Elisa

[zebaldwin]

Just curious if anyone here has had the ELISA testing done, and if it was helpful or not.

I keep getting so close to finding the answer to my health problems, and I am still convinced it is food related...just looking for a means to find some real answers.

Is it accurate? Is it helpful?

Also, is it something my GP could do or do I need to go to an allergy specialist?

Thanks!

[Bubba's Mom]

Just curious if anyone here has had the ELISA testing done, and if it was helpful or not.

I keep getting so close to finding the answer to my health problems, and I am still convinced it is food related...just looking for a means to find some real answers.

Is it accurate? Is it helpful?

Also, is it something my GP could do or do I need to go to an allergy specialist?

Thanks!

I had the skin prick test for 98 foods. The test came back with no reactions. I clearly react badly to wheat(gluten) and soy, so my Dr. did a RAST (blood test) and I didn't have any reactions.

I was told there isn't any reliable test for food intolerances, other than your personal experience of symptoms when you consume something that doesn't agree with you. The best way of figuring those out is to keep a log of everything you eat, and note any symptoms you have. Unfortunately many food reactions are delayed, making it a bit tricky to figure out at first.

That being said, some people do food sensitivity testing through Enterolabs via mail order and feel it helps them know what foods to avoid or challenge later. It's been noted that there can be a lot of false positives with this test, which makes it a bit unreliable, which is why Dr.s don't usually order it.

[zebaldwin]

I had the skin prick test for 98 foods. The test came back with no reactions. I clearly react badly to wheat(gluten) and soy, so my Dr. did a RAST (blood test) and I didn't have any reactions.

I was told there isn't any reliable test for food intolerances, other than your personal experience of symptoms when you consume something that doesn't agree with you. The best way of figuring those out is to keep a log of everything you eat, and note any symptoms you have. Unfortunately many food reactions are delayed, making it a bit tricky to figure out at first.

That being said, some people do food sensitivity testing through Enterolabs via mail order and feel it helps them know what foods to avoid or challenge later. It's been noted that there can be a lot of false positives with this test, which makes it a bit unreliable, which is why Dr.s don't usually order it.

Ya, that's what I was afraid of.

I am having the hardest time pinpointing anything...especially because I am almost positive whatever it is has a significant delay with reactions.

I recently started keeping a very detailed journal, so hopefully that will help

[Skylark]

The main issue with testing is false positives. It's reasonable to get the test, eliminate everything that comes up, and see if you feel better. If so you challenge the foods one at a time. Problem is if you're reacting to a lot of stuff you may have so many ELISA reactions that the resulting diet is wildly impractical and/or doesn't help because you are sensitive to things other than the 96 that were tested.

[burdee]

I had the skin prick test for 98 foods. The test came back with no reactions. I clearly react badly to wheat(gluten) and soy, so my Dr. did a RAST (blood test) and I didn't have any reactions.

I was told there isn't any reliable test for food intolerances, other than your personal experience of symptoms when you consume something that doesn't agree with you. The best way of figuring those out is to keep a log of everything you eat, and note any symptoms you have. Unfortunately many food reactions are delayed, making it a bit tricky to figure out at first.

That being said, some people do food sensitivity testing through Enterolabs via mail order and feel it helps them know what foods to avoid or challenge later. It's been noted that there can be a lot of false positives with this test, which makes it a bit unreliable, which is why Dr.s don't usually order it.

Skin prick tests can only diagnose food allergies which produce skin reactions, like hives, eczema, etc. We don't put food under our skin when we eat, so allergies which produce other kinds of reactions are not reliably diagnosed with skin tests.

RAST tests look for IgE antibody mediate allergies, which cause immediate, often anaphylactic reactions. We hear about those kinds of allergies frequently, because they can be life threatening.

However most people have delayed reaction allergies (mediated by either IgA or IgG antibodies). Some 'experts' consider those kinds of delayed reactions 'intolerances', rather than allergies. However those reactions involve the immune system. So others consider those reactions allergies, unlike lactose intolerance, which doesn't involve the immune system. The ELISA test looks for all three kinds of reactions (IgE, IgG and more recently IgA antibody mediated). So ELISA can more often diagnose delayed reaction allergies, than RAST or skin prick tests.

[Lori2]

If you recognize that all these allergy/intolerance tests have a certain degree of unreliability, I did find that they were helpful for me.

My gluten responses are delayed by about three days. That makes it a little difficult to identify problems. I knew I was having problems with more than gluten. We have a gluten-free household and we don

[zebaldwin]

If you recognize that all these allergy/intolerance tests have a certain degree of unreliability, I did find that they were helpful for me.

My gluten responses are delayed by about three days. That makes it a little difficult to identify problems. I knew I was having problems with more than gluten. We have a gluten-free household and we don

[burdee]

If you recognize that all these allergy/intolerance tests have a certain degree of unreliability, I did find that they were helpful for me.

My gluten responses are delayed by about three days. That makes it a little difficult to identify problems. I knew I was having problems with more than gluten. We have a gluten-free household and we don

[Lori2]

Thanks for the response Lori.

Were these all things that you talked to a food allergist with or general doctor?

An allergist is one doctor I haven't seen. Like I've said...at this point, I haven't really proven that food consumption is my problem but I have strong reason to think it is.

Thanks again

When my frequent, loose bowel movements turned into diarrhea and I lost 15 pounds in two months, celiac was one of the first things I thought of. After two months of improvement on a gluten-free diet, I asked my doctor for celiac testing. I did not know you had to be eating gluten to get a positive test. Unfortunately, my doctor didn

[zebaldwin]

When my frequent, loose bowel movements turned into diarrhea and I lost 15 pounds in two months, celiac was one of the first things I thought of. After two months of improvement on a gluten-free diet, I asked my doctor for celiac testing. I did not know you had to be eating gluten to get a positive test. Unfortunately, my doctor didn