More Food Issues Than Gluten

[Shoshannah]

Hi,

I have celiac's - but in addition to gluten, I have so many other foods that cause me to have bloating, cramps, itching, feel quite sick including: alcohol, sugar/sweeteners, corn, nuts, dried fruit, almost all grains, alcohol, caffeine, mayonnaise, dairy, red meat. I also don't seem to digest cooked eggs well. Any one else experience this? Help in understanding this would be great.

[ang1e0251]

I feel better when I don't eat any grains, coffee, artificial sweeteners and allspice.

[jststric]

I also am very intolerant of dairy, eggs, nuts, beans, rice, peas, and some spices such as chili powder and anything very hot. Yes, its a pain!! I don't know what to tell you to help make it livable. It's not easy. It's just something you have to get used to and find a mind-set that your diet is very limited. One thing you might consider is cross-contamination too. Things that you CAN have but are "processed in facilities that that also handle..........". Those things can really trip me up too. Best wishes!

[mushroom]

Have you considered that you could also have candida overgrowth? Alcohol, sugar, grains, dried fruits (high in sugar) could all feed this nicely? And with candida overgrowth it makes it difficult to digest anything.

[shendler]

I just went for food allergy testing and I'm allergic to just about everything. I came back positive for beef, pork, turkey, milk, eggs, chocolate, coffee, peaches, apricots. It really does suck!!!!!

[Shoshannah]

I also am very intolerant of dairy, eggs, nuts, beans, rice, peas, and some spices such as chili powder and anything very hot. Yes, its a pain!! I don't know what to tell you to help make it livable. It's not easy. It's just something you have to get used to and find a mind-set that your diet is very limited. One thing you might consider is cross-contamination too. Things that you CAN have but are "processed in facilities that that also handle..........". Those things can really trip me up too. Best wishes!

[Shoshannah]

thanks so much for the replies...

[LuvMoosic4life]

I just went for food allergy testing and I'm allergic to just about everything. I came back positive for beef, pork, turkey, milk, eggs, chocolate, coffee, peaches, apricots. It really does suck!!!!!

how do they test for food allergies??....my friend had some testing done for some allergies and said it involed needles and skin poking...all over the back -eeeek!

[elle's mom]

I am also curious how you all found out about all your additional food sensitivities...testing or symptoms alone??? My daughter is celiac and I am trying to figure out if something else is also bothering her. We tackled the gluten alright, but now I'm reading all these posters' signatures that list other food sensitivities-I'm not sure how to figure it out or how to cope with it. I thought we had it nailed with eliminating gluten, how depressing to think of going through it all over again with somthing new. Can you ever eat out???

Also, could the poster who mentioned candida please explain...............not familiar with this.

[mushroom]

You might consider that when you are first diagnosed and go gluten free that your immune system is in a heightened state of response and very reaction prone. It is quite likely to react to a huge variety of things that you will eventually be able to tolerate once healing has taken place and the immune system has calmed down. So don't consider that all these sensitivities are permanent; just avoid them for now and challenge them after a few months and see what happens.

[Shoshannah]

I am also curious how you all found out about all your additional food sensitivities...testing or symptoms alone??? My daughter is celiac and I am trying to figure out if something else is also bothering her. We tackled the gluten alright, but now I'm reading all these posters' signatures that list other food sensitivities-I'm not sure how to figure it out or how to cope with it. I thought we had it nailed with eliminating gluten, how depressing to think of going through it all over again with somthing new. Can you ever eat out???

Also, could the poster who mentioned candida please explain...............not familiar with this.

[Shoshannah]

I figured out that I had other food sensitivities through a long time of trial and error and repeated testing by naturopaths. I also consulted w/ tested md's and nutritionist's. I was given various lists of things not to eat (elimination diets) -- but really, none of the various tests were very accurate - and all seemed pretty mystified about why so many of the other issues. I plan to now follow up with a gastro specialist to see what they might find.

I rarely eat out any more -- i choose carefully where I will go. I have found a wonderful Peruvian restaurant that has a gluten free menu - and many foods that i can eat! (I live in Portland, OR). I enjoy sashimi, so sushi restaurants are good. Places that are vegan rarely work for me, but perhaps your daughter has fewer limitations? Raw foods restaurants sometimes work well, too, depending on their menu - sometimes they are heavy on the nuts and dried foods - raw "soups" often are very delicious and with ingredients I can eat. Since raw "cooked" food is often lightly steamed it can sometimes work for me, too.

Salads are a good option at places that offer a wide variety of options - not just lettuce-based salad but w/beets, cucumbers, peppers, onions, peas, artichokes, etc. Restaurants that serve more fresh ingredients and dishes work better for me

My mom also has celiac - fortunately she has fewer restrictions so she continues to eat out much more than I do. She brings along rice bread as substitute for breads served. She traveled the world and loved to eat great food -- it's no longer the same, but she still enjoys plenty of food when she goes out.

My sister is a chef -- so you can imagine the emphasis on food in my family...

Best wishes

[mushroom]

Food allergy testing is okay as far as it goes (a long time ago I tested sensitive to corn and mildly to soy and I still am, so nothing has changed there.) But after ceasing gluten consumption you may well show sensitivites (could be rash, itching, digestive issues, other reactions similar to gluten) which may or may not show up on allergy testing (there is a difference between allergies and sensitivities but I am not the one to explain this to you--perhaps others can be more elaborative on this). At any rate, the best way to find out your sensitivities is to keep a food and symptom diary and pretty soon you will see a correlation between what you eat and what your symptoms are. Now, this may not be an immediate reaction, and in some cases if the reaction is continuous you have to make a guess, probably that it is one of the biggies like soy, corn, dairy, eggs, something you are eating most every day and try cutting those out one by one, and see if it makes any difference. And you have to give it a good trial, not just for a day or two. It is a tedious process but most of us have not come up with anything better.

And yes, you can eat out, but it is better to get things sorted first so you know what to avoid when eating out.

As far as candida, it is a yeast overgrowth which can happen in various parts of the body. In the vagina and mouth it is known as thrush. It often occurs in the gut as a reaction to the gluten assault and from the ingestion of antibiotics which kill the good bacteria as well as the bad in the body. It is often recommended that newly diagnosed celiacs take a gluten free probiotic (usually the beneficial bacteria found in yogurt--acidophilus, bifidus) to repopulate the good bacteria in the gut, and limit sugars on which the yeast feeds.

As for dairy, most celiacs who have damage to their villi in the small intestine cannot digest lactose (the milk sugar in milk) at first until they have healed. Many cannot digest casein (the protein component of milk) either. You can easily test this out. Try giving your daughter some hard cheese. If she can handle this, try butter and yogurt. In all these products the lactose component has either been mostly digested by cultures or mostly removed. If she handles these, she is not casein intolerant so try giving her milk, cream or ice cream. These tend to be the worst products for the lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance will often go after away after the villi heal; casein intolerance may not.

Hope this helps.

[JillianLindsay]

Yes, allergy testing involves pokes either on the back or on the forearm. It's not injections with an actual needle, but they do need to poke the skin to expose the allergen and watch for a reaction. I've had it done twice (once on the back as a kid & once on the forearm as a teen). The forearm was much easier and wasn't painful at all. Definitely worth it if you want to pin-point your allergies.

As for me, I have been gluten-free for nearly a month and seem to also be sensitive to dairy, caffeine and possibly sugar(?). I await the results of my lactose intolerance test and am cutting out my morning coffee *tear* to reintroduce it later and see if it is the culprit.

Good luck to all of us

Jillian

how do they test for food allergies??....my friend had some testing done for some allergies and said it involed needles and skin poking...all over the back -eeeek!

[shendler]

how do they test for food allergies??....my friend had some testing done for some allergies and said it involed needles and skin poking...all over the back -eeeek!

I had a skin prick test. The doctor used a needle to scratch the surface of my skin for each thing she was testing for. It is not a painful experience at all! It sounds much worse than it is.

[DinaB]

I had a skin prick test. The doctor used a needle to scratch the surface of my skin for each thing she was testing for. It is not a painful experience at all! It sounds much worse than it is.

You may find that having blood work done to be more reliable. My allergies aren't inhaled, they happen upon digestion. Nothing...absolutely nothing will show up on a scratch test for me, but when they test through my blood it is truly amazing what shows up. I've used direct labs and they have been the most accurate for three years now. You can find them at Open Original Shared Link. Of course you have to pay for the test yourself, but you bring it to a lab, follow the instructions and in two weeks you will have a color print out of approcimately 96 foods groups. I made a list of things I thought were causing my eczema before I sent it in, just to see how accurate it would be, and it was spot on. No other tests have come close. If you saw my first test you would think I was allergic to everything. Once you eliminate these foods, and retest again after one year or so, you will be left with what seems to be my regulars.

It worth it because I can't begin to put into words how much it helped me. Once I eliminated those foods the itching and eczema stopped. It brough such relief. I have also done Rast testing and Alisa testing and neither of these come close. I am not bashing those other companies, they are both good, just not as good and much cheaper.