other food allergy testing

[ironictruth]

So, LST my celiac sibling thinks I should see a naturopath to get additional food sensitivity tests. I think this is swell, but expensive for me. He had a panel done and was reacting to some foods he ate the most of.

I have reached out to a local allergist and they do food testing but do not accept my insurance. I was going to make some more calls tomorrow. I actually do have mild reactive airway disease too which seems to go hand-in-hand with the allergists. I honestly had no idea, but makes since.

What type of tests have folks had? I know I am not allergic to most foods as of November. My former GI doc ran a basic panel then but it seemed short.

Has anyone had any luck with these? I read there is a difference between IGE and IGG tests.

Anyone get a doc to order them and insurance to cover?

I may end up having to save up for awhile to have this done with a naturopath. But I was off of payroll recently with all of this and the idea of waiting for a couple of more months to find out what other foods may be trigging me really sucks.

I am off of dairy and soy, suspicious of lettuce and shrimp.

[ravenwoodglass]

You could ask the allergist to give you a starting point for an elimination diet. You would start out with 5 or so foods and then add in one new food a week to see if you react. If you react you of course drop that food. It is a bit of a pain as everything has to be basically single ingredient to start.  My allergist felt that was the best way to go and more accurate than blood testing.

[Irene Joanne]

I don't have a lot of faith in the allergy testing naturalpaths do. I had them done, but really it wasn't very helpful. Foods that were okay on the blood work- I was still having obvious reactions to. Skin testing through an allergist didn't show up food allergies either. I agree the food elimination diet is a better way to go and doesn't cost a bunch of money. I did a whole 30 diet a while back that could have been helpful if the foods I reacted to were corn, dairy,  soy, grains and sugar- but I react to more than that.  I do need to do a major elimination diet- just haven't gotten up the willpower yet. 

 

[ironictruth]

3 hours ago, ravenwoodglass said:

You could ask the allergist to give you a starting point for an elimination diet. You would start out with 5 or so foods and then add in one new food a week to see if you react. If you react you of course drop that food. It is a bit of a pain as everything has to be basically single ingredient to start.  My allergist felt that was the best way to go and more accurate than blood testing.

Any place you know of to find more info? Seems like I am still in so much pain/bloat, I am not even sure if I would pick the right 5 foods!

[ravenwoodglass]

It is best not to try and do this on your own. Talk to your allergist. Not all will deal with food intolerances but if yours doesn't find one who will.  Mine had me fill out a very detailed diet questionaire and tested for true allergies before he gave me my starting point. I will admit I wasn't real happy with my starting point since none of my usual foods were on it. He said that I was most likely to react to foods I ate the most so most of the 5 I either rarely ate or didn't really like. The prescribed starting point he formulated was designed to make sure I had adaquate nutrition and enough calories.   It took about 2 weeks before a lot of my tummy issues resolved and I was then able to start adding foods in one at a time for a week before moving on to the next.  He said food intolerance reactions can take up to a week to show up so I had to be sure it was a full week between food additions.

I did have to call three offices before I found a doctor who could do the formulation of the diet but this guy truely saved my life. Out of all the doctors I had seen, including specialists in big hospitals, he was the one responsible for finally realizing I was celiac. He of course referred me back to my clueless GI doctor who confirmed the diagnosis by almost killing me with a gluten challenge.

I should note that some of my intolerance (not gluten of course) did resolve after I had healed. Even dairy which I hadn't been able to have for years! I hope you can get some answers and are able to heal soon.

[SLLRunner]

I did not have allergy testing through a naturopath but considered it once. I did not go through with it because she said she could find out what was wrong with me and "cure" me. Since it sounded like woo mixed in with expense,  I ran the other way.

I'm surprised your insurance did not pay for allergy tests. I had allergy testing (blood test) via an allergist referred by my PCP and it was covered through insurance. I found out I am not allergic to any of the 20 foods on the list.

Did you ask your doctor for a referral to an allergist? 

[ironictruth]

On 9/27/2016 at 5:00 AM, ravenwoodglass said:

It is best not to try and do this on your own. Talk to your allergist. Not all will deal with food intolerances but if yours doesn't find one who will.  Mine had me fill out a very detailed diet questionaire and tested for true allergies before he gave me my starting point. I will admit I wasn't real happy with my starting point since none of my usual foods were on it. He said that I was most likely to react to foods I ate the most so most of the 5 I either rarely ate or didn't really like. The prescribed starting point he formulated was designed to make sure I had adaquate nutrition and enough calories.   It took about 2 weeks before a lot of my tummy issues resolved and I was then able to start adding foods in one at a time for a week before moving on to the next.  He said food intolerance reactions can take up to a week to show up so I had to be sure it was a full week between food additions.

I did have to call three offices before I found a doctor who could do the formulation of the diet but this guy truely saved my life. Out of all the doctors I had seen, including specialists in big hospitals, he was the one responsible for finally realizing I was celiac. He of course referred me back to my clueless GI doctor who confirmed the diagnosis by almost killing me with a gluten challenge.

I should note that some of my intolerance (not gluten of course) did resolve after I had healed. Even dairy which I hadn't been able to have for years! I hope you can get some answers and are able to heal soon.

Thank you. This is really helpful. I will call around next week. 

I just want to heal!