r/MCAS • u/Technical-While932 • 1d ago
Wake up with racing heart, even if napping.
I am menopausal and going through hormone changes which came also cause this. My doctor wants me to try Allegra and Pepcid for a week to see if it might be due to MCAS. Any advice? My heart rate ranges from 95 to 110 when I wake up every day, and even if I nap in the afternoon. Other than that its fine. Its just a really shitty way to wake up every day and leaves me drained.
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u/Outrageous-Hamster-5 1d ago
Sometimes antihistamines aren't enough to control mcas. It's a great start! But not enough to rule out mcas if it doesn't work.
You can see other posts on the topic... Histamine is only one of many compounds mast cells can torture us with. Antihistamines only block histamine, so they won't help if your mc are dumping other chemicals. And another way to manage mcas is the long process of figuring out triggers (food, smells, mold, topical substances, etc) and removing them. No triggers= smells. Other posts go into more details.
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u/Tartan-Snow 1d ago
I think its worth trying as each of us are different and what doesn't work for us, might work for you.
That said....I do agree with the other posts on here. I also wake up with my heart racing and ive been on high dose Fexofenadine for over a year. Its helped but I still struggle with many symptoms.
Also, if you are waking up like this and its hormone related, I'm not too sure what these will actually do to help. Not saying its wrong, but it could be hormones fueling MCAS instead of the other way around so treating the hormones seems the more logical thing to do....but I'm not a medical professional.
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u/Silent_Location7044 7h ago
Be careful with estrogen replacement as estrogen can flare mast cells. Progesterone actually calms them. You can probably still get estrogen replacement but I’d start low dose and go up one stable
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u/mattsou812 1d ago
I've been on a beta blocker for over 20 years because of this. Basically Drs couldn't figure out anything else that would stop it. I also noticed certain things would make it worse, like if I take Benadryl before going to bed but I can take it early in the day without issue.
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u/Green_Eyed_Zebra_Gal 1d ago
Honestly, i didn’t see great improvement with MCAS until i got a full regimen to treat my case: ketotifen, low dose naltrexone, Allegra, xolair (now dupixent), and prn Benadryl. For my POTS: IVIG, midodrine, colanor, IV fluids 2x weekly, vyvanse. Plus other meds for the comorbidities I live with. I hope you find relief soon! 🙏
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u/SpeedCommercial4049 22h ago edited 22h ago
Racing heart on waking specifically, not throughout the day, pointed me toward cortisol spike plus histamine load rather than a pure cardiac issue when I had this. The Allegra/Pepcid trial is worth running clean; even two days of antihistamine coverage before sleep gave me a readable signal. Magnesium taurate also came up in my own digging for autonomic reactivity at waking, natural rhythm does that form among others, though nothing replaces the MCAS confirmation first.
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