Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Allergist?


dube

Recommended Posts

dube Contributor

Has anyone ever gone to an allergist for food allergy testing? I was looking at the enterolab and they are so expensive? I want to get tested but I want to make sure I go to the right kind of doctor....


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



MrsMonteSS Newbie

Has anyone ever gone to an allergist for food allergy testing? I was looking at the enterolab and they are so expensive? I want to get tested but I want to make sure I go to the right kind of doctor....

Hi, I just went yesterday, after being misdiagnosed for the last two months (Hyperthyroidism / Diabeties). I am Gluten Free for two days now, and slowly feeling myself coming back together. I went and had no food allergies, but he ordered the Gluten work up. A Gastro typically deals with the effects of Celiac, but my allergist wanted this done right away. I would avoid as much sugar as possible because it is the reason I was misdiagnosed, stay hydrated, and start reading labels. I was allows in bouts with Lactose Intolerance as well. Hope this helps! RoseAnne - NY

hnybny91 Rookie

I went to a natropath for food sensitivity testing. Some on here think it is not reliable but I knew there were other food issues after going gluten free and, to be honest, I did not want to do an elimination diet to figure them out. I came back positive for 36 foods (including gluten and wheat....surprise surprise.) Since I have cut all of those foods out I have felt so much better. I highly recommend testing.

pondy Contributor

Has anyone ever gone to an allergist for food allergy testing? I was looking at the enterolab and they are so expensive? I want to get tested but I want to make sure I go to the right kind of doctor....

Hi Dube,

I'm seeing an allergist/immunologist this week.

My primary doctor recommended him because I get bothersome (sometimes scary) reactions to foods & other things - can't seem to figure out which foods, etc...

Fortunately, the allergist is covered by my insurance. Even if he wasn't though, I'd still go.

Personally, a bad allergic reaction for me sometimes involves a "choking" feeling in the throat or shortness of breath. Seems potentially dangerous so I'm covering all my bases.

Good luck to you :)

T.H. Community Regular

Has anyone ever gone to an allergist for food allergy testing? I was looking at the enterolab and they are so expensive? I want to get tested but I want to make sure I go to the right kind of doctor....

I have, and I'd recommend finding a doctor who specializes in food allergies. There are usually one or two in a city, at least. The others? They tend to focus more on environmental allergies and allergy shots, these days.

I went to the latter first, and it was awful. My food allergies were, essentially, 'all in my head' and the fact that I started having trouble with food after going gluten free was a 'coincidence' and...it just went down hill from there.

I persevered and found an amazing allergist. He admitted that most food allergy tests aren't that accurate. The more mild your reactions are, the less accurate the tests were, in his opinion. He recommends a food journal for his patients who aren't having hives as reactions to foods. Sometimes a patch test, but he thinks a food journal is as accurate, if not more so, than patch tests if you are having issues with foods that aren't hives.

You also need to find someone who is aware of Celiac Disease, if possible. Probably need to shop around. Maybe ask people in a local celiac group if there are any they would recommend?

Robert16 Newbie

Yes i did and was very helpful found out about half my problem foods were allergies the one that suprised me was highly allergtic to pork was worth it.

Marilyn R Community Regular

Has anyone ever gone to an allergist for food allergy testing? I was looking at the enterolab and they are so expensive? I want to get tested but I want to make sure I go to the right kind of doctor....

I went to an allergist eight months after going gluten-free against the advice of my Gastro. I learned I was highly allergic to pecans, even though I'd never had a problem with them before. They're an ingredient in a gluten-free SF DF bar I'd been snacking on. The other thing I was highly allergic to is turkey, which I've never cared for, but occasionally ate when it was on sale.

I turned up 2's and 3's on some things (egg yolk, tomato, clams, wheat and barley.) I just avoid repeating the first 3 items in that list in my diet or going overboard on them. For instance, I'll have eggs for breakfast, but eat just the white. I still make things with a beaten egg though (like gluten-free pancakes or refried rice, etc), just wait a few days before eating anything with egg yolk in it again. I don't make tomato sauce anymore, but can deal with tomato sauce or paste as an ingredient in a dish every few days.

I break out in hives but I know my triggers, so I refused the hive panel on the initial visit. We talked about environmental allergies and he told me I probably have mold and dust allergies. He offered that panel as well, and I declined.

So I definitely recommend going to an allergist. You can be selective about the panels ordered, but it's important to discuss this on your initial visit.

I was pretty impressed with how much better I felt after eliminating my other culprits from my diet combined with minimizing the mild allergins. And just so you know, the nurse that does your tests might tell you what popped up on the day of your test if you ask her. (Vs. waiting two weeks for the doctor to tell you. )

If you haven't been tested for celiac disease yet, I think an allergist would order that the day you see them, especially if you ask them to.

Good luck to you! :)


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



dube Contributor

Well, going to the alergist was a waste of time! The did the food pricks right there in the office...hardly nothing! She said, alittle on pork, walnuts and crab...well whoopie doo....I dont eat walnuts or crab...and pork well, very little but never had a problem with it...

Oh well...it was worth a try, not to mention a very nice scenic drive in the country!!! LOL

burdee Enthusiast

Well, going to the alergist was a waste of time! The did the food pricks right there in the office...hardly nothing! She said, alittle on pork, walnuts and crab...well whoopie doo....I dont eat walnuts or crab...and pork well, very little but never had a problem with it...

Oh well...it was worth a try, not to mention a very nice scenic drive in the country!!! LOL

Skin tests for food allergies (esp. delayed reaction allergies) are totally worthless, UNLESS your only reaction to food is hives or eczema. We don't put food under our skin when we eat. Many people get gastrointestinal reacions to food allergens. Skin tests will not reproduce those kinds of reactions. However, blood tests can show to which foods our blood creates antibodies. Nevertheless, skin tests can rule out some IgE (immediate reaction, anaphylactic reaction) types of allergies. Some allergy 'experts' consider IgE mediated reactions the only 'true' allergies, despite the fact that most people have delayed reaction food allergies.

  • 2 weeks later...
Deedeedum Newbie

I read the same thing - that a patch (skin) test only uncovers allergies that you have an immediate reaction to. From what I've read, most people with intolerance to certain foods, chronic fatigue, gluten, yeast, celiacs, etc, won't find their allergies with a patch test. Symptoms can take up to 3 days to show up, and they can be subtle: gas, bloating, mood, fatigue, low energy, skin problems and so on. And that's not counting long-term organ and nerve damage.

I would seriously consider getting a blood test done, since this is the only way to see what foods you can tolerate well. And the point isn't only to find what is debilitating, but to find what foods are stopping you from living life to the fullest, or on a full tank of gas.

Cheers

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      130,537
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Sharon Williams
    Newest Member
    Sharon Williams
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      @MagsM Did your doctor do the DGP IgG and DGP IgA tests or the tTg IgG test.  It looks like he just tested total IgG.   Were you taking any medications or over the counter stuff before the test?  Some can suppress the immune system and cause false negatives.  
    • Fabrizio
      Thanks for your article. 
    • NCalvo822
      Thank you.  Very helpful.
    • knitty kitty
      Migraines can be caused by Thiamine deficiency.  Thiamine is a B vitamin that becomes depleted quickly because it can't be stored long.  All the  B vitamins work together to make energy, ATP, which is used to fuel all the cell activity.  Without Thiamine, the energy production cycle doesn't even get started.   There's studies done on mice showing thiamine deficiency affects the offspring of thiamine deficient mothers and fathers.  The offspring have fewer thiamine receptors and are prone to becoming thiamine insufficient quickly.  They have a higher metabolic need for thiamine.  Supplementing with extra thiamine helped them  tremendously. Migraines have run in my family for several generations, too.  Once I started taking TTFD, a form of thiamine that can enter cells without using thiamine transporters, my migraines have vanished.  TTFD is tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide. Benfotiamine is another form that can improve migraine frequency, too. Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There is no upper limit because thiamine has never caused a death even in high doses.  It is excreted via kidneys if not needed or not absorbed.
    • knitty kitty
      Thank you, @Oldturdle, I greatly appreciate that.  I've always been a curious kitty.  I wanted to figure out why I didn't feel well because I knew it wasn't all in my head like they told me.  It pleases me to be able to help others in the same boat. Yes, alcohol prevents the absorption of thiamine and stops thiamine from working properly.  This can lead to Wernicke's Encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome, where thiamine deficiency severely affects brain function.  Doctors are trained to look for the triad of symptoms: opthalmoplegia (nystagmus), ataxia, and altered mental state.  However, not all people present with all three symptoms.  Many (80%) don't get diagnosed until their autopsy.   Alcohol has to be processed through the liver.  If there's insufficient thiamine, Alcoholic Fatty Liver develops.  In thiamine insufficiency, calories are turned into fat and stored in the liver instead of being turned into fuel ATP for the body.  Alcohol also prevents absorption of calories from food and other nutrients.   Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver can develop in nonalcoholics, storing excess calories as fat in the liver.  However, excess calories can also be turned into fat and stored in the abdomen, hence the increase in obesity.   In Celiac disease, we don't absorb sufficient nutrients like thiamine from our food.  If we eat a diet high in carbohydrates, we can run out of vitamins like thiamine and the other Bs needed to turn those calories into fuel ATP.  For every extra thousand calories of carbohydrates consumed, our bodies require 500 to 1000 mg of additional thiamine to process them into fuel, ATP,  the "bitcoin" of energy in our bodies.   Wernicke's encephalopathy can occur in non-alcoholic people, but doctors can miss the symptoms because the patient doesn't drink, and doesn't have all three symptoms of the classic Triad of symptoms seen in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.  My doctors failed to diagnose me with thiamine deficiency, Wernicke's Encephalopathy,  because I didn't drink alcohol, although I had ataxia and an altered mental state.   Doctors don't think outside the box!   I went home and took thiamine.  I had improvement in my symptoms within an hour.  High doses of thiamine are required to correct Thiamine deficiency.  Thank God I had studied nutrition, microbiology, and the research of Dr. Derrick Lonsdale and Dr. Chandler Marrs.  ("Thiamine Deficiency Disease, Dysautonomia, and High Calorie Malnutrition" is Drs. Lonsdale and Marrs' book.).  And I've kept learning and sharing that knowledge to help others.   It's wonderful you've been supplementing with vitamins so long!  Don't worry about the bright yellow urine.  That's excess Riboflavin B 2.  Interesting note, Riboflavin glows under black light!  Those lights used to detect where pets have soiled outside of the box, that's the Riboflavin in urine glowing.  Riboflavin can be put in sugar syrup when making rock candy and it will glow under black light.  Fun for Halloween. I hope you feel better, @Oldturdle.  If I can be of further help anytime, you can send a personal message here.  Thanks for reading my posts.  P.S. Thiamine deficiency and Wernicke's Encephalopathy are completely reversible if treated promptly with high dose Thiamine.
×
×
  • Create New...