Itchy skin, tingling in feet and scalp

[Therockfrog]

7 years ago I had H Pylori and had a bad summer with my Hashimotos and found out I had low grade lymphoma. 

Ever since that summer I have had issues with my feet and scalp tingling.  I thought it was related to my mild peripheral neuropathy but after a few years I realized it’s some kind of inflammation.    I then started thinking it was happening more often when eating certain foods.    Gluten and nuts.  The reaction is not too bad in my tummy, just within 30-60 minutes, my feet start tingling and my scalp sometimes tingles…so weird and annoying.   Also, in the Springtime, I’m super allergic to tree pollen and my feet and scalp tingle non stop for a full month.   

 

So, I never really got tested for anything, just tried to avoid gluten and nuts.   And, if I did not eat those, the tingling would be minimal.    I did get an endoscopy 3 years ago because I was having stomach pain a lot and they found inflammation and redness but never told me anything other than take Pepcid for a month.  I did and it got better but till bothers me at times.   My lymphoma is still low grade.

 

Fast forward to last Fall.  I started having high cortisol issues and got tested for Cushings but that was mostly negative.   What happens is if I eat the wrong foods I get the tingling and then my cortisol goes up and it was up for a long time but once I fully committed to not eating bad stuff, my cortisol level went down.

 

Ok, so now 6 weeks ago, NOT pollen season.  I start itching and have more tingling in my feet and scalp but I’m not eating gluten or nuts.   The itching is worse that in Pollen season and now I have NO idea what is going on.   I tested myself for Milk allergy as It seems my feet would tingle 1-2 days after eating ice cream…so I stopped eating dairy also and tested the IGE for milk about 6  days after stopping it.   It showed up that I DID have a slight milk allergy.    Antihistamines dont seem to really stop the tingling.

 

So, now it’s been 3 weeks since I stopped dairy and I’m still itching and tingling….and now I have no idea what to do.   If I see that allergist and they do allergy testing, it will show negative since I’m not ingesting any of the bad stuff.   So, I kind of want to eat gluten, milk, nuts for a few days before I see the allergist just to make sure it’s in my system.  It will make my feet tingle worse and make it hard to sleep, etc but how else will I know 100% that I have these issues if I don’t do it this way.    Could it be a large amount of histamine and my body does just not like it?

 

So frustrated…sorry for the long post.

[trents]

I do not think allergy testing requires you to have been consuming allergens in proximity to the testing. The testing itself supplies the allergens. There are two kinds of allergy testing that can be done. One is the skin prick panel and the other is serological. I've had both done. There is a lot of skepticism in the medical community with regard to allergy testing and for some good reasons. First, the same samples when sent to different labs will often yield significantly different results. Second, the results of the testing often not in accord with the person's real life experience of exposure.

If you are considering getting tested for celiac disease, please realize that celiac disease is not a food allergy. It is an autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammation in the lining of the small bowel triggered by the consumption of gluten. There are specific serological antibody tests designed to detect celiac disease but they are only valid as long as you are consuming regular and significant amounts of gluten for weeks leading up to to the blood draw.

I have concern about your mention of having low grade lymphoma because the incidence of small bowel lymphoma in the untreated/noncompliant celiac population is almost 4x that of the general population. I am linking this article:

https://www.beyondceliac.org/research-news/celiac-disease-and-lymphoma-researcher-explains-the-risk/

 

Edited November 4, 2024 by trents

[Scott Adams]

@Therockfrog, it sounds like you’ve been through so much, and managing these symptoms must be incredibly challenging. Tingling in your feet and scalp, especially after eating specific foods, can sometimes be related to histamine intolerance or even a sensitivity to certain food proteins, as you’ve suggested. Since you’ve already noticed patterns with gluten, nuts, and dairy, it might be worth looking into a histamine intolerance or mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), where the body has an exaggerated response to histamine and other triggers, which can cause itching, tingling, and even high cortisol levels. This would explain why your symptoms change with seasonal pollen too.

If you’re considering eating some of these trigger foods before seeing the allergist, it could help with identifying specific IgE reactions. However, since this can worsen symptoms, you might consider working with your doctor to approach this slowly, maybe introducing one trigger at a time. It’s great you’ve tracked your symptoms so closely—that detailed information will help the allergist a lot. In the meantime, perhaps continue with antihistamines, as sometimes trying different types (H1 and H2 blockers, for example) under guidance can make a difference. Hang in there! It sounds like you’re very close to finding the root of these reactions.