Interesting replies   I figured it was worth asking.  To explain why I'll ask odd questions like this from time to time: It's confusing to figure things out when you have several related things going on.   Allergies, and eosinophilic esophagitis are related and interact, but are separate.  Same thing with allergies and MCAS,  and same goes for MCAS and the eosinophilic esophagitis.  Even the things I need to avoid are difficult to figure out without extensive blood work.  My skin prick tests are um. Well, like this:

https://imgur.com/gallery/nPWvr

(Disclaimer, I usually react to the negative control too, so take it with a grain of salt). The things I reacted to least (or not at all) are among my more sensitive allergens.  Like peanuts and pears.  So the entire test was basically useless.  *Shrug*  doesn't make it easy to figure things out.   It also doesn't help that my reactions can be weird.  Severe reactions make my blood pressure go UP not down.  Toss in the anxiety (aka feeling of impending doom) and most doctors first assumption is anxiety disorder, since I often  have little skin involvement. (Except with peanuts)

Quote from: GoingNuts on August 22, 2017, 06:08:30 AM
Funny, I was thinking that morning reactions could be worse, because of there being no other food in your stomach.  I've read that reactions can be more or less severe based upon whether there were other foods to act as a "buffer", for lack of a better word.  The presence of other foods might slow absorption of the allergen.  Can't remember where I read that. 

I have read that somewhere too, GN!  It affects the rate allergens are absorbed into the stomach or bloodstream or something.

Funny, I was thinking that morning reactions could be worse, because of there being no other food in your stomach.  I've read that reactions can be more or less severe based upon whether there were other foods to act as a "buffer", for lack of a better word.  The presence of other foods might slow absorption of the allergen.  Can't remember where I read that. 

Natural cortisol levels (your body's homemade steroids) are higher in the mornings and those levels taper off in late afternoon/evening.  Steroids counteract allergies (to some extent), so I could see a relation between time of day and allergies based on that factor alone, for sure.  It's one of the reasons my allergist recommends allergy shots first thing in the morning and won't give them beyond 1 PM.  Most OIT protocols have similar time restrictions due to natural cortisol levels; and most food challenges are first thing in the morning as well for the same reason.

However, I'm not sure natural cortisol levels would have much of an effect over a severe systemic reaction.  If you eat peanuts in the morning vs. late at night... and you have a severe and highly sensitive peanut allergy, you're going to be in serious trouble either way.  But it may help somewhat; I am no expert.

Good luck finding the source of your reactions.  I hope your allergist is following up with you often and giving you some direction on how to narrow down your search.

I find nearly all of my more severe reactions have started in the evenings.  The days following a major reaction for me are always worse in the evenings than they are in the mornings.  I've been unable to find any consistent patterns in foods consumed, or environmental exposures.  I suspect that this pattern might just be a mast cell disorder thing (histamine release in the evenings is a thing),  but to help me more accurately pick this apart, I figured I would ask if this is just normal all around with allergies too.

Thanks in advance.