Having a steady routine is one of the best ways to calm your system when you have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) or other chronic conditions. This post outlines the benefits of sticking to a daily routine, with some tips for making it doable.
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Table of Contents
Who is Betsy Leighton?
I’m a writer, blogger, and healer dedicated to helping individuals reconnect with their innate peace and wholeness by healing nervous system dysregulation. My personal experience with chronic illness called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) shapes my work, and my content offers tools to empower those with chronic illness to improve their well-being and take charge of their health.
I created the Sacred Self-Healing Method and am a trained and certified Safe and Sound Protocol provider, an author, blogger, and A Course in Miracles Teacher. I hold a Master of Divinity in Spiritual Counseling and am a trained spiritual mentor, with certificates in sound healing, aromatherapy, nutrition, and Sacred Deathcare. I offer a self-study certificate program in the Sacred Self-Healing Method, provide spiritual counseling and coaching, courses, and supported subscriptions for the Safe and Sound Protocol.
What is MCAS?
Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a chronic condition that affects all organ systems. It can cause severe, disabling symptoms every day, including potentially fatal anaphylaxis.
The common triggers for MCAS are infections, toxic exposures including mold exposure and EMFs, trauma, concussions, and stress.
MCAS often occurs with other chronic conditions like Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Managing MCAS is challenging because many healthcare providers are unaware of it, and diagnostic tests can be unreliable. Treatments include antihistamines and mast cell stabilizers in the form of medications and supplements, along with avoiding triggers. Check out this post on managing MCAS.
Stick to a daily routine
Here are some of the aspects of my daily routine that I have found helpful:
I know this is somewhat obvious in a post about daily routines, but I’m going to spell it out: You will do better with a daily routine. It’s okay to deviate from your routine occasionally to mix things up. But according to one study, one trigger of mast cell activation is deviating from your natural circadian rhythm. By having a set routine where you generally get up, eat, exercise, and go to bed at the same time each day, you align your body’s functions with what your mast cells think is supposed to happen at that time.
Mast cells react to any stimuli, no matter how subtle. You might not think it is a big deal to go to sleep later or skip your daily walk occasionally. But I’ve learned the hard way too many times that when I deviate from my routine, my MCAS bucket overflows quickly.
Having a set routine can definitely be trickier if you are a parent of young children. As a mom of three kids, including twins, I know how routines can go right out the window! So file this information under helpful ideas, not “shoulds,” if you parent young children. Now that my kids are grown, I have more freedom to listen to what my body needs.
Avoid sudden changes to your routine
One of my big mast cell triggers is jumping out of bed too fast and (just about) fainting due to the extreme change from horizontal to vertical. I may have mild postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) because my daughters have it. So here is what a slow start to the day looks like: turning over onto my side in bed, sitting up, and then waiting for a few breath cycles before standing up.
Ideally, after I use the bathroom in the morning, I lie back down in bed and meditate for a few minutes while my body adjusts to being awake. That extra 5-10 minutes in bed before starting my day adds a ton of value to how I feel and how full my bucket is. (And if you are curious about this bucket I keep mentioning, check out this post.)
The key is listening to your body. Once I transitioned to going to bed when I was tired, I naturally started waking up without an alarm clock. So, I don’t fall back asleep during those extra 5-10 minutes in bed in the morning.
The rest of the day I don’t have to be quite as careful about jumping up as first thing as in the morning. But if I lie down for meditation or yoga, I do have to be mindful when getting back up.
Alternate movement and rest in your routine
I notice the best results when I alternate gentle movement with periods of sitting during the day. Too much sitting causes me to have back, shoulder, and neck pain. Too much activity causes flare-ups of muscle and joint pain. Too much of any one repetitive emotion causes me to experience an acute flare of a joint or muscle, which becomes a bigger problem when mast cells overreact to the perceived injury.
So, I’ve learned to alternate periods of sitting (like when I’m writing, reading, responding to email, or sewing) with periods of gentle movement (like putting in a load of laundry, cleaning one thing, doing gentle yoga stretches, checking inventory in the pantry, organizing a small area or task, watering my plants, etc.)
And in general, I can’t tolerate vigorous exercise. I used to be a competitive runner and Nordic skier until I started to have mast cell issues in my early twenties. After many years of struggling to exercise, only to experience massive mast cell flares, I’ve come to peace with doing gentle movements like walking, yoga, and Qi gong.
The bucket theory
The bucket theory simplifies understanding symptom reactions with MCAS. Imagine your body as an empty bucket you don’t want to overflow. Reactions to various stimuli fill the histamine bucket at different rates, forming the total histamine level (how full your bucket is). More histamine means more symptoms. By managing triggers, reducing exposures, and taking medications and supplements, you can control your bucket’s level.
Know your typical symptom progression
Understanding your symptom progression during a flare is key to developing your rescue plan. This post discusses how to recognize symptom progression so you can be prepared to address them.
Get my free ebook, symptom log, and meal plan!
Want a tool to easily track your symptoms?
Fasting as part of a daily routine
Fasting in the morning really helps to reduce my overall inflammation and pain. So, most days, I fast from about 6 p.m. (after dinner) until 11:45 a.m., when I have lunch. That gives my gut a rest of almost 18 hours before I begin digesting food again, and intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce inflammation, improve immune function, and help with blood sugar issues:
“… periods of fasting can limit inflammation, attenuate proinflammatory cytokines and immune cells, improve circulating glucose and lipid levels, and reduce blood pressure. In addition to that, studies undertaken in animals and humans have suggested that fuel selection is altered and efficiency of metabolism is improved while oxidative stress is reduced.” NIH
In addition, fasting has been shown to reduce mast cell degranulation and histamine release. So, I get multiple benefits from fasting: reduced inflammation, better blood sugar, and less histamine release.
This post discusses the “best” diet for MCAS, which is the least restrictive diet that helps maintain your health.
Of course, you should ease into intermittent fasting under the care of a doctor or functional provider, and this post provides some good advice for beginning fasters.
My routine
So what is the ideal daily routine? That is going to vary from person to person because we are all uniquely different. But I will share my daily routine below so that you have an idea of how it could look. I recognize that I am privileged to be able to work from home and vary the activities of my day as my symptoms dictate. As I mentioned above, when you are parenting small children, the notion of routine will necessarily revolve around your child(ren) ‘s needs.
- 6 a.m. – Wake up, use the toilet, lie back down for 5-10 minutes to equilibrate, then get back up, and have my morning tea. I fast until 11:45 a.m. while alternating periods of movement with periods of stillness, checking email, doing yoga, meditating, working, doing laundry, logging my symptoms / MCAS reactions, etc.Â
- 8 a.m. – Take a 20-minute walk outside with dog; resume working (interspersing some movement every hour or so)
- 11:45 a.m. – Eat lunch
- Continue working
- 1:30 p.m. – Lie down with my legs up and take a 20-minute infrared sauna (get up slowly afterward)
- Continue working or run errands
- Work for another hour before making dinner and spending time with my family
- 7:30 p.m. – Take a detox bath and then read
- Wind down for bed
- 9:30 p.m. lights out
Check out these circadian health tools!
I’m an affiliate with Bon Charge, a company that makes tools for circadian health, and you can receive 15% off your order with my coupon code BETSYL.
Bon Charge offers tools such as yellow– and red-tone blue-blocking glasses, red light therapy devices, PEMF mats, infrared saunas, and EMF-blocking products.
Sign up for the SSP!
I’ve found the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) to be the most helpful bottom-up healing strategy if your nervous system has been overloaded with toxic exposures, including mold or non-native EMFs, chronic infections, concussions, stress, or trauma. The SSP is a passive listening therapy that helps heal nervous system dysregulation. Many people with MCAS and other chronic conditions have nervous system dysregulation stemming from infections, toxic exposures, concussions, and trauma. The SSP is an easy-to-use app that lets you listen to specially filtered music for 30 minutes each day as part of a 5-hour cycle. Studies show the SSP has a profound effect on mental health and chronic conditions. Here’s a short podcast describing the Safe and Sound Protocol.
You can sign up for the SSP here!
Heal your mind!
While the SSP is a bottom-up, somatic therapy for healing the nervous system, the Sacred Self-Healing Method I offer is a top-down nervous system-healing modality that focuses on cognition, attention, perception, and emotion, using the mind’s higher functions. The SSP and the Sacred Self-Healing Method complement each other and together produce lasting results. Here’s a short podcast on my self-healing practice.
I provide one-on-one in-person and remote chronic illness and caregiver coaching, as well as Sacred Self-Healing Sessions based on the Sacred Self-Healing Method, a proven, novel co-creative healing modality detailed in my Books.
Order my books!
Here’s a short podcast highlighting my five books.
My latest book, Living In The Light: Healing with Forgiveness, Sound, and Light, is all about the tools that have been most helpful for me to heal: forgiveness, sound, through nervous system retraining using the Safe and Sound Protocol, and light, through entraining my circadian rhythm with the energy of the sun. Living In The Light is available here!
Rocks and Roots chronicles my solo backpacking journey on the Superior Hiking Trail and my efforts to overcome nervous system dysregulation, gut dysbiosis, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome symptoms to complete the 328-mile hike successfully.
The Sacred Self-Healing Method ebook is available here and in most ebook retailers!
The Sacred Self-Healing Workbook is available for purchase here!
Betsy’s first book, Sacred Self-Healing: Finding Peace Through Forgiveness, is available here
Companion Recordings
The companion audio recordings of chants, guided meditations, and sound healing demonstrations that accompany the Sacred Self-Healing Method are available for free on my YouTube channel here
What do you think?
I’d love to have your reply below!
Disclaimer
The preceding material does not constitute medical advice. This information is for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, cure, or treatment.
