Anyone Heard Of This Test?

[Juliebove]

My daughter and I both have IgG allergies. I am fine with mine but my daughter wants to be retested. She is hopeful to have outgrown wheat. She was tested twice and found to be allergic both times. But she did outgrow gluten. She thinks she has outgrown wheat because she has eaten things a few times that contained it and didn't get sick. One time was Whoppers. I don't know how I missed the wheat in there. I am usually pretty good about reading labels! I can't remember what the other food was. A processed food I think. It was a long time ago.

The Dr. who first diagnosed our IgG allergies charged something like $2,000 just for the test and then there were followup appointments that were very expensive. He is a Naturopath and our insurance won't cover it. I can't afford those prices. My mom paid our bills for us but I really don't think she had any idea it was going to be that expensive. That Dr. was also a very sore spot with the rest of our family. We felt that he was only after my mom's money. Not that she has a lot of it because she doesn't. But he was doing things like selling her supplements and telling her she could not purchase them from anyone but him. The supplements can easily be bought online and for about half of what he was charging. And he insisted on putting my daughter on a supplement that turned out to be for Alzheimers. She was 6 at the time.

We did get better after we were diagnosed. I went from having to keep boxes of Kleenex in every room and replacing them at least weekly from having to blow my nose so often. And not having constant stomach problems. I do have other medical conditions and I do actually have stomach problems from those things but it is not the same thing at all.

My daughter started doing better in school. And she no longer complained of constant stomach pain. She does still get sick all the time. She has missed 19 days of school so far this year. Her pediatrician said she is just unlucky.

We were told that the IgG testing should be repeated every 3 years. My mom found another Naturopath who charged less money but she has since died.

I can not seem to find another Naturopath in this area who does this sort of testing. We do have a Naturopath but she doesn't believe in this testing.

So I was poking around online and I found this:

Open Original Shared Link

Apparently for $85, you send in a hair sample and they can find food intolerances. Would be great if it really works! But it really sounds too good to be true. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

[RiceGuy]

Although I cannot provide any insight into that hair sample testing, I will point out that there is a peculiar aspect of Celiac (not sure if it applies to gluten intolerance, but wouldn't be surprised) called "the honeymoon phase". Though not all experience it, many do. It often occurs during the teen years, but can start earlier or later. During this time period, symptoms can diminish or even disappear entirely. The person feels perfectly normal, even wonderful. Gluten no longer seems to bother them. However, over time, the symptoms return, and often become worse than ever before.

I myself did experience the honeymoon phase, so I know how true it is. Felt like a million bucks, and it actually lasted a few years. But symptoms gradually returned, and eventually I knew something was very wrong. Just didn't know what it was. It was all before I discovered the whole gluten thing. Thank goodness you're on to it before more serious damage is done.

I don't know if anyone can actually "outgrow" an intolerance. Would be nice. But I've not read anything substantial on it. I hope for your daughter's sake that she has, but pardon me for remaining very skeptical.

[missy'smom]

With our allergies Julie, we were skin tested and skin tested again the next year. Our allergist said, and it has born out to be true so far, that you can test pos., avoid the food long enough and the next test will be neg. but if you reintroduce the food, you can end up symptomatic, meaning that you haven't ditched the allergy, the test was just neg. becuase your body had gotten a break and it wasn't enough to react. This happened to me with almonds. I re-introduced, all seemd fine and then BAM all of a sudden I had respiratory symptoms, mouth burning etc. But I know kids can truely grow out of some too.

If paying for tests is too costly, I would hesitate. I like re-testing myself, but my insurance pays If the cost is high, and you get a neg. the true test will be re-introduction. It could be that she will still be reactive if it is reintroduced regularly in a significant quantity. Our allergist recommends RI building up slowly the first day and then consuming in a good size portion once or twice a day for 4 days to a week.

I haer ya about the kids wanting it back. My son(13) is getting to a point where we would like some more clarity and to rule out celiac disease and I am considering a gluten challenge and re-testing(celiac disease and allergy). He too initially was gluten-free because of multiple pos. wheat allergy tests and eczema that went away after removal of gluten. I am just waiting for my insurance to cover my gene test, then I can start up the conversation with the allergist about my son and gluten again.

[Juliebove]

We do not have IgE allergies so our skin tests will always be negative. We have IgG allergies which some people call intolerances.

[Skylark]

I went to the website and my malarkey detector went off, big time. For starters, there is no way they could legitimately test 600 things for $85. Second, notice that there is no explanation of what the test you're paying for is measuring. Third, how could they afford to offer your money back if they were actually running 600 legitimate tests with reagents, instrumentation, technicians, and all the associated expenses? Notice how they do not offer full refunds on the metals test because they are actually doing something.

On the bright side, if you don't like their answer you get your $85 back. All you have to lose is postage.

[Juliebove]

I went to the website and my malarkey detector went off, big time. For starters, there is no way they could legitimately test 600 things for $85. Second, notice that there is no explanation of what the test you're paying for is measuring. Third, how could they afford to offer your money back if they were actually running 600 legitimate tests with reagents, instrumentation, technicians, and all the associated expenses? Notice how they do not offer full refunds on the metals test because they are actually doing something.

On the bright side, if you don't like their answer you get your $85 back. All you have to lose is postage.

That's true. I just wish I could get my daughter retested and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Even if she no longer has the pea allergy that would help a lot. Then I could buy regular tuna and not the expensive kind. Do you know they use peas in the broth for tuna? Gah!

[Skylark]

That's true. I just wish I could get my daughter retested and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Even if she no longer has the pea allergy that would help a lot. Then I could buy regular tuna and not the expensive kind. Do you know they use peas in the broth for tuna? Gah!

Wow, I had no idea! I plugged IgG allergy tests into Google Shopping on a whim and got a couple panels. This one is 88 foods for $219 Open Original Shared Link and 96 foods for $235. Open Original Shared Link It's expensive but not insane like the $2000 your naturopath charged.

[Juliebove]

Wow, I had no idea! I plugged IgG allergy tests into Google Shopping on a whim and got a couple panels. This one is 88 foods for $219 Open Original Shared Link and 96 foods for $235. Open Original Shared Link It's expensive but not insane like the $2000 your naturopath charged.

I will look at your links but the sites I saw for IgG testing did require a Drs. note or something like that. And none of our Drs. or our current naturopath believe in that kind of allergies. That particular Dr. was my mom's and it is a very sore point with the family. We are not allowed to talk about it with her. We all felt he was just taking her money because she would let him. That test included inhalents even though we told him we didn't want her to be tested for that because we already knew of those.

Actually the more I read about IgG allergies the more confused I get. Most places seem to say they are nonsense. I just know for myself that almonds, eggs and pistachios cause me trouble. So I won't eat them. I have never actually eaten an oyster although I did have a taste of turkey stuffing with oyster in it as a child. Hated it. And I used to eat Hum Bow which contains oyster sauce. But I have not eaten that in many years. So I was very stumped when I was tested a second time and found to have an oyster allergy.

I know that peanuts cause problems for my daughter. When she eats them she gets this weird sort of seeping nosebleed. But I am really unsure about the other things. In fact before she had the second test, that Dr. required her to eat all of the allergens but just little bites throughout the day. Mostly we went to Costco and other stores that were giving out samples. Back then I didn't even keep any wheat bread in the house.

I might just get the hair test done on myself and see how it goes.

The only thing I have turned up on the Internet about it is a complaint from a woman. She didn't complain that the test was invalid. She said that the foods they told her she was allergic to were foods she hasn't eaten in a long time. I would presume then (although it didn't say) that perhaps she already knew they gave her problems so wasn't eating them. She said that didn't solve her problems so wanted her money back. She said they told her she had to wait two weeks to eliminate those foods from her diet to see how she felt. She said she told them she already wasn't eating those foods. Then she said they refused to respond to her so she couldn't get her money back.

It's just really hard to say. I am not wanting to get the testing done because we are sick or having any particular symptoms. I just want to make sure we aren't getting any false positives. The first time we were tested we were both found to be allergic to dairy. So we stopped eating it. Then we were told that we had outgrown it and could have it twice a week but not on consecutive days. We eventually began cheating on that and are now eating it almost daily with no ill effects whatever. I think now that a lot of the stomach trouble I used to blame on dairy was really because of eggs. I did used to eat a lot of eggs in one form or another. I was vegetarian. Even if I was not eating eggs in and of themselves, I was eating wheat pasta which if it doesn't contain eggs as an ingredient can certainly be cross contaminated.

I think even if my daugher is found to no longer be allergic to wheat, we will still eat the gluten-free pasta at home because the brands I buy are free of egg.

[Skylark]

Although I cannot provide any insight into that hair sample testing, I will point out that there is a peculiar aspect of Celiac (not sure if it applies to gluten intolerance, but wouldn't be surprised) called "the honeymoon phase". Though not all experience it, many do. It often occurs during the teen years, but can start earlier or later. During this time period, symptoms can diminish or even disappear entirely. The person feels perfectly normal, even wonderful. Gluten no longer seems to bother them. However, over time, the symptoms return, and often become worse than ever before.

Wow, that explains a lot for me. I had that honeymoon in my teens, with just a little GI trouble. All heck broke loose when I got a flu in my early 20s.

Julieabove, If your IgG results helped you find your daughter's food intolerances than for YOU they are not nonsense. False positives are one of the big reasons IgG allergy testing is not popular among doctors. You are almost guaranteed to have them. The way you're supposed to handle food allergy testing, both IgG and IgE, is use the tests to guide an elimination diet. You remove all the positives, then reintroduce them one at a time, like you did with dairy. Obviously this has to be under a doctor's supervision if there is an anaphylactic allergy involved but that is not your situation.

There are testing services around with a doctor on staff who will order the IgG tests. The ones I linked may not work that way, but I've seen services that do. I don't know the first thing about the service, but the website says they will do a 96-food IgG Elisa without a prescription. Open Original Shared Link

[Juliebove]

We wound up getting into a HUGE fight over this. I had mentioned the hair test to her when I first found it and she refused to do it. So then I looked at the links posted here and showed her the IgG one for $219 (or was it $239?). It looked like the same test as we had before and I wrote to them. I did not need to get a Dr. involved. I offered her the choice of that one or the hair test. That one only required a finger stick. She refused both.

I think the problem is that she fears having new allergies crop up. That's what happened the second time we were both tested. But she is forgetting that she also no longer has some of them. I can understand why she doesn't want to have to cut out even more foods. I get that. But even if they say she can have peas now that would be a HUGE help to me! Better still if she could have almonds. She used to love almond butter. The lentils would help too if she has to remain on the wheat free diet because there are things she wants to eat that have lentil flour in them.

Since she refused to make a decision, I made it for her. I chose the blood test. I was almost through the checkout process when she pitched a royal fit and said she would not do that but would do the hair test. So I ordered that for both of us, including the nutritional part. I think that would be really helpful especially for me since my diet is so limited for a variety of reasons.

I still don't know how legit. this test is. I will report back of our findings.

[Skylark]

I'll be super-curious to hear if you get anything useful from the hair test. I'm even curious what the test is, since the website doesn't describe anything.

[Juliebove]

I'll be super-curious to hear if you get anything useful from the hair test. I'm even curious what the test is, since the website doesn't describe anything.

Yes. I have seen several other similar tests online in other countries. Mostly Australia and New Zealand. Apparently that sort of testing is quite common there. I recently had a discussion with someone online from Canada who had such a test and swore that it was accurate. At the time I had not heard of such a test. I had heard of other hair testing that was supposed to not be accurate. I can't remember now what that kind of hair test was for but I think it was various medical conditions that could be helped with vitamins and supplements.

[Juliebove]

Paperwork arrived yesterday. Had to answer some questions including the meds and supplements we are on. Are we diabetic? Do we have celiac? What kind of diet are we on? Such as vegetarian. There is a little bag on each piece of paperwork to enclose the hair. Tiny bag considering how long my daughter's hair is! We are going to get our hair done on Tues. so I'll have the hairdresser clip the hair then. They want three hairs from the back of the head close to the root. Will keep you updated.

[Skylark]

Weird. I was considering metal testing and it took a decent-sized lock of hair. Hard to imagine what they could get from three hairs.

[RiceGuy]

That's true. I just wish I could get my daughter retested and not have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Even if she no longer has the pea allergy that would help a lot. Then I could buy regular tuna and not the expensive kind. Do you know they use peas in the broth for tuna? Gah!

Last I was eating tuna from a can, I always got the kind with just water.

Yes. I have seen several other similar tests online in other countries. Mostly Australia and New Zealand. Apparently that sort of testing is quite common there. I recently had a discussion with someone online from Canada who had such a test and swore that it was accurate. At the time I had not heard of such a test. I had heard of other hair testing that was supposed to not be accurate. I can't remember now what that kind of hair test was for but I think it was various medical conditions that could be helped with vitamins and supplements.

I have heard of a hair test for nutrient deficiencies. That makes a certain amount of sense to me, since hair is effected by deficiencies (brittle, split ends, etc). That's not to say that all companies offering such a test would be legit however.

[kareng]

I am curious, Julie. Why do you think there are peas in plain tuna? Seems like an odd thing to add or use as a processing agent?

[kareng]

Wait! I might have answered my own question!

2 StarKist Chunk Light Tuna in Water

Nutrition: One serving (2 oz) = 80 calories, 0.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 35mg cholesterol, 300mg sodium, 1g carbs, 0g sugars, 18g protein.

Ingredients: Light Tuna, Water, Vegetable Broth, Salt.

Open Original Shared Link

How is it tuna in water? Its tuna in broth? Would be nice to know what veggies. Assuming this article has it right. Looks like Trader Joes is OK but you probably don't have one close to you.

[Juliebove]

I am curious, Julie. Why do you think there are peas in plain tuna? Seems like an odd thing to add or use as a processing agent?

I will post the link.

Here is one:

Open Original Shared Link

I know that is a Canadian product. The person who pointed it out to me gave me a link for either Starkist or Bumblebee (can't remember which) and it had the same ingredients. I can't seem to find that link now. She told me several years ago on a food allergy site.

ETA: Found it! Here is the Starkist link:

Open Original Shared Link

[Juliebove]

Oops! I just saw your reply. And I already posted the info. There is a TJ's in Lynnwood but I hate going there. I will go there maybe once a year. The Kirkland brand is safe as is the kind you can get in the grocery store in the gold can. I think it's Bumble Bee.

[Juliebove]

Test results came back today! So... Took a little less than three weeks.

I am intolerant to:

Boiled Milk

Buck Wheat

Chamomile Tea

Chicken Meat

Chufas (Tiger Nuts, Earth Almonds) whatever those are

Clove

Cod

Dried Allspice Berries

Egg Yolk

Green Coffee Bean

Macadamia Nuts

Milk Powder

Mint

Mixed Seafood (includes Cod, Shrimp, Mussel, Tuna, Salmon)

Mixed Spice (Tarragon, Thyme, Marjoram, Lovage)

Mixed Spice (Caraway, Cloves, Cardamom)

Oat Flour

Pecan

Rabbit

Rye

Tuna

Daughter is now intolerant to:

Basil

Cultivated Rye

Green Tea

Lamb

Linseed

Mare's Milk (like anyone would drink that)

Marjoram

Mixed Nuts (Peanut, Hazelnut, Brazil, Almond, Coconut)

Mutton

Octopus

Pumpkin Seed

Quinoa

Rose Hip Tea

Soooo... It looks like she fared a lot better than I did. I'm sad. Mint is hard to avoid. I found some toothpaste with cinnamon in it, even though cinnamon does tend to burn my mouth. I also really need the stuff for sensetive teeth. *sigh*

[Skylark]

This is the hair testing? What a weird list!

[Juliebove]

This is the hair testing? What a weird list!

Yes. It also said which vitamins/minerals we were deficient in and that seemed to be dead on, at least for me. I did have testing done at a regular Dr. just prior.

[Skylark]

Minerals and especially trace elements would be accurate. I don't know as much about hair and vitamins. I wonder if your daughter can eat peas again now? I notice mixed nuts came up with the peanuts that she reacts to.

[Juliebove]

Minerals and especially trace elements would be accurate. I don't know as much about hair and vitamins. I wonder if your daughter can eat peas again now? I notice mixed nuts came up with the peanuts that she reacts to.

Peas were not listed so I am going to assume she can. At this point the only thing she added back in is wheat. She did say that she felt sick to her stomach but I have been very sick to my stomach all day. I don't know if I have a virus or what. We both had a stomach virus twice recently. At least that's what the Dr. said.