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My ear, nose & throat specialist recommended an allergy elimination diet.
That's when you start with four basic foods you know you can tolerate
then you add one new food every five days. I was advised to carefully
record every morsel I put in my mouth and every symptom I experienced.
He advised me to watch for symptoms such as indigestion, headache,
itching and also very subtle symptoms such as fatigue, depression, or
mood changes. This system worked for finding my main offenders-- wheat,
milk & eggs. But I soon got confused about some continuing symptoms I
was having. I just couldn't figure it all out. Then my GI specialist
sent me to a Naturopathic physician in Seattle.
The ND in Seattle had me go to a lab, draw blood which was then tested
for about 100 foods by the ELISA method of allergy testing. [This
particular ELISA test tested for IGg and IGe allergy antibodies.] It
resulted in a list of about 20 foods for me to avoid. My stomach
problems & mood swings dramatically improved when I began to avoid all my
"reactive foods." This has enabled me to find a couple more foods I'm
sensitive to (vinegars & raspberries) so that I've been able to really
fine tune my diet. I'm feeling 100% better. I haven't had a sinus
infection in over 18 months. Where as before I had chronic sinusitis &
other health problems for 10 years. As an unexpected added bonus, my
seasonal allergies to various pollens have been greatly reduced.
Most physicians don't recommend the skin testing for food allergies as
it's considered unreliable. The ELISA test is considered the most
reliable. There's another type of blood test for food allergies called
RAST. It's supposed to be less reliable than ELISA, but who knows for
sure????
By the way, I'm not allergic to wheat, rye or barley, but seriously
intolerant to all three. Gluten sensitivity & allergy are not the same
thing! The best way I can explain it is that the immune system is
divided up in several branches & each branch can react to various foods &
allergens in it's own way. It's takes specific tests to test for each
branch. For example, one branch can be sensitive to almonds, but if that
branch is not tested, the test will come out negative. There are two
main branches with four division in one of the two branches: IGg, IGe,
IGa and IGm. The most common divisions for food allergies is IGg and
IGe, so those are the ones usually tested for in the RAST & ELISA tests.
IGa is the one that is usually tested for in skin testing. There is no
one test that covers everything. Allergy testing is a useful tool to use
as a guide, but not a 100% reliable blueprint for what someone should eat
for life. For example, the ENT I used to see has very serious allergies.
He's been tested with every allergy test known to man & none have found
the source of all his life threatening reactions.
So you see that the tests can be tremendously helpful to some but totally
useless to others. It was worth the gamble for me, though. Cleaning up
my diet has help restore me to a state of health & vigor I thought I'd
never see again.
To find a physician in your area to do allergy testing, go to the phone
book & start calling doctor's offices. You'll soon find some. Before I
got the referral to the ND in Seattle, I had identified several in my
area who order these tests. You may also check with your insurance
company to see what's reimbursed. To my delight & surprise the allergy
food testing was paid for 100%. It depends on your plan & also the
location of the lab. Mine will pay for any instate tests, but nothing
that is sent out of state. Go figure.
There's also a lab with a website where you can order food allergy
testing. If you search the web for food allergies, you'll find it. I've
heard it's pretty reliable & carries a money back garantee.
Valerie in Tacoma, WA
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