Food Allergies?

Hello loveangel, 

A food allergy is an adverse reaction to a food or food component that involves the body’s immune system. A true allergic reaction to a food involves three primary components: 1) contact with a food allergen  2) immunoglobulin E (IgE-an antibody in the immune system that reacts with allergens); and 3) mast cells (tissue cells) and basophils (blood cells), which when connected to IgE antibodies release histamine or other substances causing allergic symptoms.

There are also some adverse reactions to foods that involve the body’s metabolism but not the immune system. These reactions are known as food intolerance. Examples of food intolerance are food poisoning or the inability to properly digest certain food components, such as lactose or milk sugar. This latter condition is commonly known as lactose intolerance.

You may want to try the elimination method, drop one thing at a time, I.E. lactulose products from your diet and see if the sx disappears.

Of course you may always return to an allergist specialist who has methods of identifying the foods you are allergic to or intolerant to. ^{Reference: Medical-Surgical Nursing, 9th Edition, Brunner-Sardath.}

Get retested for food allergies.

Thank you all.  I really need this testing done.

What type of Dr do I go to for this test?  Would I ask my ENT for the allergy testing (who dx'ed the other allergies) or do I see an allergist, or other specialist?

Is something like this generally covered by insurance?

Thanks fo much for replying.

Definitely see an allergist for food allergy testing.

Good luck!

Carla

Try cutting out lactose for a week and see what that does. If that yields no results then cut out gluten for a week, if neither of those do anything then it must be something else. good luck!

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Post Edited By Moderator (Red_34) : 10/21/2007 5:39:19 AM (GMT-6)

Celiac Disease (Gluten Intolerance) and Gluten Sensitivity involve immune system reactions to food that are autoimmune in nature, not type 1 classic IgE mediated allergies. Therefore food "intolerance" can be more than just an enzyme deficiency.

There can be other immune reactions to foods that do not make use of IgE antibodies also. For example, Sulfite Preservatives can trigger histamine release and mast cell degranulation without going through IgE antibodies to do that - and the reaction can be every bit as dangerous as "true" food allergies. I know, because I've had Anaphylaxis from Sulfites. Sulfites are in a lot of processed and packed foods (such as canned foods, wine, foods with vinegar such as salad dressings, bottled lemon juice, etc.). And I personally believe that a lot of other things such as food colorings, etc., can trigger allergy or allergy-like reactivity as well.

Please see an Allergist, and if that turns up nothing (many allergy tests can have false negatives), go see a Naturopathic Physician for help doing an elimination diet.

Also, 1 week may not be enough time to see if a particular substance is causing trouble. The minimum recommended time I've seen is 2 weeks, but in the case of gluten or casein (can take 3 weeks just to get the reaction, not to mention how long after that it would take for the symptoms of the reaction to subside), it takes at least 6 weeks for the protein to leave the gastrointestinal tract and up to 1 year for it to leave the brain.

Anxiety as a reaction strongly suggests gluten, but could be something else. Ask for the gluten antibody test (Celiac Panel), and make sure they test Total IgA, anti-Gliadin IgA, anti-Gliadin IgG, and anti-Tissue Transglutaminase IgA. Prometheus has a pretty good Celiac Panel, so do some other labs.

Good luck,