Re: Food allergies, was no subject

February 3, 2011

Trying to get a doctor to check for food allergies is about like trying to move

your town to a new location by pulling it with a rope! At least that has been

my experience. I was told at 19 that I must have masked food allergies because

my reactions to the allergy testing was so " off the chart. " At 8 they told my

Dad, a physician, that my reactions were also " off the chart. " Did either

doctor, including the guy who was the head of the allergy department at a

medical center, do any food testing. No.

It was only have multiple (13) anaphylactic reactions to various things

including the last where I had 5 to the HFA in the new green inhalers, that my

regular doctor got approval for food allergy testing. Of course I had to do the

research, find the test codes and the diagnosis codes for each one, tied to my

environmental allergies to test for cross allergies to other items in that same

group. Thankfully the LabCorp customer service rep felt sorry for me and walked

me through all the necessary steps to get that information.

Turned out a major food allergy was corn and everything corn, which has

dramatically changed my medication list, altered forever my eating patterns, and

reduced my strange pre-anaphylactic episodes so that I feel better than I have

in decades. I also have an underlying autoimmune disease which exacerbates the

asthma issues with inflammation that is my constant companion. Obviously I've

eliminated those foods that trigger major allergies and have been able to enjoy

life much better since then.

I learned that having an allergy to say Walnuts, didn't necessarily mean I was

allergic to all nuts, although I did test positive for most of them. Also

learned that my severe ragweed allergy didn't mean I was allergic to foods in

that same group, and so on. I try to stick with safe foods as much as possible,

and spend a lot of time checking out new meds before I buy them now to make sure

they are corn free to avoid another trip to the ER. One of the strangest was a

severe allergy to all dark blue fruits and vegetables -- eggplant and

blueberries have both given my anaphylactic reactions. Bing cherries have a

different pigment, so those tested negative. And so it goes...

Jo Ann in SoCal where it was down below freezing yet again (my poor jade tree

and hibiscus are nearly dead)

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