Allergy Testing & food allergies

Anjjou72

I thought food allergy testing was pretty effective in my case. For starters, my scratch test yielded many positives for various food allergies, which prompted my Dr. to request bloodwork to find out if there were more. Which of course there were, and then it was off to see a nutritionist so I could learn how to eat again since the test revealed that I was allergic to just about everything I routinely ingested.

Much to my amazement I learned the integral part that certain foods played when it came (comes) to my allergic response, and I learned how to deal with it. In fact I'm still learning to this very day as I routinely deal with foods that I am actually allergic to, and I also have to deal with foods that will have profound effects on me during certain pollenating seasons. For example when it comes to tree and grass pollen, I have to avoid legumes, grains, dairy, eggs and apples. For Ragweed I have to avoid dairy, wheat, melon, banana, cucumbers, squash. For mold sensitivity, no coffee, chocolate, vinegar, cheese, mushrooms and nuts...Only I'd go crazy without my chocolate and nuts so I include them anyway and often times pay the price!

I'm basically in the same boat as you Mountain Reader as my allergies too have worsened over the years, and throughout three different rounds of immunotherapy and tons of allergy meds. What seems to work for me now, (and by no means am I even close to 100%) are my meds and my adhering to my "diet". Occasionally I get ****** off that I can't eat like everyone else and I basically say "F" it and eat what I'm not supposed to anyway. When I do that it becomes clear very quickly that I'm not supposed to be having that food for a reason! It stinks, it's monotonous, but unfortunately, what you ingest has a profound effect on your allergic response! If I were you, I'd check into this ASAP!

MountainReader

anjjou72

Thank you for responding. What type of symptoms to you get with your food allergies?

snowmelts

Back in the 80's ( yeah a long time ago) I had multiple weird health problems..ended up at an allergist.
According to him I should live in a bubble cuz of all my allergies.
BUT I am not alllergic to any plant pollen.
I don't get "Hay Fever"
He gave me a 4 page list of all the things I should not eat or breath.
~sigh~ I took 5 shots a week just to eat what he decided I could eat.
Then the shots started burning my stomache.
He said I was allergic to the Glycerin in the shots so I needed "a shot after my shot" to nullify that!

I quit. Enough is enough.

I most certainly do have food and breathing allergies but I decided I just could not keep up taking all those shots. I have not gone back to an allergist in all these years.

I do not eat the foods on the 4 page list but I have tested out a few and figured out how to handle the ball game.

So "in general" there are food I can NEVER touch because of exteme reactions and other foods I get only a small reaction from which sometimes I do eat.
From foods a main problem was extreme swelling. AMAZEINGLY With the shots I became 30 pounds thinner in 3 days flat. Of course after I stopped the shots that 30 pounds came back becasue I DO eat some foods that the shot was nullifying. They swell me some tiny bit but don't actually make me sick.

I can NEVER eat even on tiny piece of Tomato again because it causes such fast horrid swelling I cannot wear my own cloths within 24 hours. Such immediate swelling is very heard on the breathing so I do behave myself where that is concerned. There are a lot of foods I react to that way and must avoid.

I have not eaten and apple is over 40 years. When I was just a teenagers eating a piece of an apple felt like I had knives cutting up my stomache. Certainly was no suprprise when the allergy test said I was allergic to them.

I cannot have artificial color or Flavor either. The swelling gets terrible and even my tounge swells too.. very scary.

Aspirin and Salasylates (I can't spell that) are a life threatening allergy for me.
Tounge swells, over whelming metalic taste appears in my mouth, breathing is impaired and my heart pounds.. NOPE, I can't have those things.

Then there are allergies to SCENTS and MAN-MADE fumes like prefume, cologn, scented candles, soaps, and scented air freshners. And the most horrid ones are petrolium based fumes like gas or paint. These cause my inner ears to swell and the world immediately spins uncontrolably. there was never a shot for those. Those are things I simply must avoid forever.
As a side note amoung those "fumey" things is Polyester. Yes, polyester has fumes even though we don't normally become aware of it. So most all my cloths are cotton and all my bed lenins are cotton. My pillows are feather because a pillow filled with polyester makes my lips and face swell to clownish proportions by morning!

My allergies do not give me Hay Fever or a Rash but they sure do rule my life.
I love the smell of pizza.. oh I do, but I cant eat it.

Anjjou72

With the foods I'm actually allergic to I'll get swelling like snowmelts mentioned, nausea, (often times vomitting) heartburn, diarrhea, hives, itchy mouth and lips. If I eat dairy anytime of the year it almost immediately makes me congested, then starts causing me breathing problems. Dairy was also a key factor when it came to the intensity of my symptoms. After I eliminated dairy I noticed a profound effect for the better!

With foods I'm not allergic to but avoid during certain seasons, my allergies will intensify after ingesting them as it makes me more sensitive than I already am. I wont notice a change in intensity right away either, (unless I've had melon during ragweed season) it'll gradually come on and dissipate when it leaves my system. Of course if I don't clean up my act I will remain ultra sensitive until I do. Symptoms will basically wreak havoc on my upper respiratory system, eyes, ears and skin. This is why I must be a good girl and avoid what I'm supposed to, when I'm supposed to.

When it comes to food allergies, nothing will help them EXCEPT avoidance. Immunotherapy does nothing for food, so it is best to identify them right away so you can begin to deal with them. And like snowmelts said, allergies rule my life too!

snowmelts

Right. Gee, you've made me think of all the reactions. I avoided things with the mean reactions for so long I forgot all about mentioning them!

Many many RAW furits or Veg's or fruits with really high fiber will cause me to have intestinal bleeding. Dr called it Allergic colitis. I call it a pain in the rear!

Some, not all, diary foods like some brands, but not all, of Yogart or sour cream will result in "trapped gas" which makes me feel and look about 9 months pregnant for 3 days. Happily ice cream doesn't do that!

ANY fish or pork give me a "false" Gallbladder attack. Darn good and painful.

ALWAYS_LATE26

Am I reading this thread right? Your enviromental allergies effect your food allergies? For example, if your allergic to ragweed avoid bananas and chocolate? If your allergic to trees and grasses avoid dairy, eggs, and apples? I didn't know this.

summerluvr

I had hives for two + years (at first occasionally,bu then eventually they never went away) and every morning my nose would run and I had sneezing, and always blowing my nose. The allergy testing didn't reveal anything... they told me I had only mild environment (dust etc) allergies and that my hives were idiopathic, which means no cause...

finally after not being ablt to take it anymore I stated to see a naturopathic DR and we did an elimination diet.. imediatlly the hives and hay fever symptoms went away on the hypo allergenic diet (you cut out all known common allergy foods and try them one at a time) turns out I'm a severaly sensitive to eggs.. (on drop of mayo in something and I hive up within 1/2 hour), then fruit, apples are severe for me, (and most other fruit I react to accept advocados and blueberrys and grapes), and also pork. if i avoid these foods no more hives or chronice nasal symptoms.

I still get hives and usually am able to trace it back to what I ate...usually its eggs thats the culprit..

maxi88

Hey!
I personally found allergy testing for foods to be very unhelpful. I had a serious allergy to dairy and wheat and I went to several allergists who did scratch tests and informed me that I wasn't allergic to any of them and to continue on eating them. This was at the same time that I was covered head to toe in rashes (especially around the neck). It kinda got to the point where we gave up on traditional med to find the answer. With two family members in the medical field that was very hard to do, but we realized that they couldn't help. In the end we went to a certified natropathic doctor and she found that I was allergic to these things as well as gluten. Moral of the story...don't be afraid to branch out if you find that you're not getting anywhere with trad. med.
All the best!
P.S I'm totally not bashing trad med, once the natropathic doc found out what I was allergic to I was put on a diet and she prescribed several trad meds...saved my life

elmhar

Our family has had a fair bit of experience with food allergies & testing of various sorts, 3 members.

If you go for IgE scratch-testing with the allergist, be sure to ask for ALL the positive results. It's common for the docs to report only +3 & +4 ... but depending on the person (degree of reactivity varies) even a +1 or a +2 can be significant. The best thing is to get a photocopy of the results.

If there is a positive or a slightly positive reading, that food can be verified with an elimination & challenge diet -- your doc can explain. But E & C is never done when there is possibility of anaphylaxis.

Naturopathic docs can test for IgG antibodies to foods. Most board-cert allergists & immunologists don't believe this is a valid test, however, there are many testimonials out there from folks who have been really helped by going this route. Including 2/3 in my own family.

One of the neat things about NDs is that they usually look at the broader picture when it comes to people with severe allergies. Often there is an underlying endocrine deficiency (adrenal or thyroid) which contributes, and when that is treated, if found to be present on testing, it can greatly reduce the tendency to allergies & the degree of severity.

Best wishes.