This is topic So many food sensitivities, don't know what to eat! in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by laura j (Member # 14257) on :
 
So, I found out I'm intolerant to gluten, have a candida problem and also suspect I'm intolerant to night shades (tomatoes and potatoes, etc.), corn, dairy, nuts, onions and possibly eggs. Oh yeah, and MSG and aspartame.

I'm finding it really difficult to eat right with all these limitations. The nearest whole foods is at least 45 min. from me so it's not easy to get there when I feel like poo and I find myself starving and eating whatever is in the house and end up paying the price. It's a vicious cycle.

Don't know what advice anyone can really give me. I guess I just needed to vent. I was already feeling terribly deprived when I eliminated gluten and sugar and then eliminating those things helped me narrow down even further what bothers me. What I mean by bother me I mean I feel that when I eat those things I have more pain all over my body inside and out.

I find myself eating the same things over and over again like rice cereal with rice milk and I heard that doing that can cause new allergies from eating the same thing all the time. Great!

I recently had year round allergy testing done only to find out I'm allergic to everything! Dogs, cats, dust, dust mites, mold, yeast, pollen, feathers, cockroaches and I'm sure some stuff I forgot. I'm now doing shots once a week and will soon be going up to 2 times a week.

A few days ago I also had a test for food allergies so we'll see how many of my suspicions are confirmed with that.

Anyone else in the same boat?
 
Posted by SoSublyme (Member # 15185) on :
 
Laura,

I know how you feel...I went from eating anything I wanted last year to my current no gluten, no sugar, no dairy, minimal carbs, and low cholesterol diet. To top it off I just found out that I am sensitive to garlic, asparagus, bananas and cranberries.

Just like you, I'm afraid that I will develop allergies to what little I have left to eat because I have the same thing everyday too.

All I eat pretty much is plain salmon and chicken, salad and veggies. My one treat (and believe me, not a great one) is one Van's gluten-free waffle once in a while. (Dry...no syrup or butter....Sigh)

I even have trouble finding a salad dressing I can eat...all the ones I like seem to have dairy or garlic.

I can't have eggs, bacon, cereal or milk...I miss breakfast!! (My breakfast looks like a small dinner of the same chicken, salmon, etc.)

Maybe once our lyme is under control we will be able to expand our diets. My llmd said it's possible that the gluten issue might be temporary...wouldn't that be great?
 
Posted by laura j (Member # 14257) on :
 
SoSublyme,

Can I ask how you determined you're sensitive to those foods? What happens when you eat them? Were you tested?
 
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
 
My daughter tested allergic to a million things as well and can't eat........ready..........drum roll......

gluten, dairy, chicken, eggs, soy, garlic, almonds, peanuts, turkey, beef, tomatoes, on, and on, and on....

She--and therefore us because I can't cook different meals for everyone--has been following this elimination diet for close to 4 months now.

She really hasn't seen any improvement on eliminating these items from her diet, so we have retested her and are hoping the results will come back that she can start reintroducing some foods.

A friend gave us a great allergy book that is surprisingly tasty. Some recipes call for foods we can't use so we just eliminate or substitute as needed. I will come back and post the name later.

The important step to remember to do now to prevent getting allergic to what's left is to make sure and rotate foods every 4 days. For example, if we eat fish one day, we can't eat it again for another 4 days; if you eat beef, wait 4 days before eating it again. Do this with all your foods--keep rotating the foods to prevent new allergies.

The diet is a major hassle and BORING, but it is supposedly due to Lyme so hopefully once the infections are under control, the allergies will be too.

Good luck.
 
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
 
Here's the book I mentioned:

The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook, by Marjorie Hurt Jones

Enjoy!
 
Posted by SoSublyme (Member # 15185) on :
 
MomWH,

My heart goes out to you...I am so grateful that I am the one with food allergies and not my kids. I don't know how you do it...the four day rotation sounds next to impossible!

Laura,

I had my testing through US Biotek Laboratories (1-877-318-8728). My llmd gave me a kit to do at home (really easy). If you call them they can tell you if you need a doctor's order or not.
 
Posted by laura j (Member # 14257) on :
 
AMomWithHope and SoSublyme,

So all the things that you say you are allergic to you found out through the allergy testing or determined just based on symptoms/elimination diet?

I just got tested through alletess and don't have the results yet. My LLMD first wanted me to do an elimination diet but I was already so limited with the gluten free and candida diet that I didn't want to do the elimination diet and opted for the testing instead. She told me however that the testing shows a lot of false positives and may show I'm allergic to something I may not actually be allergic to.
 
Posted by aMomWithHope (Member # 19255) on :
 
SoSublyme,

Thanks for your kind words......I too wish it were me and not my daughter. I wish all of this was me and not my daughter, but.....it is what it is.

The diet is monotonous, but the cookbook I recommended offers some good recipes. As far as the 4-day rotation goes, I was going batty trying to remember what we had eaten so I just named each day as a particular food day, i.e., Monday is Fish Day, thus we can only eat fish products on that day--tuna for lunch, tilapia for dinner, etc.; Tuesday is Pork Day--ham, bacon, tenderloin, etc.--makes it a tad bit more manageable.

When we started the diet, I didn't know how we could manage for even one week, but here it is 4 months later--incredibly bored but sticking to it until we hear otherwise.

Laura J,

My daughter was tested through dermal testing via pinpricks and subdermal as well as blood testing through Aller-Check (US BioTek Labs).

When eating, she showed no visible or typical signs of food allergies, but since many of her symptoms could be due to the hidden inflammation that could be caused by food allergies, we gave the diet a try in hopes that it might help reduce or eliminate some of her symptoms. Since it hasn't, we are hoping to go off it while still maintaining a limited restricted diet, i.e., keeping the sugars out and excessive use of wheat and dairy to a minimum.
 
Posted by SoSublyme (Member # 15185) on :
 
MomWH,

Thanks so much for the book recommendation...I really need the help. I am also trying this diet as a way to possibly reduce inflammation. (The only food I had any kind of reaction to was garlic).

Laura,

I tried doing an elimination diet, but truthfully, other than garlic I didn't really notice any difference in the way I felt when I was happily being a glutton for gluten and dairy (ahhh....Haagan Daz).

So even though I don't like the results I am glad that I did the testing so I can try to give my immune system a break. I'm so glad to hear that there is a chance of false positives...maybe we'll get lucky and find out our tests are wrong!
 
Posted by Shosty (Member # 12232) on :
 
Some food sensitivities/allergies won't show up in testing.

An elimination diet with rechallenging is a very good way to figure out what foods to avoid. For us, the results were remarkable. My 6 years' duration paresthesias (arms, legs and face) improved more after a week of eliminating foods, than 6 years of antibiotics.

For me and my daughter, antibiotics caused this situation, not Lyme. Yeast and leaky gut contributed to a situation in which are reactions were systemic, not just localized to GI.

I can't eat dairy, gluten, soy, corn, nuts, citrus, banana, avocado, eggs, berries, salmon, legumes and seeds, dried fruits, sometimes oats....I'm probably leaving some out.

Some of these sensitivities do go away if I avoid the foods for a few months, and rotating is very important. Once this started, I found that I was constantly developing new ones if I overate certain foods.

I have managed to eat cream of rice cereal and applesauce for a few years w/out any reaction. Apples are safe for me, most veggies, and poultry. I eat the hot cereal whenever I need something quick, the same way someone would have a piece of bread or toast.

If you are not allergic to soy, that is helpful, at least in my eyes!

I sip Benandryl when I feel a reaction coming, and zantac can help. Gastrocrom solution helps heal inflammation after a reaction.

It is possible to bake with, say, garbanzo bean flour, xanthum gum, sweet potato or squash, an oil that works, baking powder, and applesauce.

Rice is my staple! (although I react to rice cakes if I have too many, don't know why)

Again, consider that Lyme is not doing this, but that the treatment is. I don't know anything for sure, and am just saying it could be either, or something else entirely. Clearly our immune systems are not working properly.
 
Posted by SoSublyme (Member # 15185) on :
 
Thanks, Shosty...great information.
 
Posted by Wimenin (Member # 15294) on :
 
I think all of us have allergies to some extent. The big Q is to what extend on some of these foods, and... is it possible to develop a tolerance to some of these foods so that over time they no longer are an allergen?

Studies have proven that if a small amount of allergen is introduced over a long period of time, eventually the body will no longer react to fight the allergen, and eventually you may be able to consume small amounts without a reaction.

But the safest is still to avoid those foods, or at least limit,alternate the intake.

Usually when in doubt, I think natural. No processed foods, no msg, no preservatives or artificial anything. Simple fruits, vegetables, meats... basically returing to the days of real food vs todays processed plethora..
 


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