Letters from the SCD support group: concerning allergies and food intolerance Allergies Mon, 7 Jul 1997 18:03:35 GMT >Hi Anna, > >Thanks for your response and telling me your experience with the allergy >testing. I too am skeptical that the allergy tests will turn up >anything. But I actually am glad you're telling me to really not get my >hopes up, so I won't get them up. I hate when I get my hopes up and >then there's nothing conclusive. I have had enough of vague responses >from health practitioners! I'm going to do mine through the Meridian >lab in Washington state, a blood test. Right now I am doing a process >of elimination thing, which is grueling because sometimes I don't get a >reaction for 72 hrs after I've eaten something. Major drag. > I want to ask you, what are the beginning signs of the anaphalaxis >thing, as you experience it? I know what a full blown anaphalctic >reaction is, but I have a feeling I might have some tiny ones because my >face gets red and sometime my chest feels slightly tight for a few >minutes, could be like an asthma thing too. I am trying to avoid foods >that do this, but it is painstaking work. > >Take care, >Denise Hi Denise, Meridian Valley Labs in Kent, Washington is connected with the Tahoma Clinic where I went to see Dr. Lamson. He's an ND, who has a reputation for successfully treating IBD. My ex-boyfriend, who was also an ND told me to go to Lamson. I ended up with a lifetime refillable prescription for DHEA, and I'm supposed to keep in touch with him via phone consultations. The whole thing was very pricey, and even a short phone call is $85 US. I live in Canada, so going down there was a big deal. Whether or not the DHEA helped, I still don't know. Maybe it helped me get off prednisone, but maybe not. I can't tell. I still take it on and off, in case it does do something. I had a variety of lab tests done in that lab and the results were all pretty much worthless. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't really bother. Instead, I would have gotten this book by Ray Sahlien (not sure about the spelling) about DHEA. The book is excellent. He interviews doctors all across North America about their practices and experiences with this new and controversial supplement. It gives dosage recommendations and everything. It's well worth reading. It reports the truth, not just the pretty picture of DHEA. Like, the fact that there is really no evidence of it helping certain diseases, etc. I got it at the library. Anyway, the point behind this story is that the blood allergy test there is the same as all the other tests I had there. Costly, and not very useful. This is just my opinion. If someone had told me that prior to when I went there, I may have gone ahead anyway, but I just thought I'd give my experience. I do think the lab is good. They do tests there that MDs don't even know about. Some of the tests were actually invented by Dr. Wright, the Director of the Tahoma Clinic. He has written several books as well. Anyway, if you think that this allergy thing is really the problem, then this blood test is probably the best out of all the choices out there (in terms of allergy testing). I mean, it's probably better than Vega Testing, or MD scratch testing. (It sounds like what you're getting is an IgG IgE test.) But again, I have my doubts because the results I got were so ambiguous with what I already knew to be true. And if I tried to live my life according to those results, it would be very difficult if not impossible. The results list like 200 foods, spices, etc, and 1/2 of them I am supposively intolerant to on some level, so I am supposed to rotate or eliminate them. It's very complex to implement. I found that the SCD was easier to handle. Doing both regiments at the same time is hard. I did try both. The allergy results just didn't impress me. To answer your question about the anaphalaxis symptoms, If I eat raw carrots, kiwi fruit, avacado, or raw hazelnuts, I get the same reaction. The inside of my mouth and throat gets all tingly and feels sort of burning and my throat starts to tighten up. Breathing is a little harder too. My lips and mouth swell a little. The whole thing is VERY unpleasant and a bit scary at times. These are signs of an allergic reaction, and if I continue to eat these foods, I risk actually getting an actual anaphalactic shock reaction. I have tempted fate every now and then, like eating a little bite of one of those foods every 6 months or something, just to test it out. When I get the same reaction again, I know it is still true. You see, allergies can come and go over the years. In a way, many times, people can DEVELOP allergies to things from eating them too much. This was the case for me with Kiwi, because I used to eat just tons of them because my aunt grew them and every summer we'd eat them every day. Back then it didn't effect me, but then years later when I tried one, I got the reaction. With the other items I mentioned, I don't recall eating too much of them, so these ones just developed for unknown reasons. But the point is, I didn't always have the allergy. I used to eat avacados and carrots with no problem. Some of the reactions are milder than others. Like, avacado gives me a mild reaction, but if I drink anything with carrot juice for example, it's very scary. I simply avoid it completely because it IS so scary when your throat starts to close up and you can't breathe. I've never had to go to the hospital for this though. I just wait a while until it passes. It takes a few hours for it to go away. The funny thing was, none of these foods even showed up at all on my IgG IgE blood test results. That's the main reason I doubted them. Hope this info helps in your quest for the answers. Anna
Lactose Intolerance: Not an Allergy Mon, 23 Jun 1997 22:44:21 GMT Hi All, I found this article at Medscape somewhat interesting... Link to the article may be found at: http://www.medscape.com/Home/MedPulse/MedPulse.html To be more exact, the article is placed at http://www.medscape.com/jobson/USPharmacist/1997/v22.n05/usp2205.1.html but to see it (read it), you have to sign up as a member (free of charge). For copyright reasons I couldn't just copy it and mail it to you. Yours, Mik Lactose Intolerance: Not an Allergy ------------------------------------------------------------- Lactose intolerance is not a food allergy but an inability to digest a sugar found in dairy products. [U.S. Pharmacist 22(5):21-22, 26-27, 1997] Author: W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., R.Ph., Professor, Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Weatherford, OK Excerpts: ====== Lactose intolerance is one of a number of food intolerances. The term "food intolerance" denotes a nonimmunologically based inability to properly metabolize certain food groups. The lay public often confuses lactose intolerance with an allergy to milk. Milk allergy is an immunologic problem that is different from lactose intolerance in its causes and treatments. It is estimated that 25% of American adults and 75% of adults worldwide have lactose intolerance; as many as 7.5 million Americans suffer from severe lactose intolerance. It is present in 15% of white adults, 45% of Eskimos, 81% of black adults, and 100% of Asian adults. Symptoms of cow's milk protein allergy include vomiting (which is uncommon in lactose intolerance), diarrhea (perhaps bloody stools), angio-edema, urticaria, rhinitis, nasal congestion and wheezing. http://www.medscape.com Medscape is produced by Medscape, Inc. All material on this server Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 by the publishers involved. -------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all, A website for food allergies: http://www.foodallergy.org/alerts.html There is a special section where warnings are issued regarding misinformation in labeling of food products. Thought this might be of value to some of us on the list. Denise Dempsey
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 12:41:06 -0500 Just my two cents worth on the sugject of food intolerances - I have been on the diet for almost 2 years, and have virtually elimintated all symptoms, and lead a normal life (except I cook more often, and eat out less than your average person). I have had funny reactions to just about all the foods on the diet at one time or another, be it diareah, bleeding, or funny sensations in my stomach. Early on, while my symptoms were somewhat severe, I just trusted the diet - I KNEW that the nut flour was still irritating to my sensitive, damaged colon. Nonetheless, I "suffered" through it, with the hope and faith that, even though I was still reacting, I was getting better, and that my reactions to what I was eating would subside as I got better. Guess what? They have! Now I can eat the nut flour without any fear of irritating my colon, which has achieved a relatively high level of resiliency. I still think that my diet is a bit rich, and when I eat enough to feel sufficiently "full", I think I've ingested too much for my system to adequately handle, and I get some discomfort. As long as I balance and don't overeat, everything is cool. Sometimes I wish I could "fill up" on something, like rice, or a potato, which give one that "full" sensation without overloading the system (unless, of course you have some IBD). I suggest living with some discomfort/pain if that's necessary to stick to the diet. Of course, avoid it where possible (like, don't go eating raw carrots and broccoli when you can easily steam them to make 'em easier to breakdown and less abraisive to your system). For me, the nut flour and yoghurt, which at times I suspected were troublesome, were the main staples of my diet in terms of bulk (along with fruit, veg & meat) but I stuck with it, and now I 'm very glad I did. This is my experience. Please proceed at your own risk, as I'm no doctor! (But I am feeling alot better that I was 2 years ago!)
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 07:29:58 EST It is my understanding that the body will develop allergies to foods that are eaten with continued frequency. I used to eat too much chicken and potatoes and my allergy tests were 4 on a scale of 4 for allergy for chicken and potatoes. I stopped eating my allergic foods, gave my body a chance to clear out and now I can eat these foods but on a three day alternating schedule. The three day time frame supposedly allows my body to not start building up an allergen to the foods again. Alternating is fairly easy, I just remember not to eat something again for three days. I also have to watch out for food families. I can't eat brussel sprouts within three days of eating broccoli (same family). Weight loss: I go to all bones on no flour products or pastas. I had to find rice flour breads, waffles and pastas. I am gluten allergic and was getting too too thin on no flour products. I am careful to not eat any gluten flour product.
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 22:51:52 EST In a message dated 2/6/99 4:25:14 AM Pacific Standard Time, MMous12905@aol.com writes: << My kids don't have any
dairy, and I'm too afraid to try it because they have documented milk
allergies. >> Patricia, Regarding milk allergies...... Please read this web page: Click on the word "raw milk" by Thomas Cowan, MD Carl Tuttle
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