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Posted by JanS on January 12, 2001 at 14:40:40:In Reply to: Food Allergies posted by Tiggaroo on January 10, 2001 at 04:14:04:
I am just looking for your earlier post asking me about food allergies - Can't believe it's so far back! Sorry re delay.
There are many books out there on food allergy & intolerance. Many good but there's lots of 'old wive's tale' info also. Hard to tell where to draw the line sometimes. Best groups/ references are the food allergy and anaphylaxis network (FAAN) and aaaai (allergy & immunology group for laypeople & professionals).
I started by asking to have some foods added to a skin test I was getting anyway. (Negatives are reliable, positives have to be confirmed by a challenge.) I asked primarily because I couldn't seem to eat a meal without getting up for a kleenex. Several of my immediate family also have food allergies. This was from the wheat allergy. It's mild but hard to avoid. I do fine with Spelt flour, but it is considered too closely related by many allergy groups.
There are various levels/types of food allergies. The worst is an anaphylactic reaction - everything swells, you can't breathe, and without treatment may die. These are the ones in the news and usually the type looked for in many studies. It is usually immediate and therefore a little easier to figure out.
Milder reactions can occur up to a day later, depending on type.
Itching/hives usually happens within minutes to hours. I tested positive to oranges and discovered that my chronic heat rash in my elbow disappeared when I stopped eating them.
Nausea/vomitting or diarrhea can happen immediately or the next morning. I am allergic to Oats, and would wake up with cramps and diarrhea when I ate an oat based dessert the night before. The loose stools can occur a day or two after you eat the food.
Nasal congestion can also occur from minutes to hours later. (Like my wheat allergy. Now I might notice getting stuffed up and grouchy an hour or two after I cheat on something with regular flour.)
These symptoms may occur one at a time, all together, or only one or two sx. They can also only occur if you are reacting to other allergies. There are also certain foods that release histamine in normal people (strawberries, tomatoes, etc.) and can cause hives in people prone to them.
Start by keeping a food diary and any pattern in foods eaten and symptoms. Once you get an idea of a pattern, avoid that food in all its forms for a week or two or until you no longer have those symptoms. Then eat a lot of it several times in one day (unless it's obvious after the first time). I continue to watch after further episodes to decide if I can consistently get a particular response after eating the suspect food.
Sometimes I can't decide but figure I probably should limit the food anyway. Othertimes, I can't see any reaction and eat the food normally.
It's a long, involved and frustrating process, but worth it for me. You might want to get one of the self- help books as a guide, but be careful that it's well based on fact and by an MD. I would expect the best ones to mention some of the controversies and explain what's behind them, or to rate the various methods to test for food allergies.
Best of luck!! I'd be happy to answer any further questions.
Jan S
Also note that some people (my uncle for one) discovered he was allergic to his wool blanket when he replaced it for age after using it for about 40 years...
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