What In Tarnation?

[Rowena]

Dang it, I hate my body somedays. I recently discovered my intolerance to gluten, I recently rediscovered my intolerance to chocolate. I for the most part don't eat dairy. (Not a big fan as my mom was lactose intolerant, so I didn't grow up eating much dairy.) I am pretty sure I aint allergic to soy, havent had any reactions to it as far as I can tell. But I am definitely reacting to something, mini hives appear all over my body (most notably my arms). And red welts... yuck! I am pretty sure nothing goes on my skin that contains gluten. I'm very careful about that, because for the first time in years, I feel wonderful as I haven't had any sensitivities to my gluten free shampoos/gels/soaps/lotions.... I don't eat many eggs, so I pretty sure it aint that...

What the heck should I try eliminating? (I'd go to a doctor and get some darn allergy tests, but like everything else, I am afraid nothing will show up. I hate intolerances... The bane of my very existence)

[Swimmr]

I was almost certain I wasn't intolerant to soy too...until I did an elimination diet. Come to find out I am very sensitive to it. I get red welted-like sores/hives when I have it, which I get similar to when I have gluten. I break out usually the next day, and they stay for several weeks. They don't pop...they slightly itch and mostly just hurt after the initial discovery. No head develops on them either...no puss ever.

I've not had a single panic attack since I cut soy out completely. I've not had my "vertigo-ish" attacks and no dizziness.

Since you are new to the gluten free thing perhaps doing an elimination diet to figure out what else you are sensitive to would be a great idea. It's a bit stressful, but WELL worth it.

I learned that I'm extremely sensitive to soy, mildly sensitive to green peas. I have gastro issues if I eat bell peppers and onions any less than cooked and usually I just burp a whole lot. And now I *think* I might be having a fructose absorption issue (which I just discovered, also in this same forum if you wanna read) that spurred a reaction from maple syrup and agave nectar.

You need to keep a food diary for a week or two and then look back and see what possible allergens you were consuming.

Start out eating whole foods you KNOW you are ok with. For me it was chicken cooked carrots and bananas. I did this for 7 days straight. Then I added a different food every three days. That's basically how my elim. diet worked. It is different for everyone though.

[Rowena]

Oh another note, not that it is entirely relevant, but I have been suffering from this allergy since before going gluten free. I didn't notice it as much though when I was getting glutenified, but now that I have gotten my gluten problems resolved I notice it more....

And swimmr, I will definitely have to consider an elimination diet.... (Maybe soy is my problem, but I keep telling myself it aint because I love my soy so much...)

[mushroom]

Could also be the nightshade family - that's what potatoes did to me

[missy'smom]

Give the allergy testing a try. You've got nothing to lose if you have ins., except maybe the copay. 1st time around was not helpful-with your averge allergist-large practice, mainly concentrated on environmentals. Second allergist was helpful-believes in eliminating foods even if there is no anaphylaxis, routinely runs large food panels-skin prick. He had us do a modified elimination/challenge diet where we eliminated all the we tetsed pos. to for 4 weeks and then re-introduced them one at a time. I've found it to be accurate-reactions matching up with the tests. I know most people say allergy testing is useless and we've had some tests that were not helpful but this last time was very helpful so I think it's worth it.

[cassP]

corn??

i have a theory that we may be ok with some foods (ie: corn, soy, legumes)-> but then we eat some "version" or processed byproduct and our body freaks out..??? that just seems to be my experience... OR maybe the different versions of the food are getting absorbed at different times thruout the body.

dont know if that sounds strange- but that seems to have been my experience. (my own assumptions/no allergy testing).

for example: regular tofu doesnt affect me, but soy oil & soy products in dressings seem to set off allergies.. and then you read about Soy Protein Isolate- and it's like- is that even safe for human consumption??

i had an EXTREME reaction to High Maltose Corn Syrup- broke out in HIVES, face/neck/arms/stomach BEET RED & HOT- it was WORSE than gluten (except that it only lasted an hour instead of a few days)... anyways, i did some reading- and basically "THEY" dont really know what HMCS may or may not do to the body- because it's so NEW to human consumption that they really dont know. (SCARY)

also for me: im usually ok with Hummus, but whole chickpeas will give HORRIFIC fructan Gas PAIN, and then chickpea flour gets me sneezing

sorry if that was discombobulated.. hope it made sense

[Mari]

Urticaria - skin problems including hives are caused by allergies. Food allergies are only one of the causes, skin contact allergies are also quite common.

Lyme Disease, often found in Celiacs, causes rashes anywhere on the body. Ask your Dr to test you for this.