Allergies

[Mango04]

Does anyone know? Would I just go to an allergest? I don't trust allergists all that much when it comes to food. Is there some sort of Enterolab equivalent that I would just order? Is there a way to get tested even if I am not eating the allergens?

I know I'm gluten intolerant, but when I eat dairy or soy my throat swells and it's difficult to breathe. I have been tested in the past (maybe six or seven years ago) through a blood test and everything came back negative. I'd like to get tested again though.

Anyone know?

[tarnalberry]

I would suggest going to an allergist. You said that you were tested for food allergens six or seven years ago. Did you have the breathing problems with those foods then? Food allergies can appear _at any time_, so they may have developed since your last test. A good allergist will no that there is no foolproof way to test for allergies (though having you ingest all the things they'll test you for, then drawing blood to do an IgE for each one is the closest, no one's going to do that test - the scratch test is closest to that, but being in the skin, isn't quite the same). Dietary responses, like what you describe, ARE used in doctors officed (usually observed, and some tests are sometimes run during the reaction), to identify food allergies in difficult to determine cases.

[jerseyangel]

To have allergy testing, you would need to see an allergist. I would suggest calling around to the ones you are considering--I did and there were a couple that told me on the phone that they did not test for food allergies. I ended up finding a good allergist. I had the full compliment of skin testing for foods. He did them over 2 appointments, one month apart in case there were any reactions (to be safe). He also "gets" food intolerance--he advised me against having the blood testing for those, and told me that a rotation diet was a better way to go. I ended up following that advice and it took about 6 months to determine which things I was intolerant to. Good luck with it!

[KaitiUSA]

You have got good advice from the previous posters. I would see an allergist and get a number of tests done.

If you get those kinds of reactions when eating certain foods I would avoid those foods in the meantime so it doesn't get worse or give you more problems.

[shai76]

Just curious, but why don't you trust allergists? I really think you should try going to one or a ENT. My allergist is great, and has a natural health councilor at the office, and they have a lab right there. I prefer the RAST (blood) tests. My allergist preferes to go by what your symptoms are when you eat the offending food rather then by the testing. I think that is the best indicator.

[Mango04]

  shai76 said:

Just curious, but why don't you trust allergists? I really think you should try going to one or a ENT. My allergist is great, and has a natural health councilor at the office, and they have a lab right there. I prefer the RAST (blood) tests. My allergist preferes to go by what your symptoms are when you eat the offending food rather then by the testing. I think that is the best indicator.

I guess that was just sort of a broad generalization that I shouldn't have made. I suffered a lot as a kid from allergies and I could never find an allergist willing to help me or acknowledge that food could have been my problem. One accused me of being on drugs when I was 12 because my nose was so messed up. It's strange that when I eliminated milk that problem went away. Anway, I'm sure there are great allergists out there and maybe I'll try to find one. Maybe it's just all intolerance related, in which case I know an allergist can't really help. I know for a fact that I react to dairy and soy. I will never ever eat dairy again regardless.

I'm mostly curious to find out how important it is for me to completely eliminate all traces of soy. Every once in a while I'll eat small amounts of soy, which I know I shouldn't, because it does make me feel like I'm choking if I eat too much. I was wondering if test results could tell me if my reaction could ever possibly result in anaphylaxis. I have no idea. I'm generally a fan of listening to my body and ignoring test results, but I was just curious about the tests....

[shai76]

  Mango04 said:

I guess that was just sort of a broad generalization that I shouldn't have made. I suffered a lot as a kid from allergies and I could never find an allergist willing to help me or acknowledge that food could have been my problem. One accused me of being on drugs when I was 12 because my nose was so messed up. It's strange that when I eliminated milk that problem went away. Anway, I'm sure there are great allergists out there and maybe I'll try to find one. Maybe it's just all intolerance related, in which case I know an allergist can't really help. I know for a fact that I react to dairy and soy. I will never ever eat dairy again regardless.

I'm mostly curious to find out how important it is for me to completely eliminate all traces of soy. Every once in a while I'll eat small amounts of soy, which I know I shouldn't, because it does make me feel like I'm choking if I eat too much. I was wondering if test results could tell me if my reaction could ever possibly result in anaphylaxis. I have no idea. I'm generally a fan of listening to my body and ignoring test results, but I was just curious about the tests....

Some doctors believe that the higher the "class rating" or IGE antibody response the more likely it is you could suffer anaphelectic reaction. But, from my experience and others I have talked to, you can be juts a class 1 and have a serious reaction, and be a class 4 and not have hardly any reaction. So the test measures how much the IGE antibodies go up in response to the allergen, but not your bodies response tot he IGE levels increasing. I'm a class 2 with milk, but class 3 with soy. I don't really react to soy, but I have life threatening reactions to milk.

I would say try an allergist or an ENT and get tested then kind of measure that against your own experience monitoring your reactions. Also your body can build blocking antibodies to allergens, like what the goal is with allergy shots. So you could measure allergic to something but not actually react to it.

Celiacs can cause multiple food allergies because it makes food more difficult to digest and can cause a sort of "leaky guy" type thing where proteins in food pass whole into the body and the antibodies see it as an invader. So it is possible for your allergic to lighten up or "go away" after some time on gluten free. At least I am hoping that can happen.