Testing For Food Intolerance/sensitivities

[33Diane]

I'm new to all this and awaiting my cp results. I've been reading these forums and have a few questions about getting diagnosed/tested. I notice some people label themselves with different allergies or sensitivities to gluten, soy, yeast, dairy, etc. I am curious how do you find this out? Do you see an allergist? Do you get a pin prick test or blood work? Does your gp help you figure this out? If my cp is neg for celiac, can it still show intolerance, or is that another test?

I personally don't think I will be positive for celiac, but I think I have an intolerance or sensitivity (is that the same thing?) to something. My symptoms are more constipation, bloating, mental fog, tiredness, and difficulty keeping my weight down, despite intense exercise. I always though my problem was just "carbs" and only could distinguish that I ate some carb (bread, pasta, etc), which is why I felt bad. I have tried to be low carb for years. Now I do think it is more specifically related to wheat, but wonder about yeast and soy as I see others mentioning them. I have a large amount of environmental allergies and food allergies to nuts and egg whites. However the last I was tested for food allergies was 30 years ago. If it is not celiac, how do you find out what it is?

[shadowicewolf]

Basically, the only difference i've heard between celiac and an intolerence is that celaic does damage due to being an AI disease.

People often times do elimination diets. Removing everything that could potentially be problematic and then slowly (once a week or so) adding an item back in.

[Juliebove]

I have never been tested for celiac and AFAIK, I do not have any gluten issues. My daughter did (doesn't currently) but that's what brought me here.

Long story short with her, she was thought to have ADHD by her teachers. But I didn't believe this. After taking her to a variety of Drs., my mom's Naturopath finally said he could test her for food allergies. He did and said that she had quite a few. We changed her diet and it was like we got a new girl! Lots of things cleared up.

What he did was a blood test for IgG allerigies which most medical Drs. will say are not allergies at all but sensitivities or intolerances. We were told to have her restested in three years. But... We did not like this Dr. He charged many thousands of dollars for the test and insisted that we buy supplements from him that I thought we did not need.

So we went to an allergist who didn't believe in the IgG allergies but said that if the foods caused us problems, to avoid them. She tested us both and we were found not to have allergies to those foods. Technically, allergies cause a histamine response. And this can be life threatening. I was found to have OAS (oral allergy syndrome) to pistachios and almonds. But... The allergist only tested us for the specific foods that we were told we were allergic to. No others. Daughter is currently having stomach issues and the GP that she saw suspects food allergies or intolerances that we have yet to ferret out. The food allergies were tested for via a skin prick test.

We found another Naturopathy (now deceased) who tested my daughter twice (I think) and me once. Each time we were tested, we changed out diet.

Then we needed to be retested again but I couldn't find a Dr. to do it. So I did a hair test online. I know some people think this test isn't valid but it did seem to work for us.

I also have some other issues with foods that I do not test as having a problem with. But if they bother me in any way, I just avoid them. Like garlic in more than a tiny amount and melons.

[33Diane]

Basically, the only difference i've heard between celiac and an intolerence is that celaic does damage due to being an AI disease.

People often times do elimination diets. Removing everything that could potentially be problematic and then slowly (once a week or so) adding an item back in.

So the cp test should show "intolerance", even if there is no damage?

The elimination test is difficult for me as I don't have great will power to resist the large amount of things I would test for, such as most carbs, starches and sugars. Also, other than edema and constipation, my symptoms are so subjective, such as a general overall feeling of being unwell and brain fog. It is just Not scientific enough for me and feels like self diagnosing. I know I feel great on just meat and vegetables, but at this point in my life I want to know if this is just a diet issue, or if there is an internal autoimmune response that can compound into further issues down the road.

[33Diane]

I have never been tested for celiac and AFAIK, I do not have any gluten issues. My daughter did (doesn't currently) but that's what brought me here.

Long story short with her, she was thought to have ADHD by her teachers. But I didn't believe this. After taking her to a variety of Drs., my mom's Naturopath finally said he could test her for food allergies. He did and said that she had quite a few. We changed her diet and it was like we got a new girl! Lots of things cleared up.

What he did was a blood test for IgG allerigies which most medical Drs. will say are not allergies at all but sensitivities or intolerances. We were told to have her restested in three years. But... We did not like this Dr. He charged many thousands of dollars for the test and insisted that we buy supplements from him that I thought we did not need.

So we went to an allergist who didn't believe in the IgG allergies but said that if the foods caused us problems, to avoid them. She tested us both and we were found not to have allergies to those foods. Technically, allergies cause a histamine response. And this can be life threatening. I was found to have OAS (oral allergy syndrome) to pistachios and almonds. But... The allergist only tested us for the specific foods that we were told we were allergic to. No others. Daughter is currently having stomach issues and the GP that she saw suspects food allergies or intolerances that we have yet to ferret out. The food allergies were tested for via a skin prick test.

We found another Naturopathy (now deceased) who tested my daughter twice (I think) and me once. Each time we were tested, we changed out diet.

Then we needed to be retested again but I couldn't find a Dr. to do it. So I did a hair test online. I know some people think this test isn't valid but it did seem to work for us.

I also have some other issues with foods that I do not test as having a problem with. But if they bother me in any way, I just avoid them. Like garlic in more than a tiny amount and melons.

Thank you for your story! Did your allergist do any blood testing or was it just pin pricks?

[kareng]

So the cp test should show "intolerance", even if there is no damage?

The elimination test is difficult for me as I don't have great will power to resist the large amount of things I would test for, such as most carbs, starches and sugars. Also, other than edema and constipation, my symptoms are so subjective, such as a general overall feeling of being unwell and brain fog. It is just Not scientific enough for me and feels like self diagnosing. I know I feel great on just meat and vegetables, but at this point in my life I want to know if this is just a diet issue, or if there is an internal autoimmune response that can compound into further issues down the road.

If by cp you mean Celiac blood tests, no, it doesn't show intolerance. It measures if you are making antibodies. Intolerance means you don't make antibodies but have problems when you eat gluten. The only way to know about intolerance is, once you have had all the Celiac testing, stop eating the food you think you are intolerant to. See if it helps.

You will find many fringe medical sites willing to sell you tests for gluten intolerance, so be careful.

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link

[GFinDC]

This article discusses some research done on non-celiac wheat sensitivity. It is not the same condition as celiac disease but can cause similar symptoms.

https://www.celiac.com/articles/23033/1/Non-Celiac-Wheat-Sensitivity-It-Exists/Page1.html

[kareng]

This article discusses some research done on non-celiac wheat sensitivity. It is not the same condition as celiac disease but can cause similar symptoms.

http://Non-celiacwh...ists/Page1.html

This link didn't work for me.

[IrishHeart]

You may wish to read this article as well.

Open Original Shared Link

[GFinDC]

This link didn't work for me.

Thanks Karen, for breaking my link! Just kidding. I fixed it in the post above. It didn't work for me either.

http://www.celiac.co...ists/Page1.html

[Juliebove]

Thank you for your story! Did your allergist do any blood testing or was it just pin pricks?

She did a blood test for bees because she said if I were really allergic like I was told that I was, this could cause a deadly reaction. That test came up negative so I had to take a series of stings with needles. I was injected with the venom from various stinging insects. It really hurt! But I wasn't allergic.

[shadowicewolf]

She did a blood test for bees because she said if I were really allergic like I was told that I was, this could cause a deadly reaction. That test came up negative so I had to take a series of stings with needles. I was injected with the venom from various stinging insects. It really hurt! But I wasn't allergic.

Funny, i found out i was allergic through the plain old fasion way. Mine aren't life threatening, but the area swells up so bad that benadryl is needed (once got stung on my hand, I couldn't move two of my fingers for a couple of days).