from molds. But I am a gardener, and I love being outside, so I suppose I have to find some way around this. I will work harder on decolonizing mold, Candida, and other fungi that might be growing internally. I will eat plenty of prebiotics, and take more probiotic supplements. I will pay special attention to my limbic system in the summer and fall to help prevent my system from over-reacting. I will take more than the usual amount of quercetin and be extra careful about dietary histamines next September. I will take a low dose of cromolyn sodium preventively. I feel like this plan should work if the problem is outdoor mold. (I know that people typically don't react to outdoor mold, but I think some of us do once we are overly-sensitive. Sounds like a few on this forum agree.)

Sounds like you live someplace pretty, Zimica.

Thanks for the replies, all.