Egg Intolerance

[llama3]

Since going gluten-free I have started experiencing bouts of intense nausea, more and more frequent. Thought it might be blood sugar, so I had tests including a 3-hour OGTT, all came back normal. So I tried eliminating eggs for 2 weeks (I started eating a LOT of eggs when I dropped gluten), and continued to have other symptoms and pains, but not so much the nausea - though occasionally that too.

Today I ate a scrambled egg as a test and ten minutes later was almost doubled over with nausea and stomach cramps. Almost five hours later, still nauseated/cramping pretty badly, though not as severe.

I may wait and try it again to see if it was a fluke, because I suppose it could have been a delayed reaction to something else, although I didn't eat very much this morning before the egg. I'm just wondering, for those who have had other food intolerances, if your reaction was like this. I did not have any ... er ... bathroom symptoms.

OK ... thanks.

[Marilyn R]

Since going gluten-free I have started experiencing bouts of intense nausea, more and more frequent. Thought it might be blood sugar, so I had tests including a 3-hour OGTT, all came back normal. So I tried eliminating eggs for 2 weeks (I started eating a LOT of eggs when I dropped gluten), and continued to have other symptoms and pains, but not so much the nausea - though occasionally that too.

Today I ate a scrambled egg as a test and ten minutes later was almost doubled over with nausea and stomach cramps. Almost five hours later, still nauseated/cramping pretty badly, though not as severe.

I may wait and try it again to see if it was a fluke, because I suppose it could have been a delayed reaction to something else, although I didn't eat very much this morning before the egg. I'm just wondering, for those who have had other food intolerances, if your reaction was like this. I did not have any ... er ... bathroom symptoms.

OK ... thanks.

Hi llama, and welcome to the forum! Sending you cyber hugs ((( ))).

I had allergy skin prick testing about six months after going gluten-free, because foods that were supposed to be safe weren't agreeing. I scored fairly high on egg yolks, vs. whites. That's not normal. Most people who are allergic to eggs react to the white.

I eliminated yolks for about 8 months, then reintroduced with baked products and ultimately scrambled eggs, and eggs don't bug me anymore.(But if you give me a fried egg, I still just eat the white out of habit.) My doctor loves my cholesterol level, so it's all good.

Egg white omelettes and/or scrambled egg whites are not too bad, just visually weird. I didn't have reactions from peeling the white off a hard boiled egg to make tuna salad or etc. If you don't want to go egg free, maybe try and see if you do okay with just egg white for awhile.

I'm not sure our experiences will be similar, but it might be worth a shot. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[llama3]

Hi llama, and welcome to the forum! Sending you cyber hugs ((( ))).

Thanks.

I had allergy skin prick testing about six months after going gluten-free, because foods that were supposed to be safe weren't agreeing. I scored fairly high on egg yolks, vs. whites. That's not normal. Most people who are allergic to eggs react to the white.

So can food intolerances show up on skin testing? I read somewhere that they can't. I am thinking of seeing an allergist though.

When you were reacting to eggs, were you able to eat things that contained eggs - like muffins - or was that a problem too?

[T.H.]

An intolerance to eggs won't show up on allergy tests, no, but an allergy can still cause stomach problems, too, so it's definitely worth seeing an allergist. If you can, find one who is willing to do more than a prick tests to detect allergies.

I'm allergic to eggs as well and stomach pain is one of my symptoms, definitely. I don't get hives or itching or swelling, just the gut problems. You'd think that would mean it's just plain eggs that caused me trouble, but even egg derived ingredients seem to have caused me problems. :-/

One thing to be aware of, if it's an allergy, is that every time you have an allergic reaction, you are in a sense 'primed' to have another one. Your IgE levels go up and take a while to come back down, so if you get egg again before the IgE levels go down, it won't take as much egg to make you react as it did the time before.

[TeknoLen]

I was quite disappointed when my test showed I had a slight sensitivity to eggs (specifically, ovalbumin protein). Eggs are such a great source of quick protein that they had become a big part of my diet. I reluctantly dropped them out of my diet for a while and just tried two egg yolks for breakfast the day before yesterday, the first time in a long time. No apparent problems but I am still going to be very cautious with them until I am sure my gut is well-healed up. There are better sources of lean protein, such as turkey breast low and slow in the crock pot. Just takes a little more planning ahead...