Guest guest Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 Can anyone offer me a suggestion on how to start determining if my son has food allergies or gastrotintestinal issues. I am not sure if I should go to a regular allergist or what. I feel like food affects is mood and temperment and also seems to affect him in digestive areas. Does anyone have experience or has seen positive changes with diet adaptations? My son is 12 with Aspergers and this is the first time we have seriously tackled diet but his mood/behavior has become more aggressive and stressful and seems to be related somehow. thanks so much for any suggestions! Carol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 I would say that for us a combination of the two has been helpful, and here's why. Your own personal observations in an elimination test can be very valuable, but we needed the bloodwork for 2 reasons: Some delayed reactions can take more than a few hours, making determination of which food is at fault more difficult. Further complicating it is that sometimes it takes a certain level of a food or 2 foods in combination to cause a negative reaction. In addition, many many foods that children want to eat consist of more than one food/ingredient. I just wasn't a good enough detective to get it all right. I knew a couple, but would not have sleuthed out all 9 a few years ago. So my personal 2 cents is that both elimination/diary and lab tests have merit. Best, > > Carol, > > > > Having done both methods, I think the elimination diet approach is better > than the allergy test approach. It is more time consuming, but much less > expensive and more accurate. We first started this when daughter #1 was > clearly ADHD. At the time we were told that Chicken, pears and green beans > were all allergen free. Thankfully for her they were, but there is a sub > group of children that are very sensitive to Lutein foods so green beans can > be a problem. In any case, we picked a set of foods that did not seem to > cause problems, fed those foods for a couple of weeks then began the process > of adding foods in one at a time. Headaches, hyperactivity, digestive stuff, > tiredness after eating, confusion, mood swings, full sinuses and any sign of > hypoglycemia can all be immediate (w/in 4 hours) symptoms of sensitivity. > Next day mucus in the throat/nasal, intestinal gas, IBS symptoms can be > common as well. As a result, we give the added food every other day. > > > > The big ones to take out of the diet and experiment on are soy, dairy > (pasteurized is much more allergenic than raw), wheat and all gluten > products including barley, spelt and kamut and oats, corn (read the corn > list at: http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn-bother.html) and eggs. You > could also look up the lutein list: > http://www.saras-autism- diet.freeservers.com/Diet/Saras_Diet_I.html . My > autistic 14 YO had no lutein sensitivity (we tried the diet for a month last > winter) but our NT 18 YO daughter was cured of daily headaches through this > diet. > > > > I discovered a lifelong severe wheat allergy by accident when wheat did not > even show up on my allergy test taken at a real low point in my health. > Those of us in the family w/ allergies have become sensitive to knowing when > we have had a problem food. After a while you realize that every time you > eat a particular something, you get a symptom. It comes from having felt > well after eating (sometimes for the first time!) and then getting those > nasty reactions again. Observation and journaling can really help, but after > you find your son's allergens, he will want to feel better and help too, > although at first it will be hard as we usually crave the foods we are > allergic to. > > > > I have 10 children and several have allergies. I thought it was going to do > me in to have to cook for our health, but we've become used to it, and all > feel so much better for it. > > > > Bock's new book about DAN is a great read and explains the benefits of an > allergy free diet very well. > http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/0345 > 494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 > <http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/034 > 5494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1> > & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1 > > > > > > Tina in Hockley > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 I would say that for us a combination of the two has been helpful, and here's why. Your own personal observations in an elimination test can be very valuable, but we needed the bloodwork for 2 reasons: Some delayed reactions can take more than a few hours, making determination of which food is at fault more difficult. Further complicating it is that sometimes it takes a certain level of a food or 2 foods in combination to cause a negative reaction. In addition, many many foods that children want to eat consist of more than one food/ingredient. I just wasn't a good enough detective to get it all right. I knew a couple, but would not have sleuthed out all 9 a few years ago. So my personal 2 cents is that both elimination/diary and lab tests have merit. Best, > > Carol, > > > > Having done both methods, I think the elimination diet approach is better > than the allergy test approach. It is more time consuming, but much less > expensive and more accurate. We first started this when daughter #1 was > clearly ADHD. At the time we were told that Chicken, pears and green beans > were all allergen free. Thankfully for her they were, but there is a sub > group of children that are very sensitive to Lutein foods so green beans can > be a problem. In any case, we picked a set of foods that did not seem to > cause problems, fed those foods for a couple of weeks then began the process > of adding foods in one at a time. Headaches, hyperactivity, digestive stuff, > tiredness after eating, confusion, mood swings, full sinuses and any sign of > hypoglycemia can all be immediate (w/in 4 hours) symptoms of sensitivity. > Next day mucus in the throat/nasal, intestinal gas, IBS symptoms can be > common as well. As a result, we give the added food every other day. > > > > The big ones to take out of the diet and experiment on are soy, dairy > (pasteurized is much more allergenic than raw), wheat and all gluten > products including barley, spelt and kamut and oats, corn (read the corn > list at: http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn-bother.html) and eggs. You > could also look up the lutein list: > http://www.saras-autism- diet.freeservers.com/Diet/Saras_Diet_I.html . My > autistic 14 YO had no lutein sensitivity (we tried the diet for a month last > winter) but our NT 18 YO daughter was cured of daily headaches through this > diet. > > > > I discovered a lifelong severe wheat allergy by accident when wheat did not > even show up on my allergy test taken at a real low point in my health. > Those of us in the family w/ allergies have become sensitive to knowing when > we have had a problem food. After a while you realize that every time you > eat a particular something, you get a symptom. It comes from having felt > well after eating (sometimes for the first time!) and then getting those > nasty reactions again. Observation and journaling can really help, but after > you find your son's allergens, he will want to feel better and help too, > although at first it will be hard as we usually crave the foods we are > allergic to. > > > > I have 10 children and several have allergies. I thought it was going to do > me in to have to cook for our health, but we've become used to it, and all > feel so much better for it. > > > > Bock's new book about DAN is a great read and explains the benefits of an > allergy free diet very well. > http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/0345 > 494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 > <http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/034 > 5494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1> > & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1 > > > > > > Tina in Hockley > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 I would say that for us a combination of the two has been helpful, and here's why. Your own personal observations in an elimination test can be very valuable, but we needed the bloodwork for 2 reasons: Some delayed reactions can take more than a few hours, making determination of which food is at fault more difficult. Further complicating it is that sometimes it takes a certain level of a food or 2 foods in combination to cause a negative reaction. In addition, many many foods that children want to eat consist of more than one food/ingredient. I just wasn't a good enough detective to get it all right. I knew a couple, but would not have sleuthed out all 9 a few years ago. So my personal 2 cents is that both elimination/diary and lab tests have merit. Best, > > Carol, > > > > Having done both methods, I think the elimination diet approach is better > than the allergy test approach. It is more time consuming, but much less > expensive and more accurate. We first started this when daughter #1 was > clearly ADHD. At the time we were told that Chicken, pears and green beans > were all allergen free. Thankfully for her they were, but there is a sub > group of children that are very sensitive to Lutein foods so green beans can > be a problem. In any case, we picked a set of foods that did not seem to > cause problems, fed those foods for a couple of weeks then began the process > of adding foods in one at a time. Headaches, hyperactivity, digestive stuff, > tiredness after eating, confusion, mood swings, full sinuses and any sign of > hypoglycemia can all be immediate (w/in 4 hours) symptoms of sensitivity. > Next day mucus in the throat/nasal, intestinal gas, IBS symptoms can be > common as well. As a result, we give the added food every other day. > > > > The big ones to take out of the diet and experiment on are soy, dairy > (pasteurized is much more allergenic than raw), wheat and all gluten > products including barley, spelt and kamut and oats, corn (read the corn > list at: http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn-bother.html) and eggs. You > could also look up the lutein list: > http://www.saras-autism- diet.freeservers.com/Diet/Saras_Diet_I.html . My > autistic 14 YO had no lutein sensitivity (we tried the diet for a month last > winter) but our NT 18 YO daughter was cured of daily headaches through this > diet. > > > > I discovered a lifelong severe wheat allergy by accident when wheat did not > even show up on my allergy test taken at a real low point in my health. > Those of us in the family w/ allergies have become sensitive to knowing when > we have had a problem food. After a while you realize that every time you > eat a particular something, you get a symptom. It comes from having felt > well after eating (sometimes for the first time!) and then getting those > nasty reactions again. Observation and journaling can really help, but after > you find your son's allergens, he will want to feel better and help too, > although at first it will be hard as we usually crave the foods we are > allergic to. > > > > I have 10 children and several have allergies. I thought it was going to do > me in to have to cook for our health, but we've become used to it, and all > feel so much better for it. > > > > Bock's new book about DAN is a great read and explains the benefits of an > allergy free diet very well. > http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/0345 > 494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 > <http://www.amazon.com/Healing-New-Childhood-Epidemics- Groundbreaking/dp/034 > 5494512/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8 & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1> > & s=books & qid=1213447050 & sr=1-1 > > > > > > Tina in Hockley > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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