A woman who is “allergic to everything” can only eat oatmeal over Christmas and Thanksgiving.Caroline Cray, 25, was diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) — which causes repeated severe allergy symptoms — in May 2018.She first realised something was wrong when she ate an ice cream and went into anaphylactic shock — spending 12 hours in hospital — in September 2017.She had three more severe allergic reactions that month to bread and pizza.After eating rice and beans with her family, Caroline reacted again and spent 12 days in intensive care.After 10 months of tests, she was diagnosed with the chronic illness and now has a diet that consists of just oatmeal and EleCare — an amino-based acid infant milk.Caroline says she still loves the Christmas season and spending time with family and friends — despite her limited diet.Caroline, a healthcare recruiter, Boston, Massachusetts, US, said: “When I was younger and able to eat normal food, Thanksgiving was my favourite holiday.“I loved food so much but that has definitely changed.“I tend to lean towards Christmas a bit more as there is more of a focus on other areas like gift giving and sticking up decorations.Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today's top stories Please provide a valid email address.
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“This is my fifth year of being on the oatmeal diet and it is hard.“I would be lying if I said I don’t struggle because I do.”After a string of anaphylactic shocks in September 2017, Caroline claims she was initially told her allergies would likely disappear within months.She said: “In the fall when I was having the repeated shocks, my allergist and ER doctors were under the assumption that my reactions would only last a few months.“They put me on antihistamines and they got me in to see a specialist.“It...