Gloria’s Story

I am a 70 year old. My first attack was 14 years ago. It started with diarrhoea, face flushing, breathlessness and anaphylaxis. My husband was with me, he phoned the paramedics and then applied CPR as I had stopped breathing. I was rushed to hospital and against all odds I was resuscitated. I spent 4 days in the ITU, then had a heart attack.

Since then I have had numerous attacks and attended four top hospitals. Mastocytosis was suspected, but all the tests were negative. I moved to another city two years ago and started attending another hospital. My consultant did some different tests and she found masto tucked away in my gut, no one had checked the gut before and as I had no other symptoms it wasn’t found. At first I was relieved and happy to know what was wrong with me, then I realised that not a lot was known about it, and depression set in. I am now happy to say I have bounced back and I am getting on with my life as it is!

[anaphylaxis, gastrointestinal symptoms, flushing, mastocytosis, adult]