One I don't think we discussed is the absence of lgE antibodies. If you don't produce that type (which cause "inflamation") your immune system is going to produce others in response to various proteins, etc. Those other antibodies could be far more devastating than the lgE.
It's worth a test.
One you can use is to test for Celiac because it's based on the idea that an elevated lgE level is demonstrably related to Gluten intolerance ~ and they can then do a biopsy to confirm that it causes intestinal damage.
Obviously if you take that test and have no lgE antibodies at all, that's your problem ~ not strictly Celiac.
This is pretty much an hereditary deal and it's restricted to the Eastern Sa'ami (and their descendants worldwide ~ thanks to the whale trade ~ fishing industry ~ and the need to cut down trees).
I worry about it enough that any time I encounter any food that causes the slightest problem I review everything I ate to see if it was wheat gluten, or that new food. If it's not gluten, I give up the new food.
My diet is getting limited, but thanks be to God I cannot eat sheep meat because, lo and behold, I inherited that Sa'ami trait that says sheep really stink. So my final diet will undoubtedly be limited to potato chips and rice.
Note that I don't think this problem is at all a laughing matter ~ but when the Lord deals you a deck that says "Unto you I give reindeer meat and lingonberries" you accept that and move on.
Frankly, if you haven't tried it, check out ostrich ~ it has a very high iron content (of biologically digestible and necessary iron compounds) and can help fight back at the anemia that comes with these limited diets. The meat tastes great and is a real break from chicken ~
I’ve had skin prick testing, RAST testing, colonoscopy, endoscopy, been tested for celiac, Candida allergies, mastocytosis (not the bone marrow test), eosinophilic gastroenteritis, and a bunch of other things I’ve never heard of. Almost of which has come back negative or normal. What does show a test reaction, does not correlate with my reactions. I don’t react much to most of the things that do show positive.
My allergist has suggested that my reactions are through another mechanism that is not the typical allergic response pathway. The issue is trying to figure out what that is and if there is anything that can be done about it, or if I face the prospect of starving to death.
One FReeper some time ago, suggested I get tested for Mast Cell Activation Disorder and I am presently pursuing that avenue with my allergists encouragement. I’ve submitted a request to be evaluated at a regional medical center that does cutting edge research on it and am waiting to see if I qualify. Apparently, they are quite busy and can’t take just anybody who comes along.
I also react to foods which are high in histamine, which indicates a different kind of issue. I am react and break out badly to all vegetables and most fruits, many of which are not high in histamine, so I think that there’s more than one thing going on here.
I am also fighting a chronic oral thrush infection that I got from being on anti-biotics a couple years ago for a bad throat infection. It doesn’t seem to have ever cleared up completely although I fight it constantly. The least little increase in carbs or sugar and I’m done.
These food reactions have been a lifelong thing to varying degrees, but usually quite manageable. It’s only within the last 15 years that it’s started its downward spiral with ground lost and never gained back.
*sigh* I feel your pain.....
I would love to be able to thank you all personally for your prayers and support, but am overwhelmed at the sheer number of responses. So, thank you from the depths of my heart and please, if you think of it, keep muawiyah in your prayers as well. We’re in much the same boat. Only now I can’t eat potatoes chips any more. Potatoes are one of the two foods which recently dropped out of my diet. Other other was oats, which I did learn to like.... somewhat....
Eating the same thing for every meal for months on end does get rather tedious.
I’ve had ostrich, BTW. A supermarket which we lived near once carried it and it is excellent. We really liked it, but there wasn’t enough demand for it and the supplier quit carrying it. It’d pass for a fine cut of beef any say, for those who are interested.
Thanks all.
THANKS FOR YOUR EXPERIENTIAL CARING.
Last year my son was hospitalized for over a month....many tests and exams later it was discovered he had Celiac disease...his weight loss and health went down rapidly. When he changed his diet accordingly his health not only returned but has looked better an felt better than any other time in his life. However I would imagine they have already checked for this with Metmom.
I know nothing about this food disorder.
thank you for posting that-I have celiac disease and just had to come off of a chicken/rice diet due to anemia..just this past Saturday actually. I was so weak I couldn’t drive or wash my hair!
I have inflammation in my entire body-even my cells-and they don’t know if it’s just from the gluten (been GF since March) or something else...getting food allergy tests back in a couple of weeks.
I will certainly try ostrich meat; iron suppls make me want to hurl and I don’t want to eat beef everyday either.
Thank you so much!
Here’s a link to a video presentation by the doctors in Boston who deal with mastocytosis.
http://www.tmsforacure.org/video.shtml
This explains it pretty well. There are three parts to this video presentation.
MCAS also explains why the typical cures offered don’t work, like allergy shots. Neither does this have anything to do with leaky gut, probiotics, yeast infections,etc. because this isn’t an allergic reaction through the usual IgE pathway.
I’m actually not allergic to the things I react to. It’s the mast cells themselves which are defective.