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

First, my apologies for this summary being so long in coming.  My own
computer was down for two weeks.  I was using an old system and decided
to wait until I could use my  system where I can cut and paste.

As a side note, when I downloaded my email messages from the last two weeks
from the server onto my computer, many were lost.  It appears that messages
I had responded to were more likely to have been deleted.  So I hope some of
my recent correspondents- you know who you are- will drop me a line again
so I can get back in touch.  I'm sorry I've lost many of your email addresses.
If you don't hear from me I hope that you will read this and understand why.

Here then is a synopsis in reponse to my question whether allergy shots
can help desensitize in the case of food allergies:

A few letters expressed varying degrees of success (or failure) with
desensitization procedures:

>I checked at one year of diagnosis with my allergist to see if anything could
>be done and the answer was no, BUT I also had leaky gut and dairy and shellfish
>allergies that made traveling and eating out difficult.  I agonized about
>allergy shots and discussed EPD shots (your #1) with him and we decided that
>EPD shots every other month would very possibly help my other problems so that
>all I and my autoimmune system would have to deal with was my CD/DH.
>After 1 year of the EPD shots (5 years after diagnosis) I can now eat
>shellfish, my leaky gut has healed, and in general I think my immune system is
>stronger.
>I cannot notice much change in the dairy--I still bloat, but I'm not still
>gassy.
>I really recommend the EPD shots if you suspect other allergies or if you have
>the leaky gut problem.  My allergist is and has been for 15 years or more, Dr.
>David Buscher in Bellevue, WA.

>When my son was 6 months old he developed a celiac condition which was
>diagnosed as starch intolerance by the pediatricians.  Removed eggs, milk,
>wheat and corn from his diet.  When he was nearly 2 we saw allergy doctors.
>They said wheat allergy and started him on food drops under the tongue.  After
>4 days on the drops he never had one of those awful bowel movements again.

>My child's allergist told me that avoidance was the only solution for
>food allegies.  All the research I have done confirms this.  We did the
>shots for other allergens for six months.  It was just too traumatic to
>continue.  She was only 2 1/2 at the time.  I believe the shots did help
>some but the main difference was when we went gluten free.
> Have you tried any natural products to help with your allergies?  I know
>that grapeseed extract has helped mine disappear.  It is a natural
>anti-histamine and has other beneficial properties too.  This probably would
>not help with food allergies.

>I had a long series of shots for food allergies which long predate my
>diagnosis with CD; the injections were based on a series of skin tests. In the
>series you take doses of increasing strength and stretch the time; I couldn't
>make one of the breaks and after four or five attempts we gave up. The result
>is that I am more allergic to those foods now than I was before, but I can't
>prove causation even though that result was immediate.
>I had a second allergy shot series based on the theory that allergy is general
>rather than specific. You get seven shots of poison oak in an eight day series
>as I recall and you are supposed to be cured. I wasn't, though it helped with
>weed allergies. I took a follow-up series later. Same results... After the
>series I could touch spinach without getting a rash--which I could never do in
>all my life before that--but it still made me sick to eat it

The general consensus of the respondents BELOW is that desensitization shots
don't work for food allergies of CD.  (Most of the respondents in the group
ABOVE had some improvement with desensitization, especially with EPD.  All
would agree that a GF diet is the best fix.  One respondent said her other
allergy symptoms went away with time on a GF diet.)

>Actually, CD can't be considered an "allergy"; ingestion of gluten
>doesn't produce the anaphylaxis associated with a true allergy.  The
>inflammation that occurs is a T-cell mediated response, eventually
>resulting in the flattening of the intestinal villi seen in biopsy slides.

>Every allergist I have spoken to (4 so far) has said that food allergies
>don't respond to allergy shots (or standard prick testing) because they
>can't address every form the food becomes as it goes through digesting.

>Celiac disease and allergies are mediated by two totally different parts of
>the immune system.  Allergies appear as a result of the activation of IgE
>antibodies.  These antibodies have nothing to do with celiac disease.  So I
>am afraid allergy shots would have no affect on your cd.

So, there may be some help from "allergy shots", especially EPD, and the
drops under the tongue were intriguing- given by a homeopathic doctor.
I suspect success might be greatest with the young, but not necessarily
as affirmed by a  couple of the respondents.

Here are a few interesting websites related to this topic:

   http://www.nutramed.com/zeno/fallmd.htm-  this author considers
   CD to be an allergic disease

   http://www.dma.org/~rohrers/allergy/epd_faq.htm- much support for
   EPD (enzyme potentiated desensitization

The following is a very interesting allergy research summary .
Look down at the very last item for this topic which comes down on
conventional desensitization for food allergy:

   http://www.craigusa.com/forums/allergy_content.html

Thanks for all your input on this controversial subject.