Looking for impartial input on food intolerance

[Willow Creek Academy]

My son had an IgG food intolerance test. It came back with several intolerances, including wheat, rye, wheat gliadin, all dairy, chicken eggs, duck eggs, peas, and hazlenuts. I am concerned about the accuracy of these tests. I have done a bit of research and there doesn't seem to be a lot of scientific findings behind them.

 

My main reason for questioning the test is that in order to test positive for an intolerance the food has to have been consumed within a few weeks prior to the test. Never has my son had ducks eggs. Ever. I even contacted the few restaurants we had been to with in the past 3 months (we don't eat out a lot) and none use ducks eggs. I went through the labels of all the foods he eats.We rarely eat prepackaged foods and no duck eggs. Also hazlenuts. My daughter has a severe hazelnut allergy and not only was my son tested for all nut allergies via blood work at an allergist and was negative, we absolutely without question have nothing in the house with hazlenuts. My son does not eat at other peoples houses and again, when it comes to restaurants I am very cafeful.

 

So I am wondering what you all think? It was a new doctor that had this test done. At great expense I might add since our insurance did not cover it because it was not FDA approved.Do you think intolerances are a fad among doctors these days? Or are they totally real? I know a lot of people in my family, including my husband, think this is all "bunk", lol.

 

As a note, I have had him off all of the things he is not supposed to have and he has lost two pounds and had diarreah for 3 straight weeks and the doctor has not returned THREE phone calls I have placed to him. The nurse did say diarreah would be common for a bit but three weeks?

 

ETA: he has been cranky, nasty, and easily tired since starting this new diet.

[Ellie]

I don't think it's a fad. If so, it's been a fad for a long, long time. :001_huh:

 

I have never heard that someone must have eaten a specific food to have an intolerance to it. OTOH, I have a friend whose nursing baby showed no food sensitivities/allergies at all to either the food she ate or the little bits of food she had given him, until she gave him a bottle of formula. After that he was allergic to everything except air. :glare: It took a year to get his allergies down to a constant runny nose.

 

Sorry your ds is feeling so rotten. :grouphug:

[Willow Creek Academy]

I don't think it's a fad. If so, it's been a fad for a long, long time. :001_huh:

 

I have never heard that someone must have eaten a specific food to have an intolerance to it. OTOH, I have a friend whose nursing baby showed no food sensitivities/allergies at all to either the food she ate or the little bits of food she had given him, until she gave him a bottle of formula. After that he was allergic to everything except air. :glare: It took a year to get his allergies down to a constant runny nose.

 

Sorry your ds is feeling so rotten. :grouphug:

 

The Doctor was specific that it would only show foods he had eaten recently and when we got the results from the lab they also said if he had NOT had a food with in the past couple of months, it would show negative whether he was intolerance or not. This wasn't like a skin prick or vial of blood. It was 5 smears of blood on carstock (for lack of a better term) from a finger prick. His previous blood allergy testing was all negative.

[Hypatia.]

I've dealt with food intolerances in all of my kids, but DS2 (my youngest) was by far the worst. I read about different types of testing for intolerances, but just couldn't quite bring myself to trust them even though I desperately wanted to know what was bothering DS2 in addition to the dairy and soy.

[jplain]

I don't think the clinical significance of IgG antibodies in the bloodstream has been established. Maybe we can measure them, but what do they mean? No one really knows.

 

This article by the Clinical Lab Director at Bastyr University explains some of the reasons I've chosen not to do IgG testing.

 

IgG Food Allergy Testing by ELISA/EIA:What Do They Really Tell Us?

 

A few quotes:

The use of these food allergy panels for the diagnosis and management of food allergies, however, is fraught with problems. These problems include reliability in testing, an arguable theory behind the testing and the prevalence of treatments (food rotations or other diets) prescribed by these testing laboratories based solely on laboratory test results.

At this time, after extensive literature searches and interviews with various companies offering this test, we at Bastyr are unaware of any peer-reviewed published study examining the positive predictive values of IgG for the diagnosis of food allergy or the association of this test with food allergy signs and symptoms.

The foods to make the antigens [used to detect a patient's antibodies] were obtained from a local Oklahoma market (they tried to buy organic foods whenever they could). The foods were then chopped finely and diluted to make the antigens. Other than several rinses with an organic solvent (acetone), the food antigens were not purified. The problems that may be associated with this preparation are enormous. For one, all food (organic and non-organic) is coated with microorganisms. The most common of these include bacteria and fungi but viruses and parasites may also be found on fruits, vegetables, grains, milk and meat products. Microorganisms have many antigens that are highly immunogenic. It is common knowledge that most people have high circulating levels of IgG to a number of common microorganisms. To this likely wealth of microorganisms in the testing wells, there is the presence of possible pesticides and organic solvents that are not (according to the technologist interviewed) rinsed away during preparation.

 

Therefore, what is really being measured in these panels? Is it an immune reaction to certain foods or is it a person's exposure to common bacteria and fungi? What about a person's previous exposure to pesticides and organic solvents?

(bolding mine)

 

For what it's worth, we did do scratch testing of the top 8 allergens to try to rule out IgE-mediated allergies. Other than that I've based our elimination diets on food diaries and our responses to food challenges. We're doing well avoiding soy, gluten, and restaurant oils (both frying and as an ingredient). I'd added back dairy, but I plan to take it out of DD5's diet again after our Xmas travel. She does okay with cheese and yogurt, but I think they're causing a few old symptoms to flare up again (one small recurring spot of blistering eczema and one persistently pink cheek). Drinking milk gives her stomach cramps, so I suspect she's also now truly lactose intolerant.

Edited December 11, 2011 by jplain

[abbeyej]

I don't think it's a fad. If so, it's been a fad for a long, long time. :001_huh:

The "fad" concern comes from the type of test. IgG instead of IgE (what most doctors test for)...

 

And I truly don't know the answer. The people who use IgG tests (and sell them) swear by them, but they aren't widely accepted in the medical community as useful.

[jplain]

What is he eating? Too much fiber could cause diarrhea, but I have a hard time imagining a kid eating that much fiber. I bet there's something else going on. My guess is that it's a long-lasting but mild stomach bug.

 

For the diarrhea, I'd try giving him a probiotic for a few days, and see if that helps. Open up a capsule into a small amount of applesauce or a (not hot) beverage. I like Culturelle, because it is readily available and has been very effective for both of my girls; many drugstores carry it. Try the dairy-free version if you can find it. I personally think the amount of dairy protein in the original version is not a problem unless one has an IgE-mediated allergy to cow's milk.

 

Good luck!

[Tammyla]

No, I don't think it's a fad.

 

Fwiw, so many foods (especially processed or restaurant cooked) have things in them we don't know about. Think cross contamination, the grill, the pans etc...

 

 

I have no info on the different tests.

[sbgrace]

I'm not a fan of those IgG tests. I know some people are. I researched and what I read wasn't encouraging. That said, I do believe intolerances can exist. However, in my experience you'd see symptoms first and second I don't think research would support using those tests to tease them out anyway. My son has IGE (allergy/hives/anaphylaxis/etc. type allergies) to foods. There are also a couple that I think are intolerances but they give him ezcema, stomach cramping, and loose stools. When removed they don't. Even in true allergy testing you don't remove positive foods without symptoms to confirm allergies. Yet these tests have people pulling sometimes tons of foods without any food trials to confirm based on tests that don't stand up to research testing anyway.

 

 

Finally, I can't figure out how removing problem foods would give your son diarrhea?? That has not been my experience with removing food allergies or intolerances. Maybe I'm misunderstanding.

 

 

For my son I tracked down the problem foods with a rotation diet--we saw clear correlation with symptoms. I'd try a rotation diet if you're suspecting intolerances are causing physical symtpoms you see. Or pull the suspect food for a week or so and see if symptoms resolve and then trial it back in. That might help you narrow down any problem foods. Could I ask, though, what made you want to do the testing in the first place? Did you suspect certain foods or have unexplained symptoms? There may be another explanation.

Edited December 10, 2011 by sbgrace

[kalanamak]

Why did he have the test in the first place? (i.e. what was going on with him that you thought it worthwhile)

[Willow Creek Academy]

Why did he have the test in the first place? (i.e. what was going on with him that you thought it worthwhile)

 

Just general growth issues. Or lack of growth. He is a small kid for his age and he also prety much hates all food. Getting him to eat anything is like pulling teeth from a tiger. There wasn't any other reason.

[laundrycrisis]

My son had an IgG food intolerance test. It came back with several intolerances, including wheat, rye, wheat gliadin, all dairy, chicken eggs, duck eggs, peas, and hazlenuts. I am concerned about the accuracy of these tests. I have done a bit of research and there doesn't seem to be a lot of scientific findings behind them.

 

My main reason for questioning the test is that in order to test positive for an intolerance the food has to have been consumed within a few weeks prior to the test. Never has my son had ducks eggs. Ever. I even contacted the few restaurants we had been to with in the past 3 months (we don't eat out a lot) and none use ducks eggs. I went through the labels of all the foods he eats.We rarely eat prepackaged foods and no duck eggs. Also hazlenuts. My daughter has a severe hazelnut allergy and not only was my son tested for all nut allergies via blood work at an allergist and was negative, we absolutely without question have nothing in the house with hazlenuts. My son does not eat at other peoples houses and again, when it comes to restaurants I am very cafeful.

 

So I am wondering what you all think? It was a new doctor that had this test done. At great expense I might add since our insurance did not cover it because it was not FDA approved.Do you think intolerances are a fad among doctors these days? Or are they totally real? I know a lot of people in my family, including my husband, think this is all "bunk", lol.

 

As a note, I have had him off all of the things he is not supposed to have and he has lost two pounds and had diarreah for 3 straight weeks and the doctor has not returned THREE phone calls I have placed to him. The nurse did say diarreah would be common for a bit but three weeks?

 

ETA: he has been cranky, nasty, and easily tired since starting this new diet.

 

There is a difference between an allergy and an intolerance both are absolutely real. I am guessing you are only needing to eliminate wheat, rye, dairy, chicken eggs and peas...that duck eggs and hazelnuts were not a common part of his diet. Wheat, dairy and eggs are in the list of top allergens. For anyone who is doing a trial elimination diet for a while to see if it clears up some symptoms, these are great things to have on the elimination list. You eliminate them for 2-3 months and then try putting them back, one at a time, on separate days, several days apart, and watch for any reactions. Even someone who has not gone through the testing but is just trying the elimination diet would do well to eliminate these foods for while.

 

As for the testing - the testing our son had done was IgE because we wanted to know for sure about the foods that he could possibly develop a life-threatening reaction to, and anaphylaxis is an IgE reaction. He had IgE skin testing done and also had the IgE RAST test done, looking for levels of those antibodies in his blood from certain foods he had recently consumed. We did not have any IgG testing done.

 

As for the diarrhea - your son may also have an intestinal yeast problem. Yeast thrives in guts that are inflamed and irritated from allergens or anything else that gets them irritated. It will cause a particular type of diarrhea - you can pm me for a description but I'll kindly not put it here.

 

Our DS had a terrible yeast issue in combination with his food allergies. To get him well, we had to eliminate the allergens, get his minerals balanced - they were really out of whack from nutrient malabsorption - get rid of toxins he had accumulated, kill off the yeast and keep it from coming back, and get him absorbing his nutrients. The yeast we handled with Candex enzyme in the morning and very strong Kirkman probiotics at night. He also took digestive enzymes to help him process his food.

[Snickerdoodle]

I finally took my son off certain foods that I thought he might be having an intolerance but not outright allergic response and for the first month he did have similar digestive issues to what you are describing. It was almost as if the problem got worse before it got better.

 

But better it did get. Surprisingly, it did help a bit with the picky eating.

 

I wonder if the gut flora is just changing up a bit. You might want to supplement with some probiotics as was already suggested.

 

:grouphug:

[Acadie]

So you've pulled wheat, eggs and dairy and that's when his diarrhea started? If that's the case, I'd look at what you substituted. Those foods might be the cause of the bowel issues. Many wheat or gluten-free products are high in sulfites. My girls don't tolerate any milk subs, like almond milk, rice milk, etc, due to the additives.

 

If you haven't had IgE food allergy testing done for the Top 8 allergens and anything else you suspect, start there. After that, based on the history you describe, I'd look at food intolerance.

 

It's not at all uncommon for food intolerant children to be extremely picky eaters. If IgE testing isn't helpful, try something like Feingold or (more work, but eliminates more food chemicals) the Failsafe Diet.

 

My dd9 used to be super picky. As a baby/toddler she had IgE food allergies along with several food intolerances to both artificial and natural food chemicals. She's had a very good appetite for years, but that didn't start til we figured out both her former allergies and ongoing intolerances.

 

We did have IgG testing done at one point but it was a dead end for us. What helped was IgE testing (when she did have IgE allergies) and an elimination diet and detailed food diary for the intolerances.

 

Amy