Dr. Hive - can you figure out this stomach problem?

[AngieW in Texas]

I thought I posted this yesterday, but I couldn't find it when I looked today.

 

My dh, 19yo, and 14yo all have stomach issues.

 

For all three of them, they will suddenly have symptoms very similar to food poisoning except that my 14yo and 19yo don't vomit (dh does though). It doesn't appear to be connected to any particular food or amount of food.

 

In the past two months, my 14yo has had this happen after eating just a few sour cream & onion chips (what she usually chose for her snack), after eating just a few cool ranch doritos, and after eating a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge.

 

The stomach issues usually last for 2-6 hours before going away.

 

All three of them also have headache issues and the 14yo was having horrible issues with optical migraines earlier this year until she got her glasses. All three of them get horrible headaches that come out of nowhere and don't respond to Advil. For my 14yo, the headaches feel like her head is being crushed in a vice with pressure coming from the sides of head right above her ears.

 

The 14yo also has problems with a lot of fruits burning her mouth. Cantaloupe and apples are the only fruits that she hasn't ever had a problem with.

 

The 14yo also has problems with feeling like her throat is closing up while eating sometimes. This has happened while eating waffles, toast, pancakes, rolls, chicken burgers, and chicken nuggets. The only thing that I know is in common between all the things that have given her this problem is that they all have wheat. It doesn't happen every time she eats these things. It happens maybe 1x/week and she eats waffles and/or toast just about every day. She has been to an ENT who used a scope to look down her throat and didn't find any issues except for exceptionally large tonsils. Her regular doctor and the allergist we went to both said they weren't THAT big, but every dentist and orthodontist and the ENT have been shocked by their size.

 

Does anybody have a clue what this could be? My dh has the stomach problems more frequently than anybody else (usually at least 1x/week and sometimes more often than that). My 19yo has it maybe 2x/month. My 14yo has it maybe 1x/month.

[wapiti]

lingering strep? Probably not, but fwiw, strep can cause nausea and vomitting as its only symptom. It would probably be more of a nightly thing though.

[Annie]

You said the 14 yo went to an allergist, right? Did they do testing? Have you researched oral allergy syndrome at all (related to the fruit)? Are the waffles, rolls, chicken nuggets, etc. homemade or frozen/store bought?

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I think I have had some food allergies when I had a lowered immune system. My tongue felt like it was on fire after eating the dark honey ( just a taste) and I first thought that the honey had cayenne pepper in it.

 

I also had an allergic reaction to pineapple ( not serious) but I could not eat it after one bite.

 

I think alot of people are sensitive to wheat, gluten, and if we are on alot of antibiotics as a child it sets the stage for dysbiosis.

 

I recommend reading on Candida ( The Yeast Connection is old but good) ( visit Doug Kauffman's website) ( Dr.Mercola has articles: Just be warned of all of the marketing he does) ( Your Health and Know the Cause are shows you might be able to find: Doug Kauffman started them: Dr. Richard Becker and his wife Cindy host Your Health and have healthy cooking videos on their website) The Beckers website : www.Bioinnovations.net I think that is right: They sell some supplements and I love the skincare products.

Youtube has some good info

 

 

Other books:

 

Sugar Busters

Super Immunity for your Child's Health

Any of Doug Kauffman's books and cook books

 

HTH: I will pray for you all.

[Susan C.]

The less processed food, the better dd19 is. She ended up being allergic to rye. She also has milk issues. Both make her throat tight. When we eat meats, broths, soups, soaked legumes, salads, etc. she does very well. Once we went out for ice cream, it caused an immediate reaction. Luckily she carries benedryl. When we looked up ingredients at home, there were tons of chemicals. You wouldn't believe what is in processed foods!

[AngieW in Texas]

All three of them eat a lot of processed foods. I eat more than I should, but far less than they do.

 

For my 14yo, the allergist only did testing for trees/grasses/mold. Everything was completely negative, which I thought was very weird, because she clearly has allergies. All of us do. She hasn't had food allergy testing.

 

My dh had lots of allergy testing done when he was a kid. He is apparently allergic to the entire state of Louisiana. We know that he is allergic to iodine and to sulfur. He has not been willing to do any further allergy testing. As a kid, he was anaphylactically allergic to cats and ended up in the ER on more than one occasion from walking into a house where cats lived. During the year that he lived in Louisiana, he was in the hospital for about 1/3 of the calendar year in an oxygen tent because of repeated cases of pneumonia. One of his lungs collapsed when he was 7yo (that was during that really bad year in Louisiana). He has never had food allergy testing done.

 

My 19yo had lots of allergy testing done as a toddler. She had her first allergic reaction shortly after she was born. In her allergy testing, the only things she didn't have at least a mild reaction to were wheat, corn, and dairy. Everything else had at least a minor level of reactivity. She was VERY allergy to oats and soy. We did a 5-day food family rotation for 6 months and then gradually cut down on the number of days in the rotation to 4-day, 3-day, and finally 2-day. After about 2 years, she was no longer reacting to anything as far as we could tell, so we let her have free reign. She does still have to watch for topical reactions to soaps, shampoos, and detergents. She had pretty severe pollen allergies as a baby and toddler, but they went almost completely away after we got an air purifier.

[Ellie]

All of the foods you listed contain gluten or dairy or both. The symptoms you describe could very well be reactions to either or both. I'm thinking it couldn't hurt to eliminate gluten and dairy from their diets for awhile and see what happens.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

It sounds like multiple issues.

 

Allergies can show up at any time. It sounds to me like allergies or a serious sensitivity to at least one food. I personally developed an allergy to eggs about two years ago. My symptoms started as mild stomach issues, eventually led to extreme abdominal pain, vomiting, and migraines. It took a bit to narrow down what I might be having a reaction to.

 

Another thing that popped in my mind is if it is an air quality issue? Do the symptoms happen when only at home, or when out and about?

 

Migraines can happen with no apparent cause. So they may or may not be related to food or allergies of any kind.

 

Just my two cents.

[AngieW in Texas]

The symptoms can happen anywhere at any time. My 19yo was having this problem in the dorm last year and in her apartment this year. Sometimes it starts for dh in the car or at work. It has not happened to the 14yo very often yet, but it had a gradual build for my dh and for my 19yo, so I can see it increasing over time.

 

I do think gluten could be the culprit, but none of them are very willing to do that big of a diet change without proof that it will help. I'm trying to get my 14yo to at least consider going gluten-free for a couple of weeks. She is the easiest one to work on even though she has the most limited diet of the three of them and eliminating gluten would get rid of most of what she eats.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

There are blood tests for gluten and wheat related issues. They aren't 100% but they are helpful. Most likely if they all come up negative then gluten isn't your issue. At the same time a doctor can test the other 8-10 food allergens with a simple blood test. If you do this, ask to see the results. Food allergens have to cross a certain threshold to be considered and allergy, but often if you are borderline you can still be sensitive or react to the food.

 

It sounds food related because of the stomach issues too, but it still could be something else. Just sharing what comes to mind based on the information you shared.

[justasque]

...

My dh, 19yo, and 14yo all have stomach issues.

For all three of them, they will suddenly have symptoms very similar to food poisoning except that my 14yo and 19yo don't vomit (dh does though). It doesn't appear to be connected to any particular food or amount of food.

 

In the past two months, my 14yo has had this happen after eating just a few sour cream & onion chips (what she usually chose for her snack), after eating just a few cool ranch doritos, and after eating a bowl of ice cream with hot fudge.

 

...

The 14yo also has problems with a lot of fruits burning her mouth. Cantaloupe and apples are the only fruits that she hasn't ever had a problem with.

 

The first issue could be lactose intolerance. It's not an allergy, it's the inability to properly digest the lactose. It's tricky, because not all dairy has lactose, so not all dairy will set it off.

 

The second sounds like it might be oral allergy syndrome.

 

You might want to start keeping a food diary.

[sbgrace]

My husband had some mild off and on reactions to buckwheat for a solid year. Then he went into anaphylaxis with it. I would want to talk to an allergist. That said, another thought is something like GERD. I believe it can cause that sensation and it might explain the come and go nature. You really wouldn't expect a severe allergy to have no reaction day in and out. I'd still want to make sure though, I think, given she does have allergy history.

 

The tingling mouth and etc. is probably Oral Allergy Syndrome, assuming it's just uncooked fruits. That can come and go too with allergy seasons or even pollen counts for some people.

 

For all the rest I would do food diary work to see if you can track down offenders. It might be worth rotating the top culprits over, say, 4 days so that you can see patterns more easily. I wouldn't expect GI only stuff to show up on typical allergy tests. I'd consider a celiac panel though. Come and go GI can be related to parasites. I always thought that was weird talk until my son picked up some. I'd think it's foods first though given their medical history.

 

edited to add: I see someone, down thread, mentioned h. pylori. I forgot about that. We had it. It did cause nausea and vomiting in one child. I had stomach pain with it. My husband and other son were asymptomatic but positive. It spreads in families. I agree that might be worth testing.

[Ellie]

There are blood tests for gluten and wheat related issues. They aren't 100% but they are helpful. Most likely if they all come up negative then gluten isn't your issue. At the same time a doctor can test the other 8-10 food allergens with a simple blood test. If you do this, ask to see the results. Food allergens have to cross a certain threshold to be considered and allergy, but often if you are borderline you can still be sensitive or react to the food.

 

It sounds food related because of the stomach issues too, but it still could be something else. Just sharing what comes to mind based on the information you shared.

 

 

But I don't think the blood test for gluten is trustworthy.

 

The "cure" for dairy and gluten issues is to eliminate them from the diet. I'd be very much inclined to skip the in-between steps and do the elimination diet.

[magnificent_baby]

Look up H. Pylori. It's a bacterial infection that can cause chronic stomach issues until taken care of by antibiotics. It can spread from person to person, so that's what came to mind when you mentioned multiple people had similar symptoms.

 

That doesn't really explain the headaches, but worth reading through the symptoms and seeing if that's a possibility.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

But I don't think the blood test for gluten is trustworthy.

 

The "cure" for dairy and gluten issues is to eliminate them from the diet. I'd be very much inclined to skip the in-between steps and do the elimination diet.

 

 

I agree they aren't 100%, but eliminating so many foods is difficult and risks become deficient in necessary nutrients. My understanding of the OP is that the family members aren't likely to agree to elimination without reason. There are (I think) 3 different wheat/gluten related tests to help identify intolerance,allergy and celiac disease.

[Susan C.]

Google FODMAPS diet and see if any applies. I read about it, and was able to pinpoint the cause of daily stomach aches..... the FOS in the probiotic dd was taking.

[AngieW in Texas]

H Pylori is a possibility I hadn't thought about. I'm glad there are some low-stress tests that I can have them do. My 19yo would probably be willing to do a blood test, but my 14yo and my dh probably wouldn't.

 

Dh and the 14yo have both had reflux at various times. Neither has had it recently, but they have both been treated for it before. The 14yo had a lot of issues with it when she was 8yo. My dh has periodic problems with reflux. I think the last episodes were about 6 months ago for my dh. The 19yo has never had reflux.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Dandelion]

I agree with Ellie. Try eliminating gluten and dairy for a month to see whether that takes care of the stomach problems.

 

My dh has the stomach problems more frequently than anybody else (usually at least 1x/week and sometimes more often than that). My 19yo has it maybe 2x/month. My 14yo has it maybe 1x/month.

 

 

Since the symptoms just occur a few times a month, you could also try activated charcoal. It comes in capsules and is relatively cheap (we buy ours at our health food store - don't recall the price off-hand but it's under $10 for a bottle). Activated charcoal is great for reactions caused by food sensitivities (also works well for food poisoning and the like). My DS has various food sensitivities and is on a restricted diet, and we give him activated charcoal whenever he accidentally ingests one of his *reactive* foods. Activated charcoal soaks up toxins in your system and settles down stomach problems. It may just work for your DH and kids. The only side effect is that it turns bowel movements pitch black (temporary and totally harmless).