Tag: food sensitivity

Epic Pursuits – Domestic Travel Before and During Retirement

In the previous post I discussed my epic pursuits before and during retirement.  This discussion covered research/writing, tennis/ pickleball, social networking and overseas travel.  I explained that overseas travel was now beyond me not only because of the rigours and length of overseas flights from Australia but also the fragility of my back (with osteoporosis and multi-level disc degeneration).  Another impediment is food allergy/sensitivity brought on by my MCAS chronic illness.

Domestic travel related to study

While I was born in Victoria, I moved to the warmer climate of Brisbane with my family when I was about 5 years old (owing to four siblings having asthma).  I undertook my schooling in Brisbane and matriculated in 1963.

Residing in Sydney and Melbourne

I joined the Carmelite Order in 1964, residing during this first year in Old Toongabbie, Sydney (later known as Winston Hills).  The dairy-farm based Novitiate provided a range of experiences including study and working on the farm.  The latter included clearing Lantana and building barbed-wire fences to house the cows in paddocks.

Following this first year, I then progressed to the Whitefriars Monastery in Donvale, Victoria where I undertook my studies of philosophy and theology.  During my four full-time years in the seminary I studied extensively and successfully, worked on the dairy farm, maintained the accounts of the seminary and enjoyed a range of sports including tennis, weight-lifting and social Australian Rules (played against local parishes and colleges).

At the end of each year, we would spend 4 weeks at the college’s holiday house at Portsea on the Mornington Peninsula.  While we were there we swam daily in the Bay, played badminton and enjoyed walks to Sorrento.  We were also able to play golf frequently at the stunning Portsea golf course with views over Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait. 

I was in Portsea in 1967 when Harold Holt, Prime Minster of Australia disappeared from Cheviot beach while swimming in a turbulent inlet surrounded by rocks.  I recall the helicopters and sirens on the day of his disappearance – the quietness and calm of this bayside/seaside location was punctuated by the frantic search for the Prime Minister.

Domestic travel while working for the Australian Taxation Office

After leaving Whitefriars Monastery and the Carmelite Order in 1969, I returned to live in Brisbane where I joined the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as a base grade clerk, rising to Senior Executive level over the 13 years while I was employed by the organisation.  One of my more memorable work-related, domestic trips was to Leura in the Blue Mountains where I spent 2 weeks participating in a national executive training program organised by the ATO. 

During my work in the ATO, I was heavily involved in computer systems design and implementation, auditing and fraud detection.  My associated travel included  6 weeks at Centrepoint in Sydney,  a week at Scarborough Beach in Perth (national system design workshop) and 3 months working in Canberra.  I would also take monthly trips to Canberra while working on several national projects associated with the design of the Central Taxation System (CTS) and security of the central computer installation.  In the final stages of my involvement in systems design, I travelled to Adelaide to assist with conversion of the South Australian Office of the ATO to the new Central Taxation System (CTS).

Travel associated with my roles in developing action learning and action research

After working in the Australian Taxation Office, I joined Griffith University as a Lecturer in Human Resource Management  and Organisational Behaviour.  Associated with this role was my time as President of the Action Learning and Action Research Association and my international travel as well as occasional trips to Sydney and Hobart.

Domestic travel in a National TAFE role

Following my resignation from Griffith University in 1999, I worked on a consultancy basis for four years (2001-2004) as National Change Manager for the conversion of TAFE (Technical and Further Education Colleges) in Australia to online learning and teaching.  My role entailed assisting 8-10 Senior TAFE managers each year to develop a whole-of-organisation change management plan to enable the design and implementation of online learning and teaching. This work took me to conferences and workshops in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Manager development consultancy

After working fulltime in our own Human Resource Consulting business based in Brisbane (2005-2006), I joined Julie Cork on a Consulting basis.  During our extensive collaboration over 17 years (2007-2023), we co-facilitated action learning-based, longitudinal (3-6 months), manager development programs for managers in the Queensland Public Service and the Not-For-Profit Sector.  These workshops took us from Roma (far West) to Cairns (far North).  Our travels throughout Queensland included conducting programs in Toowoomba, Ipswich, Marburg, Caboolture, Mooloolaba, Gold Coast, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Bundaberg, Emerald and Townsville.

Freelance academic

In 1985, I had also joined the Gibran Management Centre (later the Australian Institute of Business – AIB) as an adjunct academic/Professor.  This entailed roles in course design, and student assessments, Academic Board member, supervisor and examiner of postgraduate theses, supporting ongoing accreditation under the Australian Qualifications Framework and Chair of the Research and Higher Degrees Committee.  This varied work in an adjunct capacity (undertaken over 32 years) involved multiple trips each year to Adelaide and resulted in the award of Emeritus Professor following my resignation in 2017. 

Over several years, I worked as an Associate Professor (in an adjunct capacity) for the International Management Center (UK), conducting action learning based programs in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Port Moresby (New Guinea).  I also had a role as an Associate Professor with the Southern Cross University which took me to Lismore, new South Wales on several occasions. 

Non-work based domestic travel

For the purposes of ease of discussion here I have included New Zealand travel as domestic travel (flight time from Brisbane to Auckland is 3 hours, 15 minutes; whereas flight time to Perth is 5 hours, 20 minutes).  My family and I have travelled to New Zealand on two occasions taking in Auckland, Rotorua, Queenstown, Kaikoura, and the Bay of Islands (where we enjoyed a stunning kayak adventure).

Over the forty years of our marriage, my wife and I have managed multiple trips to Sydney and Melbourne and over the last few years visited Perth and the Margaret River region,  the Blue Mountains (Katoomba), Canberra, Tasmania (Hobart, Bruny Island, Launceston and Freycinet National Park – incorporating Wineglass Bay).

My travel goals during retirement are now focused on the following:

Reflection

While I miss the opportunity to travel overseas, I can reflect very positively on my numerous travel experiences within Australia, on both a work and non-work basis.  I was very fortunate to have these opportunities and the support that they involved.  I look back now and appreciate what I have been able to achieve and look forward to further domestic travel in my retirement years.

As I grow in mindfulness through several mindfulness practices I undertake,  I have a strong sense of gratitude and clearer insight into what has helped me to achieve my goals in life.  Mindfulness practices like Tai Chi can not only provide clarity and understanding but also build the physical strength and resilience to continue my travel and pickleball pursuits.

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Image by Julian Hacker from Pixabay

By Ron Passfield – Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives)

Disclosure: If you purchase a product through this site, I may earn a commission which will help to pay for the site, the associated Meetup group, and the resources to support the blog.

Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Covid-19: The Invisible Link

There has been a lot written lately about Long Covid and its differential impacts on individual’s health.  More recently research has highlighted a connection between Covid-19 and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.  It is important at the outset to reinforce the need to consult a medical practitioner for treatment of individual health symptoms.  We can too easily make assumptions about what is occurring for us if we go it alone.   For example, I assumed that my numb feet were the result of peripheral neuropathy caused by Long Covid.  When I consulted my medical practitioner, I  discovered, through the X-Ray that he requested, that my assumption was wrong – the actual problem was multi-level spinal degeneration.   However, it is important to consult practitioners who are open to multiple explanations of chronic symptoms, such as those induced by allergies and food sensitivities.  Often, this may involve a medical practitioner who has a holistic perspective and/or is  qualified in functional medicine.

I recently participated in a Creative Meetup conducted by Health Story Collaborative.  During the meeting, Diane Kane responded to a discussion by a number of participants who were experiencing Long Covid symptoms such as loss of sense of smell, brain fog, and allergies.  When I mentioned my ongoing battle with food sensitivities and allergies, Diane shared some information about Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).  She explained that her website is a research hub for MCAS.  On the website, Diane shares her own extended patient story as well as research resources including a video presentation on MCAS by Dr. Larence B. Alfin, author of Never Bet Against Occam: Mast Cell Activation Disease and the Modern Epidemics of Chronic Illness and Medical Complexity.

What is Mast Cell Activation Syndrome?

Dr. Kelly McCann in a video podcast interview explains that mast cells are a key part of our normal immune system.  Their role is to watch for invaders that would cause injury to our bodies.  They reside everywhere in our bodies from our head to our feet, and typically live in areas of our body that are at our interface with the environment, e.g. our skin, our blood vessels and our nerves.

Mast cells are responsible for delivering chemical messengers, called “mediators”, such as cytokine and histamine, that produce an inflammatory response to the perceived invader, e.g. a virus, environmental chemicals, mold, or the flu.  Kelly points out that research has shown that mast cells play a major role in the “cytokine storm” that causes an inflammatory response to Covid-19.  If the “foreign invader” is overcome (e.g. we recover from Covid or the flu), “everything quiets back down again” and ‘inflammation goes away”.

However, for some people mast cells become over-active, “hyper-vigilant” and hyper-responsive” – a condition identified as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).  What happens then is that our body “misperceives things”, some of which are actually good for us, e.g. healthy foods.  Hence, we can end up with food sensitivities and allergies (to things like smells, chemicals and some foods).  Kelly makes the point that because of the pervasiveness of mast cells in our body, “anything in our body could present as a mass cell activation symptom”, e.g. brain fog.

Kelly explains that Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is “a spectrum” – ranging from mild to extreme.  A key feature of MACS is that over time, without intervention, there will be an “escalation in the inflammatory or allergic symptoms” of an individual.  The inflammatory response can be exacerbated by what Kelly calls “hits”, e.g. a virus, sustained exposure to mould, or a tick bite (leading to Lyme Disease).  For example, the progression of mast cell activation syndrome could be signalled by the worsening of food sensitivities for an individual.    

Diane’s personal health story

Diane created her website as a means of education and advocacy about the independent science research being conducted on mast cell activation syndrome.  Her own story is really about the extreme end of the spectrum of MCAS and is one of resilience, persistence and hope – a great source of inspiration for anyone experiencing MCAS symptoms.  Diane’s multi-dimensional health problems persisted over 46 years.  Despite visiting 80 consulting doctors and undergoing “extensive evaluations” at 15 major hospitals and suffering multiple anaphylaxis attacks over 20 years, she was not diagnosed with MCAS until 2017 when she visited Dr. Ali Rezale of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. 

Dr. Rezale and Dr. Alfin are working with Diane to improve her health overall.  In the meantime, Diane is working on writing a book titled, The MCAS and Covid-19 Theory: A Multidimensional Epigenetic Phenomenon.   As an experienced medical researcher and author who suffered long-term symptoms of MCAS, she is well-qualified to document her story and the growing body of relevant scientific research.  Diane provides draft copies of early chapters of her book on her advocacy website. 

My health story

I have experienced multiple “hits” as described by Dr. Kelly McCann.  Having had asthma as a child, I am prone to respiratory problems and allergic reactions.  While I overcame the asthma by the time I was 12 years old, since then I have contracted pneumonia three times, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) three times and Covid-19 in 2021.   In 2017, I experienced major eczema covering my whole body, following 8-weeks of intensive antibiotics to heal an infected leg (resulting from an operation to remove a melanoma).   Since then I have experienced continuous food sensitivities and allergy which are increasing in breadth and depth to the point that there are very limited things I can eat or drink without negative side effects. 

Dr. Kelly McCann explains that there are two things going on with MCAS – a trigger(s) and reaction(s).  Both need to be addressed.  In terms of food triggers, I can relate to Dr. Kelly McCann’s comment that she was gluten-free, dairy-free and unable to eat a long list of foods.  As Kelly suggests in her presentation, I have been undertaking an elimination process trying to identify specific foods (especially those high in histamine or salicylates) that cause aggravation of my symptoms so that I can remove them from my diet. 

In regard to reactions, Kelly argues that there is a need to dampen the hyperactivity of the immune response.  My naturopath, Dr. Mark Shoring, agrees with a tentative diagnosis of MCAS in my case, and recommended initially a course in Chinese skullcap (Scutellaria baicalensis), a herb identified by Mt Sinai Health System in New York as being “used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat allergies, infections, inflammation, cancer, and headaches”.  This treatment, along with Turmeric, is designed to dampen down my hyperactive immune response. So, my somatic strategies, at the moment, include identifying and eliminating aggravating foods and drinks while simultaneously calming the inflammatory response of my immune system.

Mind-body connection and healing practices

Kelly maintains that she experiences the influence of the mind-body connection everyday in her clinic when working with patients.   She points out that the impact of mind-body connections is developed through our early family and developmental experiences.  Unfortunately, we are often prone to misperceive these experiences or develop false beliefs that lead to emotional problems such as low self-esteem and emotional dysregulation.  She argues that we have to envisage the health challenge confronting people with MCAS in terms of a three-legged stool – Mast Cell Activation, Limbic System Activation (our emotional centre) and Vagus Nerve Dysfunction (the main nerves of the parasympathetic nervous system).

Kelly mentions a number of practices that can help retrain the limbic system to get our “mental/emotional loops” and habituated behaviour under control, e.g. Dynamic Neural Retraining System, the Gupta Program and Cathleen King’s Primal Trust Program.

Vagus Nerve Dysfunction can lead to people with MCAS becoming stuck in fight/flight/freeze behaviour which can impede healing.  Kelly maintains that the approach required here is stimulation of the vagus nerve to help people to get “back into parasympathetic rest and digest”.  She suggests approaches to achieve restoration of balance, e.g. breathing exercises, meditation and devices such as EmWave, HeartMath and Rezzimax.  Kelly mentioned that she uses mind-body techniques in her clinical practice when the person she is treating is receptive to these approaches.

Reflection

I think it is important to remember that MCAS impacts each individual differently.  The impacts are influenced by our biology and the number and severity of what Kelly calls “hits”.   There are so many confounding variables involved that self-diagnosis is likely to mislead us.  However, this should not stop us from being proactive, e.g. identifying and reducing or eliminating our triggers.  Actively seeking to grow in mindfulness can help us to stimulate the vagus nerve, activate our relaxation response and overcome negative thoughts.

Reading about Diane’s experience prompted me to revisit my naturopath and discuss his diagnosis of my food sensitivity and allergy experience.  He explained that his recommended treatment approach was based on the assumption that I was experiencing MCAS.

During one of my Creative Meetups, also attended by Diane, we listened to a reading of William Stafford’s poem, The Way It Is.  Listening to this poem and the subsequent discussion in the Meetup group prompted me to write a poem about my food sensitivities and allergy:

The Inflammatory Thread in My Life

There are many things I can’t eat
fruit, gluten, dairy and red meat.
I feel left out that I can’t share
even with delicious family fare.
I crave something sweet
but the cost is too steep.
Hives and rashes make me really itchy
legs and feet are shamefully icky.
Wine is off the table, not that I am unable
it’s the swollen ankle, that renders me unstable.
The endless cycle of elimination
to discover the source of inflammation.
It’s harder to share a meal with my wife
what I’ve done for forty years of my life.
Covid-19 has a long arm
it’s still doing me harm.
Almond croissants are my passion
a loss of consciousness my reaction.
Butter was a food sensitivity
It’s now a dangerous allergy.
Food and drink are tainted rewards
a mindset change to move forward.
It’s a long journey with a clear destination
It takes patience, perseverance and dedication.

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This post is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to replace personal medical advice provided by a trained medical practitioner.  Please seek advice from a qualified professional before deciding on treatments for yourself or other members of your family.

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Image by Ingo Jakubke from Pixabay

By Ron Passfield – Copyright (Creative Commons license, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives)

Disclosure: If you purchase a product through this site, I may earn a commission which will help to pay for the site and the resources to support the blog.