glynis_girl
12-25-2007, 02:37 PM
After reading some other posts about "New here with Food Allergies," I see that I came to the right place for help and...well, commiseration.
I am 44 years old and usually check the Thryoid Disease board because I have autoimmune thyroid disease. Over the years, it has been discovered that I am allergic to several different medications: Codeine, Morphine, Penicillin, unknown spinal anesthetic...and recently Bactrim.
For several years, I have been avoiding tuna, salmon and cod because when I ate them sometime within 20 minutes to 2 hours it felt like I was hooked up to intravenous espresso. I would get anxious, have heart palpitations and sometimes itch. I have also had "strange" things happen after eating trail mix, so I had been avoiding all nuts for the past several months.
My daughter had blood tests this year after reactions to nuts and fish and she is HIGHLY allergic to both.
The day after my oldest daughter's wedding, I ended up in the Emergency Room for anaphylatic shock. I had been taking Bactrim for a week and my face had been gradually getting redder with a fine rash, eventually my whole body swelled up and I wound up on Medrol, Benadryl and Tagamet. I was send home with a prescription for prednisone.
The next day, I woke up, still miserable and itchy and ate a handful of cereal. My lips immediately blew up and I was in the ER again. This time I ended up with a prescription for a Medrol titration pack. I saw my doctor 3 days later and was STILL highly reactive.
The steroids made me feel horribly anxious and raised my blood pressure quite a bit. I was miserable and stopped taking them when the hives went down.
I saw the allergist 12 days after the first ER visit. He said I still had angioedema. After digging deeply into my reactions to various things, he decided to run a huge gamut of blood work. He also told me that people with autoimmune thyroiditis are prone to histamine sensitivity. So I've been trying to follow a low histamine diet.
I had to wait for the steroids to be mostly out of my system to get the blood work done. They took SIXTEEN vials of blood! I was the lab tech's record for most blood out of one patient at one sitting. Some of the tests will take 2 - 3 weeks to get back. I go back to the allergist the second week in January.
All that to finally get to my question: Has anyone else found themselves totally paranoid about eating after something like this? I think I'm giving myself anxiety over food and causing symptoms to happen when nothing is really wrong. (Tight throat, spacey feeling, edginess, light-headedness, etc).
I was given a prescription of Allegra and haven't taken it yet. Having so many medication allergies, I tend to be fearful of taking new drugs. My regular doctor assured me that he knows no one who has had any problem with the "possible" side effects. I took some Benadryl today to hopefully make it easier for me to enjoy Christmas dinner.
Thanks for reading this long, long post!
I am 44 years old and usually check the Thryoid Disease board because I have autoimmune thyroid disease. Over the years, it has been discovered that I am allergic to several different medications: Codeine, Morphine, Penicillin, unknown spinal anesthetic...and recently Bactrim.
For several years, I have been avoiding tuna, salmon and cod because when I ate them sometime within 20 minutes to 2 hours it felt like I was hooked up to intravenous espresso. I would get anxious, have heart palpitations and sometimes itch. I have also had "strange" things happen after eating trail mix, so I had been avoiding all nuts for the past several months.
My daughter had blood tests this year after reactions to nuts and fish and she is HIGHLY allergic to both.
The day after my oldest daughter's wedding, I ended up in the Emergency Room for anaphylatic shock. I had been taking Bactrim for a week and my face had been gradually getting redder with a fine rash, eventually my whole body swelled up and I wound up on Medrol, Benadryl and Tagamet. I was send home with a prescription for prednisone.
The next day, I woke up, still miserable and itchy and ate a handful of cereal. My lips immediately blew up and I was in the ER again. This time I ended up with a prescription for a Medrol titration pack. I saw my doctor 3 days later and was STILL highly reactive.
The steroids made me feel horribly anxious and raised my blood pressure quite a bit. I was miserable and stopped taking them when the hives went down.
I saw the allergist 12 days after the first ER visit. He said I still had angioedema. After digging deeply into my reactions to various things, he decided to run a huge gamut of blood work. He also told me that people with autoimmune thyroiditis are prone to histamine sensitivity. So I've been trying to follow a low histamine diet.
I had to wait for the steroids to be mostly out of my system to get the blood work done. They took SIXTEEN vials of blood! I was the lab tech's record for most blood out of one patient at one sitting. Some of the tests will take 2 - 3 weeks to get back. I go back to the allergist the second week in January.
All that to finally get to my question: Has anyone else found themselves totally paranoid about eating after something like this? I think I'm giving myself anxiety over food and causing symptoms to happen when nothing is really wrong. (Tight throat, spacey feeling, edginess, light-headedness, etc).
I was given a prescription of Allegra and haven't taken it yet. Having so many medication allergies, I tend to be fearful of taking new drugs. My regular doctor assured me that he knows no one who has had any problem with the "possible" side effects. I took some Benadryl today to hopefully make it easier for me to enjoy Christmas dinner.
Thanks for reading this long, long post!
Sponsor
Sannah
12-26-2007, 07:41 PM
Glynis, there is an alternative doc in Cinncinnati, OH who can cure you. His name is Theodore Cole. He has helped my daughter and I immensely. You know food allergies can cause auto immune diseases. Allergies are just an over active immune system (our immune systems are not suppose to think that pollens, foods, etc. are harmful). Your immune system continues to go out of whack until it starts to attack your own body.
glynis_girl
12-27-2007, 03:20 PM
It would definitely be worth checking him out!! I'm about 5 hours from Cincinatti. Is he an MD or OD who does alternative?
MAD MAZ
12-27-2007, 06:06 PM
Hi glynis I am 43 years old and I also have Autoimmune thyroid Disease and in May of this year got told I have lots of allergies to trees, grass, cats, dogs, (PEANUTS AND ALL NUTS) fish, wheat, egg!!
I just don't know what to eat, I feel so alone I also have sinus problems, I think once you have Autoimmune Disease's going on its not good with our health... Ha I gave up smoking three years ago and that when it all started to go down hill... Have you had any food tests...Mandy
I just don't know what to eat, I feel so alone I also have sinus problems, I think once you have Autoimmune Disease's going on its not good with our health... Ha I gave up smoking three years ago and that when it all started to go down hill... Have you had any food tests...Mandy
Sannah
12-27-2007, 08:37 PM
He is a DO. He is the best! He has helped us out so much. I trust him more than any other doc that I have known. I drive 1 1/2 hours to see him. My daughter was allergic to almost all food and very sick. She is eating everything now and is very healthy for the first time in her life. (And for any doubters out there who think that she just outgrew the allergies. She barely tolerated the allergy testing and 2 months later was eating everything and she had anaphylaxis).
glynis_girl
12-27-2007, 09:45 PM
Hi glynis I am 43 years old and I also have Autoimmune thyroid Disease and in May of this year got told I have lots of allergies to trees, grass, cats, dogs, (PEANUTS AND ALL NUTS) fish, wheat, egg!!
I just don't know what to eat, I feel so alone I also have sinus problems, I think once you have Autoimmune Disease's going on its not good with our health... Ha I gave up smoking three years ago and that when it all started to go down hill... Have you had any food tests...Mandy
I'm 44. I just had all sorts of tests run on Christmas Eve. They had to take SIXTEEN vials for all the tests my allergist is running. It's going to take a couple of weeks for the results to come back. Until then, like you, I find myself afraid to eat anything. I know I'm sensitive to histamines in certain foods, so I found stuff about a low histamine diet and have been trying to follow that. Do you find yourself freaking yourself out about foods?
I've had reactions from nuts, fish and wheat, so those are the things that I absolutely have to avoid, even without the tests.
The disgusting things about this is I do everything possible to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat cleanly, I workout 60 - 90 minutes a day, six days a week. I lift weights, run, do yoga. I was on Armour Thyroid, but my doctors wanted me to switch to Synthroid with Cytomel because of the chance of reacting to something in the dessicated pig/cow thyroids. It's insane!
Did they do any other tests on you besides the food allergy RAST? Was it blood or skin?
I just don't know what to eat, I feel so alone I also have sinus problems, I think once you have Autoimmune Disease's going on its not good with our health... Ha I gave up smoking three years ago and that when it all started to go down hill... Have you had any food tests...Mandy
I'm 44. I just had all sorts of tests run on Christmas Eve. They had to take SIXTEEN vials for all the tests my allergist is running. It's going to take a couple of weeks for the results to come back. Until then, like you, I find myself afraid to eat anything. I know I'm sensitive to histamines in certain foods, so I found stuff about a low histamine diet and have been trying to follow that. Do you find yourself freaking yourself out about foods?
I've had reactions from nuts, fish and wheat, so those are the things that I absolutely have to avoid, even without the tests.
The disgusting things about this is I do everything possible to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat cleanly, I workout 60 - 90 minutes a day, six days a week. I lift weights, run, do yoga. I was on Armour Thyroid, but my doctors wanted me to switch to Synthroid with Cytomel because of the chance of reacting to something in the dessicated pig/cow thyroids. It's insane!
Did they do any other tests on you besides the food allergy RAST? Was it blood or skin?
MAD MAZ
12-28-2007, 05:30 PM
Hi glynis I had the skin ***** test done back in may as I got a dog and started to fell like I couldn't breath right!!
About 2 weeks ago I had the blood test to see how I am with meats, I am waiting on the results.
What test did you have...Mandy
About 2 weeks ago I had the blood test to see how I am with meats, I am waiting on the results.
What test did you have...Mandy
glynis_girl
12-29-2007, 03:28 PM
It's quite a list - sixteen vials of blood worth:
Angioedema/Urticaria Panel
Quantitative C1Q, C4
ANA
ESR
Recurrent Infection Screen
IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE
14 panel pneumoccal IgG antibody titers
CGH50
C-ANCA, P-ANCA (anti-proteinase-3, anti myeloperoxidase)
Food RAST Testing
Food panel for: Histamine, almond, apple, banana, barley, string bean, beef, brazil nut, cantaloupe, carrot, cashew, celery, chicken, clam, codfish, corn,c rab, egg yok, egg white, hazelnut, lobster, milk, oat, orange, pea, peach, peanut, pork, potato, rice, rye, salmon, shrimp, soy, strawberry, tomato, tuna, walnut, wheat & yeast
Nut panel: RAST to almond, Brazil nut, cashew, chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, peanut, pine nut, pistachio, sesame seed and walnut
Shellfish/Fish panel: codfish/white fish, crab, flounder, halibut, lobster, oyster/mussel, salmon, scallop, shrimp, trout and tuna
RAST for Environmental Allergies:
Midwest Allergen Panel
Other Labs:
CBC W
The allergist didn't want to do any skin tests because at the time of my visit my skin was still very reactive from the Bactrim & whatever food allergies were aggravating the healing process.
I can't wait for my appointment to get these results. I'm driving myself crazy not knowing what is okay to eat or not.
Angioedema/Urticaria Panel
Quantitative C1Q, C4
ANA
ESR
Recurrent Infection Screen
IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE
14 panel pneumoccal IgG antibody titers
CGH50
C-ANCA, P-ANCA (anti-proteinase-3, anti myeloperoxidase)
Food RAST Testing
Food panel for: Histamine, almond, apple, banana, barley, string bean, beef, brazil nut, cantaloupe, carrot, cashew, celery, chicken, clam, codfish, corn,c rab, egg yok, egg white, hazelnut, lobster, milk, oat, orange, pea, peach, peanut, pork, potato, rice, rye, salmon, shrimp, soy, strawberry, tomato, tuna, walnut, wheat & yeast
Nut panel: RAST to almond, Brazil nut, cashew, chocolate, coconut, hazelnut, peanut, pine nut, pistachio, sesame seed and walnut
Shellfish/Fish panel: codfish/white fish, crab, flounder, halibut, lobster, oyster/mussel, salmon, scallop, shrimp, trout and tuna
RAST for Environmental Allergies:
Midwest Allergen Panel
Other Labs:
CBC W
The allergist didn't want to do any skin tests because at the time of my visit my skin was still very reactive from the Bactrim & whatever food allergies were aggravating the healing process.
I can't wait for my appointment to get these results. I'm driving myself crazy not knowing what is okay to eat or not.
shellbell56
01-09-2008, 12:54 AM
He is a DO. He is the best! He has helped us out so much. I trust him more than any other doc that I have known. I drive 1 1/2 hours to see him. My daughter was allergic to almost all food and very sick. She is eating everything now and is very healthy for the first time in her life. (And for any doubters out there who think that she just outgrew the allergies. She barely tolerated the allergy testing and 2 months later was eating everything and she had anaphylaxis).
hi sannah, just joined these boards.thought what you had to say interesting, what is a DO? my oldest daughter is 24 yrs old, she has been having severe allergic reactions for 3 almost 4 yrs now, we;ve had her to two allergists, one did some skin tests, blood tests, etc, our pcp has her on prednisone, atarax claritin,zantac,when these don't work, which seems to be happenning more and more, she has to go to the er, and have iv drugs, and stay in hospital for a couple days....it's so scarey, especially for her. her lips and tongue and throat were affected this last time. we don't know what to do, i;m going to have her start a food diary, fabric diary,perfume,soap, etc., her original skin tests showed allergies to dust mites, and grass pollens were high,so of course, i got her the allergen matress cover and pillow covers.keep her room clean,then it still happens, we're at a loss.....i think i'll research the university of washington, for help.....she needs to live in a bubble, oh well, it just feelss nice sharing with someone,any thoughts? tx,shellbell56
hi sannah, just joined these boards.thought what you had to say interesting, what is a DO? my oldest daughter is 24 yrs old, she has been having severe allergic reactions for 3 almost 4 yrs now, we;ve had her to two allergists, one did some skin tests, blood tests, etc, our pcp has her on prednisone, atarax claritin,zantac,when these don't work, which seems to be happenning more and more, she has to go to the er, and have iv drugs, and stay in hospital for a couple days....it's so scarey, especially for her. her lips and tongue and throat were affected this last time. we don't know what to do, i;m going to have her start a food diary, fabric diary,perfume,soap, etc., her original skin tests showed allergies to dust mites, and grass pollens were high,so of course, i got her the allergen matress cover and pillow covers.keep her room clean,then it still happens, we're at a loss.....i think i'll research the university of washington, for help.....she needs to live in a bubble, oh well, it just feelss nice sharing with someone,any thoughts? tx,shellbell56
Sannah
01-09-2008, 12:10 PM
Hi Shell, more than glad to share info. I found out this info from the internet and it saved my daughter's life. Would love to pass on the favor. The following are a list of alternative docs that do LDA therapy (low dose allergen) near you. Dr. David Buscher, Bellevue, WA, Dr. Philip Ranheim, Everett, WA and Dr. Stephen Smith, Richland, WA. There are also docs in Nampa, Idaho or Oregon City, Oregon. Please feel free to ask me anything that you would like.
A DO is a Doctor of Osteopathy. They are docs just like MD's but they receive additonal homeopathic training. Our alternative doc has received a lot of additional alternative training in Europe. Many of the docs that I have listed above are MD's.
My daughter's allergies were IgG. Regular allergists don't recognize these allergies. I stuck my daughter with an epipen after she ate peanut butter but because her IgE peanut test was negative the doc told me that she didn't have any food allergies! Well, the alternative doc tests for more than just IgE allergies. Maybe this is what is goin on with your daughter? My daughter's food allergies were from Leaky Gut Syndrome and bad gut normal flora. The food leaks into the blood stream where the immune system sees it as a foreign invader and then develops antibodies against it. She was allergic to almost all food. It was horrible and not a single regular doc recognized it or knew what to do about it. Good alternative docs are up on normal flora out of whack, etc.
A DO is a Doctor of Osteopathy. They are docs just like MD's but they receive additonal homeopathic training. Our alternative doc has received a lot of additional alternative training in Europe. Many of the docs that I have listed above are MD's.
My daughter's allergies were IgG. Regular allergists don't recognize these allergies. I stuck my daughter with an epipen after she ate peanut butter but because her IgE peanut test was negative the doc told me that she didn't have any food allergies! Well, the alternative doc tests for more than just IgE allergies. Maybe this is what is goin on with your daughter? My daughter's food allergies were from Leaky Gut Syndrome and bad gut normal flora. The food leaks into the blood stream where the immune system sees it as a foreign invader and then develops antibodies against it. She was allergic to almost all food. It was horrible and not a single regular doc recognized it or knew what to do about it. Good alternative docs are up on normal flora out of whack, etc.