Wellness

[I am still oxox]

On 2/26/2015 luvmyteddy said:

left to eat!

I am going to an Allergy Specialist and got my results back from the Dr. yesterday. He gave me a list of what I can eat which is barely anything. I only went to get shots for my pets and find out I have been eating the wrong things most of my adult life.

Guten Free, no sugar, yeast, dairy, eggs, tuna, nuts, lettuce, cereal, oats, oatmeal, honey, rice, etc., and a long list of fruits and vegetables I can't have. I am adding many supplements to that and I will be broke. I don't like fish and fruits and veggies so this will be very difficult for me. I veggies I would eat were green beans and those are ruled out too. How hard is gluten free to find with no yeast or sugar?

I have no idea what to substitute for what, like cereal, bread, dairy, oil and everything else. I have never shopped at Whole Foods or places like that and don't know where to start. I went to the store last week and stocked up on everything I can no longer eat. I no longer cook which will make it even harder and found out I am hypothyroid.

That leaves fish, turkey and a few vegetables and fruits.

I know there are experts on here that know what to substitute for different foods and would love some knowledge and suggestions. I can't be the only one that is allergic to this many foods, plus dogs, cats, pollen, mold and pollen. I am taking shots for my pets and will start the supplements and minerals he suggested but as far as food is concerned I am lost. I'm afraid I won't eat anything and end up weighing about 20 pounds when I cut out sugar and all the good stuff, I am already thin. I can't even think of a cereal I could eat and I tried soy milk years ago and hated it. But I want to try it since I have been sick for so long with Lyme Disease and other illnesses.

The Dr. came me a list of things to eat and not eat and the eat list is terribly short. Does Whole Foods or someone else offer a good selection and is it worth the prices they charge?

Help. My insurance doesn't cover a dietician.

I am confused and hopefully someone can enlighten me: I understand gluten allergies, but how does lettuce have gluten. Who took the tests and gave you the advice, wait and here what the allergist has to say

I have had food and other allergies all my life and I have learned to live with them

[betteb]

On 2/26/2015 ChynnaBlue said:

This list sounds suspicious to me. May I ask how the testing was done and where you learned about this doctor? I would absolutely, positively get a second opinion if your allergist told you to avoid gluten and lettuce. That does not sound right to me and I've dealt with allergists and allergies my entire life, as have most of my family members.

Yes, I agree. Did your regular Dr refer you to this one? Sounds a bit extreme to me. Also, most MD's don't recommend a bunch of supplements. They will tell you what they like or don't like if you ask about something specific, but usually, they just say "You can try it if you want to". I've had more than one Dr tell me that when I ask about something and most of them also add "I don't think it will do you any good, but you can try it"

Is this guy you saw a real MD/Allergist? Be careful of con artists in white coats.

[betteb]

On 2/27/2015 sfnative said:

I very much understand where you're coming from. This is all new to me in the last 18 months. And to complicate matters, at least 50% of the food items of the "eat me" list, I can no longer eat because I'm in kidney failure.

Today on my way to pick up a prescription at my internist's office I decided to "splurge" and got a tall, decaf, non-fat latte at Starbucks: instant pain in my stomach that didn't go away for hours. I simply cannot have milk any longer. Don't know why this allergy/sensitivity occurred, but I've been a physical wreck since retiring 18 months ago. It's almost as though my body had been waiting to give out on me. No kidding.

Now this, I understand, having worked in a Hemo-Dialysis unit for several years. A Renal Diet is difficult to follow. Even the very best behaved patients would some times come in for their run suffering the effects of breaking their diet or fluid restrictions.

We had 2 Dietitians on staff that worked closely with the patients and educating the nursing staff, so I learned a lot about that particular diet.

[VioletEyes]

I agree with Chynna Blue and betteb. I would get a second opinion from a board certified allergist.

[Cookie777]

I just ordered an eBook by Brenda Watson called ""the skinny gut diet"" . you might want to check it out. She recommends probiotics

[geezerette]

I can fully understand your plight—I was in a similar situation many years ago. First, don’t panic. Second, you have to wrap your head around the fact you are not going to be able to eat like you have for a good long while. That’s very hard and may take a while for you, it did for me. Third, don’t think you’re being “deprived” by not being able to eat what you have liked or what other people are eating—most of our diets in our society today are lousy.

Being “allergic” and being “sensitive” to foods are two different things. If you are “allergic”, you have a severe, often life-threatening reaction to foods. If you are “sensitive”, you also will have a reaction, but a less severe one, although it’s still not good for our body. Most of us say we are allergic to something, when in reality we are merely sensitive to it. (This may not be your situation.)

I won’t address your specific food problems—that’s for you to figure out. Although I will say that beans/legumes are a good substitute for protein and carbs when you can’t tolerate grains. I was not just sensitive to wheat or gluten, but all grains so no quinoa, etc. even for me. Also, you may find that the way in which a food is processed could be affecting you. i.e., you may be able to tolerate eating gluten-free whole grains but not when they are ground into a flour. (If your gut is impaired the fine particles in flours will penetrate the gut lining and cause problems.)

I found two things that helped me: 1) a rotational diet. You can research the subject and put together your own if you know enough about what bothers you, or have a professional do it for you. 2) Eat only food in their natural state, meaning no processed foods. When you eat processed foods, you are not only combining several foods, but normally adding ingredients that could affect you (preservatives, etc.). Of course this is a lot of work, since you will have to prepare most foods from scratch and not out of a package or can. But it will allow to you actually find out which foods bother you. For example, if you have bread and get a reaction, is the wheat the culprit? The yeast? Sugar? All of them? But if you eat a bowl of whole wheat and react, you know what did it.

It’s a very tough situation to be in and I fully sympathize with what you’re feeling right now. It’s difficult, you feel lousy and don’t know where to turn or what to do. And most of all, you probably don’t want to believe it. It’s going to take a change of outlook on your part, as well as changing your diet. And most of all, it’s going to take time—a lot of it. This didn’t happen overnight and it won’t go away overnight. But you can feel better, if you choose.

I also wouldn't rule out a second opinion, as others have stated. If you come up with the same results or similar, you have a better idea of what actually happening to you. But I found that a lot of foods that bothered me never showed up on a test. I only found out from the rotational diet and eliminating them.

And as has been said before when these subjects come up on this forum—what I have written is from my own personal experience and is my own personal opinion, not professional medical advice. You can do with it what you like. One more thing, if you find out what you can eat and stick to that diet for an extended period, your body can heal itself and you may be able to tolerate more foods in the future. Best of luck to you.

[sidsmom]

I guarantee if you email Dr. John McDougall, he would respond. He's an internist that now focuses on plant-based nutritional for healing & health. Many people that have had allergies & many other ailments have been healed through a low-fat, whole foods, plant based program. Go to Drmcdougall.com

[Rus Girl]

I was diagnosed last year with severe food allergies at the age of 38. I had never had food allergies before.

I first was having weird skin reactions- flaking around my eyes (dermatitis), random bouts of really itchy skin all over, blotchy skin. Turns out I am severely allergic to soy and anything made from it- including oils and lecithin. It has gotten worse since then and I get massive abdominal cramping and hives now. It took me a few weeks to really figure out what it was.

Then about a month later I had a waffle with some PB on it. I broke out in hives everywhere and my throat was very itchy.

Then a week later I had trouble breathing after eating almonds.

Then I lived with really vague allergy symptoms for a few months and couldn't figure out what it was.

I did a full IgE panel with an allergist and all were completely negative. Even the almonds and peanuts.

So over the last few months I have figured out at least some of the culprits causing my other allergy symptoms- green peas, cilantro, coriander, sesame, other tree nuts.

I eat mainly veggies and meat now. Nearly all processed foods have soy in them. I can tell within 10-15 minutes if it does too. I have had to really step up my cooking game. It is very dangerous for me to eat in restaurants. Here in the winter I have been making soups on the weekends. I have been roasting veggies- last night I had roasted brussels sprouts. I eat GF most of the time because most wheat products have soy in them too. My Ninja roaster and I have become good friends!!

I am actually getting a second opinion on my allergies. I still have suspicions that I have more developing over time as I still occasionally get itchy all over. My current allergist hasn't been much help in that aspect and I want someone else's perspective. My current allergist did give me RX for epipens and got the asthma that I developed after I ate the almonds under control. My current allergist will not do a scratch test in her office on me because of the risk of anaphylaxis. It would have to be done in a hospital with emergency medical personnel and equipment.

I was pretty depressed when this all started and now I have just accepted it as that now that is life and you just roll with it.

[PhatCat]

Did you just have blood testing done through a regular lab? I have had Quest food allergy testing done and they do the proper Ig, those are the true allergies.

My thinking is you have food "sensitivites". With these you should go gluten, dairy and soy free along with any other sensitivites you may have being found by an ALCAT or Biotech lab or another specialty lab.

To the poster who asked about lettuce. Other than iceberg, the others are high in folate and thiols which can reek havoc on ones body who are sensitive. Since MTHFR genetic mutation is common, this is the methylation pathway and high folate foods will make a person sick. Thiol foods are high in sulfur and will cause an ammonia build up as well.

Good luck to you.

[sfnative]

On 2/27/2015 SoftRaindrops said:

On 2/27/2015 sfnative said:

I very much understand where you're coming from. This is all new to me in the last 18 months. And to complicate matters, at least 50% of the food items of the "eat me" list, I can no longer eat because I'm in kidney failure.

Today on my way to pick up a prescription at my internist's office I decided to "splurge" and got a tall, decaf, non-fat latte at Starbucks: instant pain in my stomach that didn't go away for hours. I simply cannot have milk any longer. Don't know why this allergy/sensitivity occurred, but I've been a physical wreck since retiring 18 months ago. It's almost as though my body had been waiting to give out on me. No kidding.

Sorry to read that you are in kidney failure. As far as the non-fat-latte, skim milk is a lot worse for sensitivities to lactose because there is more lactose in skim milk than in heavy cream. I cannot eat any dairy because of an allergy to the protein in milk but I also have lactose intolerance and was told to put cream in my coffee rather than skim milk if I am going to splurge. Small amounts I can tolerate but I would literally have to stay in for a day if I drank a non-fat milk beverage.

SoftRaindrops,

I cannot thank you enough for visiting this thread and commenting on my post. Though a highly educated healthcare professional who retired from educating physicians 18 months ago, I clearly missed the boat on lactose (in my profession I was ortho and ENT surgery driven).

There are few things I can allow myself these days on a fixed income and a latte once or twice a week is sheer bliss, until of late. I'm going to definitely try cream! As my grandfather would say, "You bet!"