Hi, everyone! I’ve lurked here for quite some time, but I have just joined and wanted to say hello. For everyone who posts here, I want to thank you for being willing to share your experiences and wisdom. Your knowledge and camaraderie have helped me more than you can know, and I visit this site often throughout the day. I adore the 2 Keto Dudes and their podcast. I’ve been listening for about a year but have recently begun listening from the beginning as I await a new episode from Carrie and Carl each week.
Just a short introduction: I’ve been on and off low carb for probably 10 years, after being vegetarian or vegan for 20. For many years, I’ve dealt with severe allergies and migraine with aura, but in 2014 (in the midst of a very stressful job with frequent plane travel, along with being pre-menopausal), I developed more-severe issues, including being diagnosed with asthma, along with unexplained and very weird reactions (severe facial rash, joint and bone pain, eye burning and pain, fatigue, horrible migraines, among others). After seeing 8 specialists and having several very high ANA tests, the consensus seemed to be mast cell activation syndrome secondary to some as-yet-undetermined autoimmune condition (possibly lupus). TBH, the docs have been of minimal help (I pointed them toward the MCAS and asked for the ANA testing), and I determined that my reactions often are due to food but that my many environmental allergies (dust, ragweed, grass, etc) also contribute.
Over the past several years (after some experimentation with a vegetarian “elimination diet” that sent me completely off the rails) I’ve stuck to keto and now manage to keep my health issues mostly under control. I’ve lost 40 pounds over the past year and, while I’m not losing quickly at this point (still would like to lose 80 ish), I can tell my body composition is changing in a positive way. More importantly to me, I feel good, and the flareups are infrequent. When they do happen, they are much less severe than in the past. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any vegetables that I can safely eat (likely due to cross-reactivity with the various pollens I’m allergic to), so my diet consists of high-fat dairy, coconut products, eggs, fatty meats and some tree nuts (can’t eat peanuts). I went through a brief period a few months ago where I bumped up my protein significantly (based on some info from Ted Naiman and others); I lost a few pounds but felt “off” and have since been reading about the potential problems with too much protein (as a child of the Atkins era I hadn’t been super concerned about my protein intake on keto). I feel that my diet is on track now with very low carbs/high fat/moderate protein, I’m feeling good, and I thank all of you again for your very helpful posts!
P.S. My husband and I are planning a trip for the summer, and I’m lobbying for Keto Fest! He is vegetarian and decidedly NOT keto, but I’m hoping to talk him into it. 
