Allergic To Everything: Woman With Mast Cell Disease Gets Diagnosed After A Lifetime Of Allergic Reactions

Brynn Duncan didn’t know why she was allergic to everything. But the 21-year-old who was sick with what she calls “bizarre medical problems for the better part of her teenage years” has finally been properly diagnosed.

"After seven years of searching for answers, I was diagnosed with Mast Cell Disease and POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) in 2012," Duncan wrote in her personal blog titled Brynn’s Bubble.

Mast Cell Disease, also known as Mastocytosis, occurs when the body is flooded with too many mast cells, which are located in the lymph nodes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. They play an intrinsic part of the immune system, helping to defend tissues from disease by releasing chemical “alarms,” such as histamines and cytokines. While it may sound better to have more alarms, when there are too many, there are also too many signals. This leads to the symptoms of allergic reactions, like flushed skin, itching, abdominal cramps, and, in some cases, shock, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and ulcers.

She experiences such severe allergic reactions to seemingly nonsensical triggers that she’s been put on a feeding tube for nutrition and receives Benadryl through an intravenous pump around the clock. Her blood pressure drops and heart rate skyrockets at the slightest change of position, making walking difficult.

“In just 365 days I have endured multiple surgeries, spent months in the ICU, learned how to walk with leg braces. I’ve been through four different central lines, I became one of the first patients in the country to be placed on a constant IV Benadryl pump, went through four different types of feeding tubes, added another diagnosis to the list, and became the comeback girl,” Duncan wrote.

Once bound to a wheelchair, Duncan was unable to stand for a few minutes at a time without getting dizzy, stand without assistance, or walk without leg braces. Today, because of a laundry list of treatments, surgeries, and various procedures, she’s able to walk up stairs. She’s grateful to have seen her 21st birthday, and values time spent with friends.

“I tell my friends that I love them every chance I get because in the back of my mind I always ask myself if I would be happy with my words if they were to be the last words to a dear friend," she wrote.