Food Allergies: Holy Cow

Guest Post by Aaron

You never want to be the one with the food allergy.  Deep down you empathize with those that cannot eat chocolate, ice cream and cheese.  “That’s too bad,” you say, and under your breath mutter, “I could never give it up, I love it too much.”  And then you think to yourself how lucky you are that you are not the one who is allergic.

I did not start feeling really bad until about a year and half ago.  I had what I’d call abnormal abdominal pain—the kind that wakes you when you roll on that side while sleeping.  I was tired all the time.  We ran test after test. Catscan.  Check.  Ultrasound.  Check.  Blood tests.  Check.  All came back negative. Damn, what the heck was going on?

Brenda and I were already half way into what I’d call our own personal food revolution. We were buying more local.  Eating more greens.  Eating out a lot less.  I drastically cut down milk (and then even soy), which seemed to help.  The symptoms waned a bit, but there were times when they’d flare right back up.  Brenda thought my pains were in my head and could possibly be food related.  I was reluctant to agree.  We tried acupuncture.  Not as a cure for my disagreement with her, but for the pain.

It was mid-June and we were taking a road trip to a friend’s wedding.  I tuned the iPod to a podcast I listened to frequently, Weekday with Steve Scher on KUOW.  The topic was Gluten-Free Eating (mp3 recording) with Shauna James Ahern (Gluten Free Girl and the Chef blog) and Dr. Stephen Wangen, a physician specializing in digestive disorders and food allergies.  Listening to them talk sounded like my medical history.  I was healthy, athletic, and in good shape.  Nothing seemed abnormal when I’d go to the doctor.  But there were key themes of fatigue, the abdominal pain, and a foggy head.  The show went on to basically conclude that if you’re allergic to food, your body attacks it like a virus.  Um.  Um.  My mind was racing.  Did I have food allergies?  Food allergies react differently in each person, so they are hard to diagnose.

Damn.  Brenda could be right.  We tested for celiac disease.  It came back negative.  Not convinced, Brenda and I dug into the research a bit more—and became quickly overwhelmed.  Why is information on food allergies not more prevalent?  How come my doctor never recommended food allergy testing?  Taking matters into our own hands we decided to get a another opinion so we made an appointment with Dr. Wangen at the IBS Treatment Center.

Dr. Wangen was fantastic. We went thru my medical history of the pain and current symptoms.  We talked thru options.  Two stood out as the logical choice: a food allergy panel and a stool DNA test.  The food allergy panel would be a blood test of 96 different foods and how my body reacts.  The stool DNA test would check for parasites, yeast and overall bacteria levels.  Wait time, three to four weeks.

So we left, anticipating the results.  We continued the diet of limited dairy and no gluten.  And then the call came—the results were back.  Apprehensive?  You bet.  We meet Dr. Wangen for 45 plus minutes to discuss the results.  Stool test came back negative across the board.  Good. Allergy panel?  Yikes!  There it was right in front of us.  Allergic to dairy.  Allergic to soy.  Allergic to sesame.  Allergic to coffee beans.  Allergic to cranberries and blueberries.  And the biggest whopper of them all, allergic to beef.  What the?  Yes, stay away from the cow.  Too bad I had a hamburger for lunch the day before.  Too bad I bought brisket for a dinner party later that week.

And then it hit Brenda and I–all those times after I ate anything from a cow, it caused drastic reactions.  The abdominal pain.  The gas.  The bloating.  And the reaction wouldn’t be immediate, but come on at least an hour later.  In fact, eating certain kinds of beef would almost induce an instant nap.  The good news is none of the allergies are life threatening.  They just cause me to feel bad and my body fights them like a virus.

It’s a relief knowing what you are allergic to, but it takes the body almost 6 months plus (sometimes longer) to heal, without ingesting any of the foods to which you are allergic.  So here begins a new adventure of eating without beef, dairy, soy, and gluten.  I’ll be posting updates of how it’s going every so often.

If you’re feeling bad and have been for a while, visit the IBS Treatment Center and Dr. Wangen.  It’s amazing that many symptoms including acne, sinus infections, headaches and the like can be linked to food.  Knowing what you can eat so that your body doesn’t attack it like a virus is powerful information everyone needs to have.

Photo courtesy of Cartoon Stock.

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Below is a small sample of the results we got.  Some science background from Dr. Wangen: our immune system guards against foreign invaders.  In the case of an allergy, the invaders are called allergens.  In many people, foods act as allergens rather than nutrition.  The food allergy blood test measures the reaction to two different antibodies, IgE and IgG.  The grey line below is my IgE reaction to the food (IgE reactions typically occur immediately after contact with or ingestion of the allergen).  The black line is the IgG reaction, which usually show up hours or even days after ingestion of the allergen.  The results that are higher on the scale equate to a worse reaction.

Tagged as: Dr. Stephen Wangen, food allergies, IBS Treatment Center, nutrition