Newbie With Some Food Intolerance Questions

[Cashe2]

I have been working with a Naturopath doctor and keeping a food journal to try and figure out some of my food intolerances. My main symptom is nausea. Other symptoms are burping, constipation and low blood sugar.

With my naturopath doctor through a IgA saliva test we discovered I am intolerant to soy and through a IgG blood spot test I am intolerant to cows milk, cottage cheese and eggs.

I have been keeping a food journal now for almost 2 weeks and am seeing my stomach possibly reacts to gluten and/or corn. But some days when I consume gluten and corn I feel great and then the next day - not. So does sound like it could be an intolerance or do intolerance symptoms happen after EVERY time you consume the food?

I have been pondering further testing through Enterolab - do they test IgA or IgG reactions or something completely different?

[burdee]

I have been working with a Naturopath doctor and keeping a food journal to try and figure out some of my food intolerances. My main symptom is nausea. Other symptoms are burping, constipation and low blood sugar.

With my naturopath doctor through a IgA saliva test we discovered I am intolerant to soy and through a IgG blood spot test I am intolerant to cows milk, cottage cheese and eggs.

I have been keeping a food journal now for almost 2 weeks and am seeing my stomach possibly reacts to gluten and/or corn. But some days when I consume gluten and corn I feel great and then the next day - not. So does sound like it could be an intolerance or do intolerance symptoms happen after EVERY time you consume the food?

I have been pondering further testing through Enterolab - do they test IgA or IgG reactions or something completely different?

Enterolab tests for IgA reactions to gluten, casein, soy, egg and yeast.

I did ELISA blood tests for IgG reactions. I've never heard of an "IgG blood spot test". How does that work? I also don't understand how IgA reactions can be detected in saliva. Please explain.

[Cashe2]

Enterolab tests for IgA reactions to gluten, casein, soy, egg and yeast.

I did ELISA blood tests for IgG reactions. I've never heard of an "IgG blood spot test". How does that work? I also don't understand how IgA reactions can be detected in saliva. Please explain.

I am not sure "how" it works. I did the tests through my Naturopath. This is the blood spot test: Open Original Shared Link and this was my saliva test: Open Original Shared Link

[burdee]

I am not sure "how" it works. I did the tests through my Naturopath. This is the blood spot test: Open Original Shared Link and this was my saliva test: Open Original Shared Link

Interesting ... Thanks for the links.

[Juliebove]

If you have a problem with milk it stands to reason that you'd have a problem with cottage cheese. But I don't think that was ever on the IgG tests I've had! Just dairy. So that's kind of weird.

I have an IgG allergy to eggs. Big time! Here's how the egg thing all played out.

When we lived on Staten Island, I tried to cut back on the carbs because I am diabetic. I ate cottage cheese for breakfast some mornings and then eggs on others. I didn't know of the allergies at the time. I was also IgG allergic to dairy but that has resolved itself.

So some mornings I would get sick to my stomach and have to rush home from taking my daughter to Pre-K. I never related it to my food because it would happen not immediately after eating but after driving. I figured it was the stress of the traffic and the bad roads on S.I.

So then we moved here to WA. Daughter was diagnosed with a lot of IgG allergies including eggs and dairy. So to make it easier for her, I quit eating those things.

Then one day I was getting salad bar and decided to get some egg salad. I ate it and about 16 hours later, I got what I assumed was food poisoning. But there was still some egg salad left. Foolishly I decided to eat it again. This time I got sick 2 hours later.

Some time went by. I bought eggs for my husband. He didn't eat them. They were about to expire. I boiled them and made egg salad. Got sick 16 hours later. Still didn't make the connection. Ate more the next day. Got sick 2 hours later. So then I knew!

When the Naturopath told me I had a severe allergy he didn't have to tell me what it was to. I knew!

So for me... If I am eating an allergen all of the time, the sickness will come and will be there most of the time. I also had a bad runny nose pretty much all the time when I was eating eggs. I no longer have that.

If I stop eating the allergen, I will get better. If I eat it again, I will get a reaction but a much delayed one which is why this type of allergy is so hard to pinpoint. Then if I am fool enough to eat it again, the reaction will be much sooner.

I have had IgG testing done twice. Daughter outgrew both eggs and dairy. I outgrew dairy. I can now eat dairy with no problems. But I avoided it for several years.

[Korwyn]

I have been keeping a food journal now for almost 2 weeks and am seeing my stomach possibly reacts to gluten and/or corn. But some days when I consume gluten and corn I feel great and then the next day - not. So does sound like it could be an intolerance or do intolerance symptoms happen after EVERY time you consume the food?

To the best of my understanding from reading over the last couple years (and from personal experience), non-allergic reactions to foods can occur up to several days post exposure.

My wife tested positive for corn intolerance (along with 20+ other things). However what we have discovered is that the preparation of the corn makes a difference. Fresh/Frozen (i.e. unprocessed) corn she can eat as much as she wants. Stone ground corn is okay on an occasional basis as long as there is at least a couple days between. Corn flour will bother her the next day. Cornstarch makes her sick within a couple hours at most. Baby Spinach is the opposite. Cooked baby spinach is good to go, fresh spinach she needs a couple day break between. Grown-up spinach is a no-no at all.

So, all of that to say it may not be just what you are eating, but how it was prepared as well. This applies to the corn issue.

I have been pondering further testing through Enterolab - do they test IgA or IgG reactions or something completely different?

Fecal IgA.

[Skylark]

I have been keeping a food journal now for almost 2 weeks and am seeing my stomach possibly reacts to gluten and/or corn. But some days when I consume gluten and corn I feel great and then the next day - not. So does sound like it could be an intolerance or do intolerance symptoms happen after EVERY time you consume the food?

For me, intolerance symptoms typically show up the next day or possibly the day after, although sometimes I react within hours. I don't always get the same symptoms or severity.

I tend to react more strongly when I eliminate a problem food for a few weeks and then reintroduce it.

I have been pondering further testing through Enterolab - do they test IgA or IgG reactions or something completely different?

They test fecal IgA. The false positive rate is rather high. Presence of IgA in your intestine doesn't necessarily mean the food is presently getting into your blood to cause problems.