<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I read, I think somewhere on the celiac website, that gluten intolerant 
people tend to have a lot of allergies.  It's not so much being virulently 
allergic to one or two things - they tend more to have multiple allergies.
I'm like that - I had 52 inhalant allergies last time I was tested.  I've
never had to go to the emergency room for allergies though.  I'm very
sensitive to allergens but I never get horribly sick.

I read something from a researcher, about inhalant allergies being 
regulated through the GI tract.  When you inhale something, some of it 
gets into the GI tract, where it causes a T-cell response that damps the
allergic reaction.

see http://www.news-medical.net/?id=2054

So I thought - aha - that's why gluten intolerant people tend to have a
lot of allergies.  Something is off with our immune reactions in our
intestines that interferes with this allergy regulation.

There seems to be a pattern with people saying that their allergies first
get worse on a gluten-free diet then get better.  The body has ways of
suppressing the symptoms you'd otherwise have from gluten - perhaps its
own steroids like cortisol - and when you're no longer eating the gluten,
allergies and food intolerances surface.  Then - we hope! - over 
years, the body turns down allergies because the GI tract is working more
normally on a gluten-free diet.  I'm getting allergy shots anyway.

Some people say acupuncture helps with their allergy symptoms, I've heard
speculation that acupuncture might help because it's a stress, perhaps the
body releases cortisol in reaction to the stress.  People sometimes get
steroids to help with their allergies - maybe acupuncture is like getting 
your body to do its own steroid treatment.

So if you have interesting research facts to share that shed light on 
this, share them with me

Laura

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