Food sensitivities

[Deb 27]

So does anybody here have food intolerances?? I am 95% gluten free for a few years and I also have lactose intolerance. Now, I find that when I eat nuts, my mouth burns and I get asthma. The other weekend, I ate some eggs and got soooooo sick-:(((  After I threw them all up (sorry to be so graphic) I felt much better. Should I go get allergy tested?? Anybody else have stuff like this? What did you do?

I swear this stuff seemed to get worse when I went gluten free.....     

[irish]

I am so sorry that you are having all these problems. THe one thing I will tell you is that autoimmune issues, immune deficiencies and allergies are all related. These issues can be so related and the best thing one can do is to see an immunologist who is proficient in all these areas.

A couple of times I have tried to look up and research some issues and gotten into the depth of just a small area of the autoimmune/immune/allergies and it is beyond complicated. You would do well to find an immunologist who could do the allergy testing and investigate all the things that are screwed up in your body. When you have a better diagnosis of all these issues your treatments many work better.

Also, it should be noted that immunologists sometimes pick their area of expertise and some like to spend more time with allergies. When you make an appointment it would be wise to talk with the nurse manager and find out if the immunologist works with autoimmune diseases much. Good luck to you. Irish

[bebemoke22]

I used to have a lot of  intolerance for soy. I haven't had it since I cured my IBS/IBD. I have not eaten meat in one year, so I cannot relate to the intolerance you're having. I realized that I wasn't intolerant to a lot of the food that I was intolerant to before when I cured certain gastro infections. You could try doing the same if you have an infection and may see an improvement in digestion.

[susanep]

I have to be careful about spices in foods.

susanep

[SjoGirl]

Yes many food issues from gluten to dairy to anything acidic,e.g., I used to LOVE tomatoes, but cannot tolerate them now. Things settled down substantially after I started taking Nexium daily, but I need to still take care with the items mentioned in sentence one. I also avoid hot spices, though love aromatic ones like cumin or tumeric.

[Carolina]

I seem to have developed IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and I'm treating it with the FODMAP elimination diet, and it is working amazingly well.  Eventually I will test this by introducing some foods back into my diet.

FODMAPs are found in the foods we eat. FODMAPs is an acronym for

Fermentable
Oligosaccharides (eg. Fructans and Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS))
Disaccharides (eg. Lactose)
Monosaccharides (eg. excess Fructose)
And
Polyols (eg. Sorbitol, Mannitol, Maltitol, Xylitol and Isomalt)

Where are FODMAPs found?

A few examples of food sources high in each of the FODMAPs are listed below. The list is not complete, and is subject to change as new data becomes available regarding the FODMAP content of foods. The dietitians at Shepherd Works can provide you with a more complete and up to date list of foods during a consultation.

Excess Fructose: Honey, Apples, Mango, Pear, Watermelon, High Fructose Corn Syrup

Fructans: Artichokes (Globe), Artichokes(Jerusalem), Garlic (in large amounts), Leek, Onion (brown, white, Spanish, onion powder), Spring Onion (white part), Shallots, Wheat (in large amounts), Rye (in large amounts), Barley (in large amounts), Inulin, Fructo-oligosaccharides.

Lactose: Milk, icecream, custard, dairy desserts, condensed and evaporated milk, milk powder, yoghurt, soft unripened cheeses (eg. ricotta, cottage, cream, marscarpone).

Galacto-Oligosaccharides (GOS): Legume beans (eg. baked beans, kidney beans, bortolotti beans), Lentils, Chickpeas

So I don't eat those things:  Lactose and wheat products are the hardest to avoid, for me.

But I'm reading every label very carefully.

Best wishes,  Elaine

[irish]

It has been noted that people with autoimmune diseases and celiac are advised to not use canola oil or soy. Just a thought. Irish

[Carolina]

Canola oil!  I don't know, Irish, but hey, better safe than sorry.

Cautions about Canola are more or less from personal stories on the IBS site.

Canola is not a FODMAP food and is considered OK from that point.

Soy beans are out on FODMAP free diets, but Tofu and soy milk are OK.  This is an entirely new realm for me.  And most of it is trial and error I think.

As is so often true for most of us, 'our mileage may vary' since each of is so different from the ordinary person.

Thanks, again,

Regards, Elaine

[jazzlover]

Many many allergies .. but they are IgA allergies. I have MCAS and it is directly related to auto-immune diseases and many other problems.

Treating MCAS will often help improve auto-immune symptoms....so be sure to be evaluated for it.

Susan .. spices are part of the salicylate group  .. be sure to google salicylate sensitivity. It sometimes goes hand in hand with MCAS also. I suffer from that and it really limits my food choices .. even my use of toiletries which contain sals.

[MAT51]

I've had random allergies since I was a baby including anaphylaxis three times, severe eczema and Pompholyx and total alopecia. I don't actually know if any foods affect me badly or not but I'm prone to weight gain and seem to have a very sluggish metabolism.

I'm on the AIP diet - been trying it for 7 weeks now. Not sure if it's helping me at all really - I've maybe lost about half a stone/ 3.7 kilos. But that's more from starving myself than from the diet itself I think! So now I'm reintroducing eggs and nuts but coming off all fructose to see if my burning mouth gets better - having read that it's likely to be oral thrush which of course thrives off all forms of sugar. This is hard for me because I've really survived on dried figs, raisins and bananas for the duration but I'm desperate to sort my agonising mouth out. Jury's out on whether I actually have any food intolerances. For me I think it's all about hormonal change where my allergies are concerned. I've been flaring badly for the past few weeks and keep reminding myself that symptoms come in cycles and this cycle is sicca related plus heavy duty fatigue.

[irish]

Be aware that a person can have a sensitivity to additives in toothpaste, deodorants, etc. Many things can affect us and we don't even think of it. Irish