Please Help Me Understand What Food Intolerances I Actually Have?

[Trymester]

My Enterolab results show that I am sensitive to Gluten.

Previous and Current blood tests say that I am not allergic to Gluten, but do claim me as allergic to some other things:

May 31, 2009

Corn Class 2

Soy Class 1

Egg White Class 0

Milk Class 0

Wheat Class 0

Peanut Class 2

Sesame Seed Class 2

Walnut Class 1

October 18, 2010

Corn Class 1

Soy Class 0

Egg White Class 0

Milk Class 0

Wheat Class 0

Peanut Class 1

Sesame Seed Class 1

Walnut Class 1

What does it mean that my corn and nuts numbers were class 2 and are now class 1? Is it just different ways to calculate the same facts? If Enterolab (October 2010) had me at 36 units (Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA), when the normal is less than 10 units, and that makes for a clear intolerance to gluten, then why does it not show up at all on blood IgE tests?

I was perfectly ready to start my gluten-free diet, but both of my blood tests say I'm allergic to corn, and the older one said I'm allergic to soy. These were to be my main wheat replacements. What should I do?

Supposedly, I'm not allergic to milk, but I planned on letting go of it also. My fecal anti-casein IgA came out to 10 units, and the normal is supposedly under 10.

In conclusion, I will do the gluten-free, but should I abstain from corn, soy, and nuts as well? Why do these tests check for these foods, and not others? If they checked for peanuts, sesame (which was 1 of my main replacement foods in hummus), and walnuts, then why didn't they check for pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, etc.?

What do you guys make of this?

[jeanne-]

Hi Trymester,

I too am allergic to corn and soy. I have used a combination of rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour to replace my wheat flour (proportions can be found on the King Arthur Flour web site, it is located at the bottom of their gluten free recipes). It helps if you can make as much homemade food as you can. Bob's Red Mill has a gluten free flour that is good for baking cakes, it doesn't have the grittiness that rice flour can have.

We use rice milk to replace dairy. Rice Dream claims to be gluten free although I did see a post that said it truely wasn't. Guess it depends on how sensitive you are to gluten.

When my son was tested for food allergies, he was positive for milk and two kinds of cheeses, but negative for two other kind of cheeses. The doctor said that the protien structure was slightly different in each cheese. Makes me wonder if the protien structure is slightly different in each kind of nut as well.

[Looking for answers]

Have you continued to eat the foods you're allergic to? You have to be eating the foods for your tests to be accurate.

[Trymester]

I am yet to stop eating any foods at all.

[ravenwoodglass]

First off celiac does not show up on allergy testing. You should eliminate the stuff that you are reacting to for a bit. You may find after you have been gluten free for a bit that your other intolerances will improve. Leave them out till you are fully healed on the gluten free diet and then add the others back in one at a time to see if you are tolerating them.

[Trymester]

First off celiac does not show up on allergy testing. You should eliminate the stuff that you are reacting to for a bit. You may find after you have been gluten free for a bit that your other intolerances will improve. Leave them out till you are fully healed on the gluten free diet and then add the others back in one at a time to see if you are tolerating them.

Thanks for this. I will do. And, as far as I know though, I am not reacting to any corn, soy, or nuts.

[mushroom]

IgE testing is not necessarily predictive of how you will react to a food when you ingest it. They did not check for the other nuts because they only check for the most common allergens, of which sesame seeds just recently made the list.

[cassP]

Because Allergies & Intolerances & Autoimmune Diseases are all completely different things. you could have one & not the other or both

there's a moderator on here who says those allergy tests are not conclusive... my theory and own allergic experiences: is that they body may not always be releasing the same amount of histamines ???? i read somewhere that when you are stressed- your body makes MORE histamines which would elevate your allergic responses-

i have definitely experienced different levels of allergic responses

[Trymester]

Even though I came out low on the allergy scale for things like nuts and walnuts, what exactly does that mean for almonds? Is anyone here allergic to almonds?

[arened]

I went to an allergist when I was trying to figure out what was causing my symptoms (later figured out I had Celiac). They did a blood test called the RAST, which tests for the most common IgE allergies (these are immediate reactions). Common signs of IgE reactions are itching and immediate swelling. The panel they tested me for was the same as yours, which are the most common allergens. I also did not react to wheat on that test. Class 0, 1, 2, etc. are the level that you reacted. The higher the number, the more IgE antibodies you have in your body for those foods. So, you will react more to them.

The anti-gliandin test from Enterolab (which I also completed) is an IgG reaction. This is a delayed reaction (not immediate like IgE). It is more likely to show you food intolerances and symptoms could include many things like fluid retention, joint pain, fatigue, GI upset, etc.

There is a Celiac panel, which is a blood test, that you can have completed from your Primary Care Physician. If you haven't gone on a gluten-free diet yet, you could give this blood test a try.

I was positive on enterolab for anti-gliandin, then had the blood test done only recently and it was also positive. My IgE blood test was negative. I hope this helps!

[Skylark]

I'm not sure why you would expect fecal IgA and blood IgE tests to come out the same. It's a totally different part of your immune system.

The usual thing with RAST is to eliminate all the foods that came up positive. Then you introduce them one at a time to see if you have a reaction from eating the food. They are not conclusive because your body is not a test tube. The test is simplified by necessity, and lots of things happen to foods between your mouth and your bloodstream.

The doctor who ordered the tests will generally help with setting up the diet and challenge schedule. Food allergies come and go, as you see with your shifting test results, so if you have a food that's only a mild reaction, it's reasonable to test it again in a few years.

As far as corn and soy, it looks like your wheat replacements will have to be rice and potatoes.