Fasting to eliminate/figure out allergens?

[Ann.without.an.e]

If you want to listen to me ramble through my allergy problems and help me come up with a plan, have a seat.  I could use some advice  :001_rolleyes:

 

I have had a terrible rash on my lips for quite some time now.  It has good days and bad days and recently it went away for almost 2 weeks straight.  But then it was back  :confused:   It is painful and I am embarrassed by it.  It looks like I have terrible chapped lips but all around the skin around my lips as well.  Sometimes it is bumpy, sometimes not.  It burns and hurts.  Lip balms made it worse and some say beeswax can be the cause so I only use vaseline on my lips.  I use a natural, SLS free toothpaste.  As a last resort before I book an appointment with allergy/immunology I feel like maybe I could just not eat for a few weeks (or limit myself to plain chicken or only mild, least allergenic foods), not use shampoo, soaps, etc?  I don't know.  I am just so fed up with the pain and the look of it.  

 

Any thoughts?  Is my fasting idea silly?

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

1. Are you sure it's allergy related and not viral?  Like HSV or yeast or the like?

 

2. We've done several elimination diets over the years....  Some foods have delayed reactions, or it can take a while to process out the proteins (dairy takes 17 days, as an example).  Having JUST a lip reaction is kind of unusual, and more likely to be a contact rash than an oral one, IME.

I'd look at any thing you put on your body before I'd look at foods. But, if you think it's oral....

 

My best advice?  Pick a set of foods unlikely to start a reaction and eat that for a week, and then gradually add in.

 

So, start with:

chicken, rice, olive oil + beans (like black and pinto--but pick only two) + 3 favorite green veggies.  Do that for 10 days and then add back in foods one at a time, every 3-4 days.  The quickest way to add back foods is to build back your green veggies + fruits + oats, and then leave the stuff likely to trigger for last.....or, pick a food you think is likely a trigger and add that first, but then you have to wait for it to clear and add other foods.

 

The foods most likely to be triggers, IMO, with a lip only reaction, would be something like citrus, coffee, or another acidic food.

 

 

[wintermom]

I agree that your reaction sounds more like topical irritation than ingested.  Just a thought, has your dh or your dc started using something different on the skin or clothing and you are touching it by kissing him/them? 

Edited January 12, 2018 by wintermom

[Spryte]

If you have a suspected allergen, you could eliminate it for 2 - 3 weeks and add it back in with a big burst, seeing how you react. If you eliminate more than one food at a time, be sure to add them in one food at a time, waiting a few days between additions.

 

That’s what DS’s allergist recommends, but we do it in conjunction with allergy testing.

 

The lip thing: DS had something similar. He was eating “gluten free†Cheerios. He is allergic to wheat, but they were supposedly wheat free. The rash around his lips got worse and worse. Then there was a huge recall on GF Cheerios and it turned out they were wheat contaminated. So - you could definitely be having an allergic reaction.

 

But it could be something else, and you might want a doc on board to figure it out.

[CadenceSophia]

I get that with gluten also. Pick 20 foods that you both like and are probably low allergen and sick to that for a couple weeks. Make sure you are balanced so you don't get such or go completely crazy.

 

It probably is a good idea to try and rule out another type of rash. Standard dog meet have no idea though and derm's can take 6 months to get an appointment.

[MBM]

If you want to listen to me ramble through my allergy problems and help me come up with a plan, have a seat. I could use some advice :001_rolleyes:

 

I have had a terrible rash on my lips for quite some time now. It has good days and bad days and recently it went away for almost 2 weeks straight. But then it was back :confused: It is painful and I am embarrassed by it. It looks like I have terrible chapped lips but all around the skin around my lips as well. Sometimes it is bumpy, sometimes not. It burns and hurts. Lip balms made it worse and some say beeswax can be the cause so I only use vaseline on my lips. I use a natural, SLS free toothpaste. As a last resort before I book an appointment with allergy/immunology I feel like maybe I could just not eat for a few weeks (or limit myself to plain chicken or only mild, least allergenic foods), not use shampoo, soaps, etc? I don't know. I am just so fed up with the pain and the look of it.

 

Any thoughts? Is my fasting idea silly?

Fasting properly is not at all a silly idea. Scientist Valter Longo has done a lot of research on the benefits of fasting for both cancer and autoimmune diseases — human studies. The English version of his book just came out but I don’t know how in depth it goes. Rhonda Patrick, also a scientist, interviewed him and that might be worth watching on you tube.

 

My 20 year old is doing 2-day fasts of water and salt for IBD and recent allergy to gluten. It’s been working very well for him. I test blood sugar and ketones and once a certain ratio is reached, called the autolytic state (this is Thomas Seyfried’s research), he continues fasting for a period of time. It is during this state that major changes occur on a cellular level. A person doesn’t need to be in it very long.

 

** you need to research how to fast and ideally be monitored. There’s a place in California that monitors fasting patients and has done so for several decades.

 

Another person to check out is Terry Wahl.