How Strictly Do You Avoid Your Igg Reaction Foods?

[Chakra2]

I got IgG food allergy tests done by a holistic MD a few months ago. The results were divided into categories by severity. Category 1 = very mild reaction, 2 = mild, 3= moderate, 4= severe. The doc said to never eat the severe foods ever again, to avoid the moderates for 9 months, milds for 6 months, and very milds for 3 months.

I'm okay with his advice for the most part but my son's pediatrician (son got tested too) and my chiropractor/nutritionist both said they didn't believe in the IgG testing. I wasn't surprised that the pediatrician thought that, but the nutritionist is super alternative so I was surprised that even she thought I wouldn't really benefit from following that schedule. She said the test was a useful, concrete image of just how leaky my gut is but that she doesn't necessarily think that it accurately measures a specific response to individual foods.

So I was wondering if others who have done IgG testing have really followed a schedule like the one above? With what kind of result?

I only have 4 "never agains" and I'm fine avoiding those (even my mainstream primary care doc said to avoid the nevers) but one of the foods I'm supposed to avoid for nine months is rice -- easier said than done while I'm learning gluten-free/soy-free/dairy-free. My nutritionist said it just doesn't make sense to think that a person couldn't really tolerate rice for 9 months. She asked if I feel like I react badly to it but I honestly feel a little confused about some of my reactions still -- I've only been gluten free since January, and fully dairy and soy free since about April.

Chakra2

[Jestgar]

Those tests are very inaccurate. You really need to test each specific food by first eliminating it for several weeks, then adding it back. Keep a journal and write down everything you feel while you are doing this. Note both physical and emotional/mental things (...."I seem to not get angry as much"....).

If any of the foods on your 'reactive' list have no response in your body, then eat them whenever you want.

[burdee]

  On 6/22/2010 at 3:13 AM, Chakra2 said:

I got IgG food allergy tests done by a holistic MD a few months ago. The results were divided into categories by severity. Category 1 = very mild reaction, 2 = mild, 3= moderate, 4= severe. The doc said to never eat the severe foods ever again, to avoid the moderates for 9 months, milds for 6 months, and very milds for 3 months.

I'm okay with his advice for the most part but my son's pediatrician (son got tested too) and my chiropractor/nutritionist both said they didn't believe in the IgG testing. I wasn't surprised that the pediatrician thought that, but the nutritionist is super alternative so I was surprised that even she thought I wouldn't really benefit from following that schedule. She said the test was a useful, concrete image of just how leaky my gut is but that she doesn't necessarily think that it accurately measures a specific response to individual foods.

So I was wondering if others who have done IgG testing have really followed a schedule like the one above? With what kind of result?

I only have 4 "never agains" and I'm fine avoiding those (even my mainstream primary care doc said to avoid the nevers) but one of the foods I'm supposed to avoid for nine months is rice -- easier said than done while I'm learning gluten-free/soy-free/dairy-free. My nutritionist said it just doesn't make sense to think that a person couldn't really tolerate rice for 9 months. She asked if I feel like I react badly to it but I honestly feel a little confused about some of my reactions still -- I've only been gluten free since January, and fully dairy and soy free since about April.

Chakra2

My IgG mediated allergies were diagnosed by ELISA blood test. My doc told me to just disregard the 'low' reaction and heed the 'moderate to high' reaction results. Every one of the foods (eggs, nutmeg, vanilla and cane sugar) in that latter category cause me painful gastrointestinal symptoms, except cane sugar, which causes 2-3 days of tachycardia and nausea. I absolutely avoid those foods, because I get obvious and uncomfortable reaction symptoms, which get even more intense after abstaining from those for long periods. So I will never be able to return to eating them, because my body won't forget how to make antibodies to those foods.

I also was diagnosed with IgA mediated allergies (intolerances?) to gluten, casein and soy. All those foods cause intense painful gastro symptoms. So I will never purposely consume any of those foods.

SUE

[Skylark]

Your nutritionist is absolutely correct. The schedule is really silly.

The use for IgG tests is as a guide, not to absolutely identify foods you can't ever eat. There really is no accurate test for food allergies and intolerances other than an elimination diet, but the IgG tests are supposedly helpful in narrowing down what might cause issues. Talk to your nutritionist (she sounds smart!) about how to set up an elimination diet to see whether you are sensitive to the foods with medium to high results.

Remember that as your body heals, you may come to tolerate some of your IgG foods again. If a food is fully, correctly digested in the intestine, it doesn't make it to the bloodstream to interact with IgG.

[Juliebove]

I've had two IGg tests done and so has my daughter. The results did not have things like mild or severe. We avoid all food that show an allergy all together. The Dr. said my egg was the highest one he had ever seen. And I did have severe reactions to eggs. I only knew this because daughter had previously been diagnosed with an egg allergy. So I quit buying them.

Then I got some egg salad from the salad bar for myself. Got sick something like 16 hours later. Did not make the connection to the egg, so ate the rest of it. This time the reaction was a half an hour later.

Some months went by. Had bought eggs for my husband. He didn't eat them. So I boiled them and made egg salad. Ate it twice. Same exact reaction. So... Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head! All those times I had gotten sick in the past and didn't know why. Eggs! Because of the delayed reaction, it made it hard to see. But I will never eat an egg again.

Daughter has since outgrown the egg, dairy, soy and banana allergies. But the egg was close to the line. So the Dr. told her to eat no more than once a week, avoidance would really be the best. The rest could be eaten no more than twice weekly and not on subsequent days.

We still avoid soy at least in the form of soybeans and soy protein because it messes with my thyroid. We do figure we will get soybean oil in restaurants. And we do eat some soy lecithin.

I outgrew the dairy but the Dr. told me to avoid it. I did this for a while. But I really wanted it. So, like my daughter, I started eating it twice a week. But I am not so sure this is a good idea. Sometimes I get sick to my stomach. I do have other medical digestion issues. So I just don't know...