Food Allergies (long)

[NRG Woman]

Anyone out there with food allergies?

I have had a whole host of medical problems that just could not be managed including chronic asthma/allergies, chronic nausea, eczema, etc, etc, etc... I had asked several of my doctors if food allergies could be the caused and was dismissed out of hand.

Several weeks ago I removed many potential allergens including wheat and anything else with gluten in it out of my diet. Even though I had bronchitis at the time after several days I noticed I was breathing easier. After about 3 weeks I had a moment of panic when I realized I had not taken any of my 5 allergy/asthma meds (including 2 inhalers) for over a week. My first instinct was of course to take them. But after thinking about it for a couple of minutes I realized I was breathing significantly better without them than I had in the past 6 years. So I kept off of them and continued to play with my diet. In the mean time have visited pretty much every website that deals with food allergies to pick up tips that other people have been so generous to share.

In the past several weeks I realized for the most part I am feeling really well. I mean really well, better than I can ever remember. A couple of new allergies have emerged including peppers and potatoes. Sometimes I consider myself lucky that I have an early warning system if I eat something my body doesn't like. Within 20 minutes I know something is wrong and within 30 minutes I am having difficulty breathing. Of course I have my inhalers, antihistamines and epi-pen if needed. Then it takes a day or so to get the stuff out of my system. I have an appointment with my allergist in a week to discuss what is going on.

So I was wondering how anyone else may deal with this type of allergies? The most frustrating things for me are trying to eat out which I have to do because I travel for work. Some restaurants are very dismissive when you tell them you have a food allergy, like it is all in your head. Also, at this time being gluten free is not nearly as difficult as it has been for people in the past, but unfortunately potato flour is used in many commercial gluten free products.

I know I will have to cook most of my food from scratch from now on. Cooking is not something I have been good at in the past simply from the chronic fatigue that was caused by the allergies. In the mean time I am trying my best to find foods that my body likes, and even more outrageous that my palate likes.

So does anyone out there have food allergies and how do you deal with it?

Thank you so much just for listening.

Shayne

 

[aussiekers]

Hi Shayne, I have many allergies too. I have a gluten intollerance so I just keep tabs on that to see which foods set me off. I have found I can eat a sandwich with whole wheat bread just fine, but if I eat a lot of gluten items in one day my belly looks about 6 months prego. I have a tree nut allergy so most raw nuts are out. Interestingly, if I have pine nuts toasted, I am ok. Also if almonds are roasted, I can eat them. I can not eat raw apples, plums, nectarines, kiwi, pineapple, mango, carrots, celery, and the list can go on. I can eat canned fruit or fruit and veggies fully cooked. The cooking process does something to the makeup I guess. So, long story short, I've figured out what works for me. I also have ragweed, pollen and tree allergies...spring is lovely LOL I have had the skin prick test on my back and it showed many allergies, wheat being one of them, when I found out I was gluten intolerant, that made sense.

My advice is to keep a food journal and write everything down that you are eating and then look back at what you have eaten or what you have been doing just before you have a reaction. Good luck.

 

[CeciFifi]

Hi there,

I just thought I would chime in. Your situation sounds a bit similar to mine. I avoid wheat, dairy and soy. I also avoid Kamut and Spelt. Wheat leaves my stomach distended, and wheat, spelt and kamut leave me clearing my throat of mucus constantly which affects my breathing (on puffer when I have these grains).

Dairy of any kind affects my breathing (on puffer if i have even a small amount), leaves me scratching terribly and I clear my throat excessively of mucus.

Soy leaves me clearing my throat excessively.

So I strive most days to avoid these foods. I wish I didn't have to but I do.

I eat only sprouted bread which you can find in a freezer e.g. genesis bread - they have cinnamon bread too! Honest to goodness, it tastes exactly like wheat bread but it's expensive. I eat only rice crackers and use only rice pasta. I avoid dairy completely and drink only almond milk (I use it in mashed potatoes for the kids and they make pancakes with it too). I avoid soy all together.

Removing these items cleared my pathways remarkably. I only use my puffer when I've eaten stuff I shouldn't have.

This is my experience. My 9 year old clears her throat excessively when she has had wheat or milk e.g. a cookie. She cannot have any milk in anything else she scratches like mad. My 12 year old has no issues except if she has milk products too much (she's the only one in the house who can handle dairy) she develops dandruff. Otherwise, it disappears if she's not having yogurt, cheese or milk in her cereal. we don't drink milk in general.

 

[lifeisgood]

My family is gluten free and my husband is dairy free. Eating out is difficult and when I travel I make sure I have some safe options on hand (granola bars, fruit, Larabars, etc) in case I can't find something safe.

Most large chains are starting to cater to GF needs and will offer GF menus (Chili's, Romano's Macaroni Grill, Johnny Carino's to name a few) which most of the time is just a sheet listing what is safe if you remove x,y,z. Salads are usually safe as long as there's no breading on meat or croutons and you also have to watch the salad dressings. In the past I've ordered burgers without buns but be careful of french fries since they tend to use the same fryer for gluten covered foods and that causes cross contamination.

I would search online in the areas you tend to travel to to see if there are GF friendly restaurants in the area. If you don't get a say in where you eat keep some safe foods in your purse and do your best. And if a restaurant was dismissive toward me on my food needs I'd walk out on them in a heart beat, it's not worth suffering because they think they know what my body needs.

It's hard but does get better with time.

Cindy

 

[RapidBreath]

It sounds like in addition to a gluten allergy you respond to night shade plants, you might also look into tomatoes, eggplant and anything else in that category that inflames/spikes an allergic response. Keep looking until you find an allergist that actually tests for these things. That said, it seems like you know most of the answers.

Have you tried Bee Pollen from a local provider? That seems to work best from local bees because they are getting your local plants and if plant pollen is a problem this can really improve your energy.

As for gluten, watch out for it in vitamins and especially vit. E which is often a derivative from wheat. I don't know what to tell you about restaurants. They are just terrible about this stuff. I do almost all the cooking around here because I don't want to run the risk of my mother dying from exposure to fish or anything from the ocean, including sea salt. She blows up like a puffer fish. This means that Wendy's is out now. Would it be possible to just meet for drinks rather than full meals? Those are a lot safer than full meals.

Alisha

 

[RapidBreath]

One more thing, grilled chicken is usually made with soy sauce which is really just wheat sauce. Watch out for that.

 

[NRG Woman]

Wow, everyone, thank you for your replies. You all seem to have found a way to incorporate this into your lives.

I am sure in time I will get used to this new way of eating. I am frustrated because I was traveling last weekend and even though I was careful I was given foods that I responded poorly to. I am still clearing out from that.

I figure long term it will be a very good thing because I will eat little processed food, and mostly fresh home cooked food. And if I can find a solution to my medical problems to boot, it is a bonus.

Shayne

 

[hokypoky]

Hi Shayne, this is becoming more and more prevalent all the time. Did you know that off all the people that are estimated to have Celiac's Disease, only 10% of them have been diagnosed? That means the other 90% are walking around, suffering and wondering what's the matter!

My 11-year was diagnosed with Celiac's last year. It hasn't been too hard for us, maybe because I found out I was allergic to dairy/whey, eggs, bananas, strawberries and (?) red kidney beans about 5 years ago. At first it seemed overwhelming and many times I "rebelled" by eating the very foods I was allergic to in frustration. I was eating healthy - it seemed so unfair to have to give up milk, eggs, yoghurt, bananas ....! I had a blood test, which cost about $500 but it was so worth it to know for sure. And geez, I never would've known about the kidney beans! Even though I'm highly allergic to whey, I can have the occasional bowl of ice cream without problems. About a year after I detoxed everything out of my body, I could try things here and there. Some worked, some not so good!

I used to have several sinus infections every year - the doctors would have to put me on heavy duty anitibiotics because I was becoming resistant. It's been at least 3 years since I've had one, and I don't even get colds anymore. I also would get debilitating stomach pain. Once in a while that pops up, usually after a restaurant meal with something hidden.

When it comes to eating out, we seem to find a few restaurants and stick to them. When we do branch out, especially an independent one, it's a gamble. The internet is a lifesaver when it comes to finding out which local restaurants are gluten free. We were in LA last fall, and I was Googling non-stop.

I usually don't get into complex cooking, but have been able to use lots of gluten free mixes to go semi-homemade. This week I made things like chicken parmesan using GF Bisquik and GF pasta, & tacos with corn tortillas. I freeze Betty Crocker GF cupcakes for my daughter to have at school when there's a birthday. Small, health food stores are excellent for having a variety of things to choose from.

It all takes time, but as you've already found out, it's worth the effort! It will become second nature before you know it!