Wheat & Soy "allergy" What Next...

[twmattox]

After several years of dealing with "IBS" and over 8-months of varying nerve issues, joint pain, muscle cramps, lethargy, hair loss (legs), mental issues, etc... I have just found out I have severe wheat and soy allergies. Doctors began with thyroid screenings, MS concerns (with MRI), pituitary gland screenings, testosterone therapy, and soon to be appointment with reumatologist. I finally begged for a food allergy screening and received it last Thursday. According to the test, I have severe reaction to wheat, major reaction to soy, and slight reaction to yeast. I was told to immediately remove those items from my diet.

On Friday, I had a meeting with my family practice doctor regarding my above listed issues. He is sending me to a reumatologist. When looking at gluten free diets, I stumbled across this site. My symptoms match Celiac very closely and I need some advice on how to proceed. I am assuming I need to get tested? But, if the course of treatment action for Celiac is avoidance, why does testing matter? I have already started my gluten free diet (granted only a couple days) and I don't want to break it. Not to mention, I had a lower endoscopy several years ago and became lucid during the procedure. The thought of this happening during an upper endoscopy (for biopsy) quite literally scares me to death.

[mushroom]

Hello, and welcome. Get thee back to thy doctor and ask him to draw a celiac blood panel immediately (don't waste a day - you might be able to get him to order it over the phone) because you need to still have gluten in your system to keep making the antibodies that they test for. If the tests come back positive it is entirely up to you whether or not you have the recommended endo with biopsy. You can tell them about the previous occasion and they can up your sedation meds so that doesn't happen again, though. A couple of days gluten free won't matter but the longer you leave it the more likely it is to affect the results. The same goes for the biopsy - although the damage can linger a little longer in the small intestine. But if you have been gluten free for any period of time there is little point to it.

[auzzi]

begged for a food allergy screening and received it last Thursday. According to the test, I have severe reaction to wheat, major reaction to soy, and slight reaction to yeast. I was told to immediately remove those items from my diet.

Generally speaking:

With an Allergy, the antibody, Immunoglobulin E (IgE), binds directly to the allergen detected. This causes the Mast Cells in the body tissue to release histamine. resulting in local anaphylaxis [allergic symptoms] like swelling, redness, and itching. Antihistamine relieves the symptoms. Systemic or complete anaphylaxis is a life-threatening hypersensitive condition. In those cases, the person carries an epinephrine auto-injector in case of an attack.

Coeliac disease is an Autoimmune disease. In the individual with coeliac disease, the body creates antibodies, immunoglobulin A (IgA) and anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTGA), which cause the lining of the small intestine to break down. These antibodies attack the body itself not any allergen. Antihistamines would have no effect.

I have severe reaction to wheat

Which part of the wheat there are you allergic to ? "Wheat" is very general - you may be reacting to any of the allergenic components in wheat, eg serine protease inhibitors, Albumin, globulin, glutelins, prolamins, or even polypeptides. You could also be allergic to wheat pollen ..

A reaction to wheat is a sweeping statement that does not provide you with any real information. Ask exactly what part of wheat caused the reaction ..

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[Skylark]

What Mushroom said. Run, don't walk, for celiac testing.