I have chronic stress but my testosterone is high/normal. I think it's more likely stress is causing mast cell degranulation. It's a known trigger for that. I used to self medicate with cannabis but can't anymore due to work. I just started Ashwaganda daily to see if it helps.
They do
NOT degranulate by stress, they are getting activated by other means. In fact degranulation is rare compared to selective release ('activation'), which is more common behaviour. My skin on my forearms can slightly burn by acute stress, I bet this is mast cell activation (POIS can do the same).
Healthcare is completely stuck at the degranulation picture regarding mast cell activation diseases. It's possible people with chronic stress might have mast cells with a higher density of CRH receptors. Certain pathways are getting activated.
In MCAS certain pathways are getting activated unlike mastocytosis which is degranulation.
Two examples of papers that are mentioning stress and mast cells:
Critical role of mast cells in inflammatory diseases and the effect of acute stressNeuroendocrinology of mast cells: Challenges and controversiesAlso
chronic stress might increase receptor densities of mast cells( these can be autocrine effects, meaning they can release mediators which act back on there own cell and alter receptor expression).
Example:
CRH (not from mast cells)---> increased Neurotensin receptor expression on mast cells
A little bit of neurotensin release in general can have a bigger impact on mast cells than usual. This will activate NT receptors.
Neurotensin can lead to ---> increase of CRH receptors
You will end up with an increase of CRH receptors. Making you more susceptible to stress. Mast cells themselves can even release CRH and can be used for the same sequence all the way at the top of the given example.
Mast cells can also release Substance P which can act back on the same mast cell and leading to an increase in CRH receptors on that same cell. Making you again more susceptible to stress. If there is some primary mast cell activation disorder then mast cells might release stuff like SP spontanously.
From my own experience I can fall into spirals of symptoms and I bet some similar mechanisms as described above are at play.
Source: Scroll all the way down to Table 8, autocrine effects and receptor expression:
Recent advances in our understanding of mast cell activation - or should it be mast cell mediator disorders?Some Poisers here that had chronic stress prior to their POIS might have altered their mast cells in some ways making them act different than usual leading to POIS. That is why I was asking people if they had stress prior to their POIS and/or if they were more susceptible to stress during POIS.
Me and bluesbrother might share the same trigger. I got elevated IL-8, he got TNF-alpha elevated. If you go to table 4 of the last paper mentioned then IL-33 might be a shared immune trigger. People with elevated IL-33 which activate mast cells can respond well to certain steroids (via STAT5).
I'm not sure whether people get a grasp of what I am saying here.
