Other Food Intolerances

[BabsV]

So, I'm 6 months gluten-free and my blood tests show that the diet is working and my numbers are coming down nicely. Yay me!

On a negative note I am still have a lot of pain issues which are stumping the doctors plus I have days where I know I have no ingested gluten but I have a gluten-like reaction, although not nearly as strong.

I'm starting to think there may be other things that my body just isn't happy about right now. I really noticed this after we went away for a week's vacation and I was eating only meat, veg and fruit with some dairy (hey, we were in Italy...wasn't going to miss out on gelato!) When I got back home and started eating quinoa again I noticed the pain really ramped up within a few hours...so I've cut quinoa out. Yesterday morning I tried some Lundberg Farms Rice Chips and was very unhappy all day; looked back at my food diary and realized I'd had the same thing happen with some CrunchMaster crackers last week. Don't seem to have a problem with plain old rice...I'm thinking maybe I just need to cut out grains for a while and then try to reintroduce after a few months? I don't seem to have the same issue with dairy or corn -- I cut out dairy for 4+ months after my diagnosis and as of now I am only eating a small amount of cheese and it doesn't seem to bother me.

Anyway, I wasn't sure how food intolerances manifest for people. Gluten like symptoms? Pain? C/D? What was it that made you realize you have issues with foods other than ones containing gluten?

I'm thinking another elimination diet attempt might be in order...

I brought this up with my doctor and he just wants to treat the pain issues -- not at all interested in the idea that it may be something other than Celiac. I am living in Poland right now and return to the States in July -- I need to get through the next 4 months until I can return and find a doc who actually knows something about Celiac. The Polish attitude seems to be, "You have Celiac, you eat gluten free and everything is fine." I've had to push for blood tests to check vitamin levels, etc. Grrrrrr.

Thanks.

[Bubba's Mom]

After going gluten-free I had nausea, or migraines after eating some foods. The nausea progressed to vomiting after ingesting soy. I removed all soy from my diet (not easy..it's in supplements too), and I found that dairy was giving me headaches..that progressed to migraines. Took that out. Then reacted badly to canned chicken broth..and found I was reacting to MSG.

I also get kind of hyperactive and can't sleep after eating things that don't agree with me.

The food log is very helpful in linking reactions to certain foods.

There's still something that gets me..but I haven't figured it out yet.

[Jetamio]

I discovered my MSG allergy a long time ago and then I discovered my casein about two years before anyone thought to look at gluten because my symptoms weren't classic. Now that I've been gluten free a couple of weeks, I am writing down everything I eat and noticing some sensitivity to soy. Go figure. I'm just trying to eat as clean as I can and let my body heal. Hang in there and listen to your body. I think our bodies no more than doctors sometimes.

[GFinDC]

OK, so some of my symptoms from food intolerances have been;

joint pain

swollen ankles and feet

poor circulation in feet

passing out

trouble focusing eyes

dry eyes

fatigue

mental confusion

gut pain

C/D

trouble swallowing food

insomnia

gut spasms

higher than normal blood sugar

[mushroom]

I would add to the food intolerance list with symptoms of rashes, itching, hives, gluten-like reactions (of shorter duration), acne all over face (never had it as a teen), heart palpitations. Everyone reacts diferently; i.e., there is no common reaction to a specific food and your reaction will be unique to you.

Foods I reacted to immediately were soy and corn. The others I acquired through leaky gut.

[GottaSki]

OK, so some of my symptoms from food intolerances have been;

joint pain

swollen ankles and feet

poor circulation in feet

passing out

trouble focusing eyes

dry eyes

fatigue

mental confusion

gut pain

C/D

trouble swallowing food

insomnia

gut spasms

higher than normal blood sugar

My list of reactions includes all but one of the above plus:

Severe abdominal bloating (flat tummy to 9 months preg looking in minutes)

Tingling mouth

Itchy to rashes

Lung issues to anaphalaxis

Huge mental swing within hours after trialing one food

The longer I was on a full elimination diet - the stronger many reactions became.

[faithforlife]

I've linked joint pain to soy myself. My son reacts to high fructose corn syrup like as if he was glutened-running to restroom!

[BeFree]

I kept a very detailed food diary for months and wrote down everything I ate plus all symptoms I experienced and what time of day it happened. I ate almost all natural foods/just fruits and veggies etc, and whenever I ate something in a package I saved the package so I could go back and look at the ingredients later if needed.

I experienced severe D one day after eating asparagus and was confused about the cause for awhile; I really did not think I had a sensitivity to asparagus. Months later I began to suspect a soy intolerance, and when I reviewed my food diary I realized that I had cooked the asparagus in a margarine substitute. I went back and looked at the package I had saved and saw it contained soybean oil. Bingo, soy intolerance.

The bottom line is, the only way to track other food intolerences is with time, patience, and a very detailed food diary.

[dilettantesteph]

I have found that I react to some things from one source and not another. For instance, I might react to Lundberg rice chips but not Lundberg brown rice. Or, I might react to brand X rice, but not brand Y rice. I keep track of all that in the food journal. Then I eat what I don't react to. Each new item is a new adventure. It is hard to make sense of it all sometimes, but the object is to find food to eat.

I try to add only one new thing per week because sometimes it can take awhile to notice symptoms.

When I can't figure out what is bothering me, and I don't want to eliminate more, I'll eat extra of it one day to see if I notice increased symptoms or not.

[AVR1962]

Here's the crazy thing that I have noticed is that I have had all kinds of reactions to all kinds of foods. For awhile I could not eat tomatoes, for awhile my stomach was sensative to meat, there for the longest time I could not eat any gums like xanthan, even raisins at one point bothered me.....why? I don't know but I went with it and as my system repaired I was able to put them back in my diet. I think the only things I didn't react to was potatoes, avocados, eggs and lettuce.....seriously! I kept a journal which was helpful. Don't dispair, for whatever reason some of this seems to only be temporary.

[BabsV]

Thanks for all your replies. I'll go back to keeping the detailed food diary (I have to admit to slacking off a bit lately) and I think I'll go back to a simpler diet for several weeks. I just want the pain to improve because it started almost a year ago and honestly, I am just sick of it!