u/Alittlelessunusual

I started showing signs of having messed up sleep in around 5th grade. I started not wanting to go to school, and it wasn’t because I hated school, it was because I was tired. I physically could not get up in the early mornings because I felt like I was so tired I could pass out. And if I did manage to get up, it would take more than 2 hours of being awake for me to actually feel semi decent. Sometimes it would take 4+ hours of me just concentrating on being awake so hard that I couldn’t really think about anything else.

I got shoved into therapy to solve my “behavioral issues” regarding skipping school. My parents would scream at me, quite often in fact because I couldn’t get up at 6-7am in time for school. My childhood was filled with arguments almost daily about my attendance, but not once did my parents ever think to consider that something might be wrong with me and that it’s not normal for a child to be this tired all the time.

At the age of 24 I was finally diagnosed, and did chronotherapy (yes I now know that it’s not the best treatment method and can actually be dangerous) but after one week of doing it, I have seen around a 70% improvement in my sleep cycle. All it took was ONE WEEK of trying something new and I’m living life semi normally.

So how am I supposed to forgive my parents for putting me through hell as a kid? All the arguments we had honestly caused a lot of trauma and deep set emotional issues I’m still struggling to deal with. I resent them so much for not getting me help sooner when I wasn’t old enough to do it myself, because my life up until I was treated for DSPD was filled with lots of awful moments of me letting everybody down (work, school, friends, family) because I physically could not keep a normal schedule. Anyways I want to know if anyone relates to this experience and if you do, how did you overcome your anger?

Hi! I’m in esthetician school and due to graduate in January and am very curious about the estheticians license of other states in the US or if people live in other countries about the license over there was well. The state I live in has pretty strict and specific requirements about the scope of practices for basic estheticians so I’m interested in hearing about other states/places!

Here in Virginia where I live we have two licenses. Basics and Master. Both require 600 hours of education for each license. With a basic license in Virginia, we are only allowed to do the following services:
• Waxing
• Makeup
• Using simple machines (skin vacuum, galvanic machine, high frequency)
• Brow lamination + tint
• Lash lift + tint
• lash extentions
• Basic facials/body treatments

In order to do anything else like chemical peels, dermaplaning, microdermabrasion and more you would have to have a masters license. Also you are not allowed to microneedle with a basic OR masters estheticians license in Virginia. You would have to be a RN, NP, PA or more. And to do any laser treatments you can only perform them under the training of a PA or advanced nurse.

I’m 25 and have been struggling with chronic illness since I was 20. I have Hashimoto’s, IST, PCOS, sleep apnea, delayed sleep phase disorder, idiopathic hypersomnia, and the list goes on.

I deal with very scary symptoms multiple times a month, and other minor symptoms daily. Every time I get in my flare ups where I experience the bad symptoms, I physically cannot differentiate it from having a serious episode like a heart attack, pulmonary embolism ect. Or just my usual pain. That’s how bad it feels.

Every time I go to the ER they never find ANYTHING. And so I really try not to go. And around 80% of the time I don’t. But that 20% I just feel so bad and so scared I end up going, just to waste $450 on the ER bill for no reason. Even though I know it’s most likely nothing, I still feel so scared that maybe this is the one time where it actually is a serious issue.

So here I am, back in the waiting room of the ER totally regretting my decision. Guarantee it will end up like it always does, me getting all these tests and IVs only to find nothing and get stuck with a massive bill.

If any of you deal with incidences like this I’m sure you’ll know the frustrations of never finding answers.

IM SO HAPPY! After seeing two doctors who claimed they knew about MCAS and in reality were total quacks who only had super outdated treatment methods, I finally found a doctor who is actually knowledgeable on the condition.

I made another post asking about medications many people with MCAS are on and was prepared to bring up the list to my doctor but I didn’t end up having to because he brought them all up without me asking!

I’m going to be doing more testing which consists of another tryptase test, 24 hour urine collection bucket, and a CBC.

He also diagnosed me with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria which I didn’t even know I had. So I might have MCAS on top of that but he’s re testing me for MCAS to make sure.

I’m starting on Zyrtec twice a day and cromolyn, then we will be trying a medication called Rhapsido! Im so so happy and hopefully will get some relief soon.

Hello MCAS buddies!
So I have an appointment coming up with another doctor who “supposedly” knows how to treat MCAS. The first two doctors I saw were not educated enough on the condition, so I’m really hoping this person is.

I’ve had a few people mention to me in the comment section of some of my other posts certain MCAS medications that worked for them. They are:

• Cromolyn Sodium
• Ketotifen
• Xolair shots

Have you tried any of these? And if so has it helped you? I’m going to bring them up to my doctor and was curious about other people’s personal experiences with these medications. If you have any other medications you think would be worth bringing up to my doctor comment them down below!

It finally happened. A moment I thought would never come.
I can no longer use my regular mint toothpaste and mouthwash 😭

I honestly have not reacted to mint before so either I’m just reacting because I’m in a flare up or I will no longer be able to use mint products again permanently.

I used my mouthwash yesterday and it was awful. My throat was tingling and burning and felt hot, I felt so faint like I could’ve passed out, my heart was beating so fast, it was terrible. Thankfully it went away after taking an antihistamine, but man.

I also have been having reactions to my toothpaste. Similar tingling and burning, especially when it gets on the outside of my mouth.

Here’s what I was using before:
• ACT Anticavity Fluoride Mouthwash
• Parodontax Complete Protection Toothepaste

And here’s what I bought at CVS to try today:
• ACT Kids Pure Protect Simply Strawberry Mouthwash (free of dyes, sugars and alcohol)
• Hello Magical Mermaid Fluoride Toothpaste For Kids in Orange Dreamsicle flavor (free of dyes, artificial sweeteners and SLS)

If you also react to toothpaste, what do you use?

Hello fellow MCAS buddies!

So I figure there’s a fair bit of people out there with MCAS who suffer with finding the right beauty products that are MCAS safe. As an esthetician student I’m going to give some tips to help you find products that suit your skin. If you are curious about MCAS safe skincare products let me know in the comments and I can mention some that have worked for me!

Fragrance-Free: if you see this on a label it means it had no added fragrance. It can still have certain ingredients that are not MCAS safe.

Unscented: If a product says it’s unscented, this means it can actually still have fragrance in it in order to mask the scent of the original product smell.

Ingredients to be cautious with if you have MCAS:

Limonene – A fragrant citrus compound that can activate mast cells or irritate sensitive skin, especially after oxidation.
Pinene – A terpene found in pine and herbs that may trigger mast cell reactions in fragrance-sensitive individuals.
Linalool – A fragrance ingredient that becomes more irritating as it oxidizes and may provoke MCAS symptoms.
Yuzu and other citrus extracts/oils – Citrus essential oils contain fragrant compounds that can trigger mast cell activation in sensitive people.
Tea tree oil – An essential oil that can irritate the skin and trigger mast cell reactions in some individuals.
Lavender oil – A fragrant essential oil that may trigger skin irritation or mast cell activation in sensitive people.
Citral – A citrus fragrance allergen that can irritate the skin and provoke reactions in fragrance-sensitive individuals.
Coumarin – A fragrance compound that can act as a contact allergen and may trigger MCAS symptoms.
Eugenol – A clove-derived fragrance allergen that can irritate the skin and trigger mast cell activation in some people.
Alcohol denat. – Can disrupt the skin barrier and increase irritation, making mast cell reactions more likely in sensitive skin

I have a trio of terrible sleep disorders: Idiopathic hypersomnia, DSPD, and sleep apnea.

I thankfully am being treated for sleep apnea and have a CPAP but it still affects my sleep.

Almost every day I wake utterly exhausted and take 2+ hours to feel semi awake. And even after feeling semi-awake, I’m still sleepy all day because my body just feels so tired no matter how much sleep I get.

I finally adjusted my sleep schedule so I could do morning shifts that were required for my job, but my body isn’t used to being awake during the day so I still am so so so tired.

Ever since I got long covid in 2022, I haven’t had a single day where I’ve felt truly rested. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Hello fellow MCAS buddies!

So I’m currently seeing a new doctor, he was one of the only doctors in the area who seemed to even know what MCAS was. When I was there he told me that I should get on allergy shots because it will improve my resistance to allergens which will improve my MCAS. This is where they inject me with things I’m already allergic to, and the last time I had them done I felt so dizzy and had to lie down.

Has anyone else been given this advice? He also didn’t seem to know or mention any medications that are mast cell stabilizers like cromolyn or other meds, just prescribed me an antihistamine and was very vague on how long I can be on it. Are any of you on anti histamines permanently?

If you have meds that work for you pls mention them below and I’d love to bring them up to my doctor.

Hello esthies!!

I’m in esthetician school right now and am trying to explore more professional skincare brands, not just my for my own skin but brands I would be confident recommending to my clients in the future.

If you have a brand that works well for your skin or for your clients skin, please share them below!

Personally for me, I have very sensitive skin and a lot of allergies so sadly a lot of skincare products in general don’t work for me due to them containing essential oils, fragrances, denatured alcohol, ect. So if you know any brands who don’t have too much of that in their products I’d love to know!

It’s actually a joke how ridiculous this condition is.

I was at work today and my manager was cleaning something and took some Clorox wipes out and left them on the front desk once she was done using them (I work front desk and she took them out of the container and didn’t throw them away after).

I start smelling the Clorox and get nauseous so I take a paper towel and use it to grab the wipes (bc god forbid I touch it with my BARE HANDS and risk a reaction) and put them in the trash can under the desk. It was maybe all of 2-3 wipes.

Then 30 minutes goes by and I start coughing. I think maybe my throat just tickles and it will go away soon. Nope. I start coughing more and more. I can’t go 10 seconds without coughing. I’m actually coughing up stuff and my throat tickles so so bad. I think I’ve randomly gotten some virus that kicked in super fast. And then I think about it some more, and just to test it I take the trash can that holds the wipes and move it to the other side of the room.

Within 10 minutes I completely stop coughing. I had an MCAS reaction just from being within a 5 foot radius of a trash can with 2 CLOROX WIPES THAT I DIDNT EVEN TOUCH 😭 what a joke.

Hello fellow esthies!

So I’m about halfway through esthetician school and am debating on whether or not I want to get my masters license. In the state I live in we have a basic program and a masters program.

The thing is for me, I don’t plan on being an esthetician for the rest of my future. I very much want to be a business owner by running a business related to skincare like owning a medspa or other things, so I’m only going to be working as an esthetician for as long as I need to until I’m making enough profit from my business to do that full time.

But since I want to start a business I figure it would be good to be as educated as I can. To those who ended up doing your masters (if your state has a masters program), how much more would you say you know about skin/skincare after graduating?

Is it like a crazy difference? Do you think I could learn similar things on my own? Do you think it’s worth it if I’m not technically going to be working directly as an esthetician? Any advice would be appreciated🩷

I have a lot of perfumes. Like probably over 50. I’ve been collecting them since high school (I’m 24 now) and today I admitted defeat and have decided to sell every single one of them.

Perfume is one of my biggest triggers. Before I knew that I had MCAS, I went to the mall trying on perfumes and later that night I had to go to the ER because I developed a pre anaphylactic allergic reaction that would’ve been bad if I hadn’t gotten IV antihistamines.

Ever since then I haven’t really touched them. I tried wearing a small amount a couple times but I would always get super itchy and not feel well so I eventually gave up. I was hoping that one day after getting a diagnosis and treatment that I would be able to wear them again, but I’ve had no luck.

My MCAS has significantly gotten worse. I now am reacting to so many more of my beauty products, even the wrong serum or sunscreen can cause my lungs to start burning all day. I also have asthma so my MCAS makes my asthma way worse.

I’m honestly devastated. These perfumes all remind me of my childhood since some of them I’ve had since elementary school, but I can no longer even smell them occasionally without risking a reaction.

Anyways I just wanted to post here because I think this sub is the only one that would understand the pain of having to cut so many things out of your life due to chronic illness.