Food Allergies and Leaky gut | Arthritis Information

 

I've been searching all over for information about RA, chronic joint pain etc. and it has led me to info about leaky gut syndrome, food allergies, and I have seen celiac disease mentioned somewhere in there too. 

Have any of you found these things to be causes of some of your pain? 

Is leaky gut syndrome a reality, or more of an abstract?  And have you been able to find doctors who are knowledgable and take it seriously?

Where would I go to get tested for food allergies?  Is that something the primary care doctor can do?  Or a rheumatologist?

I'm not sure if I'm grasping at straws or not, but I'm trying to get a better handle on what is going on with my body, and what I can do about it.  Thanks for any input.

Steph

I don't know a lot about leaky gut (yet) but you're not grasping at straws.
Many, many, many people report being able to either control or improve
their RA with diet. The catch is it is not the same diet for everyone! That's
the beauty of RA, we all respond differently to every treatment, be they
medical, nutritional, or snake oilal.

Finding out what diets work for you is a matter of trial and error, but
there are a lot of books you can use as a springboard. Some people do
elimination diets and other people just notice patterns over time. Gluten
and dairy seem to be two major culprits for a lot of people, and some
people react adversly to meat and nightshade vegetables.

I would ask my GP for allergy testing, or ask them to refer me to
someone. I've only had really elementary testing and I live in Canada so I
don't know how it works in the US.

I think it's worthwhile to look at the food you eat. Even if you can't
identify trigger foods it's good overall to try to eat more whole grains,
fish, and vegetables, plus try to eat local and organic food when you can
afford it.

Good luck with the diet project!The best way to test for food allergy is to do an elimination diet with the help of a doctor or dietition.  The skin tests that allergist sometimes do really are not very reliable..well, they are reliably expensive!  And, they give a lot of faults positives and negatives. I do not have first hand knowlege about the genetic testing that some labs do.  They can be pretty expensive too.  The elimination diet doesn't cost anything but inconvience and time.  It will reliably give you the answer to the question,  "Is it food that is causing my symptoms?".  

I was initially tested for celiac by my rheumatologist, and it was negative, but it was part of his initial blood testing when he diagnosed me. 

My experience has been that my gut is involved with my symptomology.  And I have been way out there with high enema colonics, liver/gall bladder flushes, epsom salts, charcoal, digestive enzymes, alkalyzing agents, ad nauseum.  I am convinced this alt treatment keep me going until my blood work finally got bad enough to warrant attention. 

A simple, easy to start product is aloe vera juice, and I buy it at Walmart in the laxative section.  Aloe vera has been proven to be able to get past stomach acids and heal the inner gut.  Good luck. 

I am researching elimination diets as we speak.  I have always had a suspected but undiagnosed milk allergy.  (I just stopped drinking it all together)  From what I can see the elimination diets can be done in a healthy way without depriving me from vital nutrients, so I think it will be worth a shot for me.  I guess the hard part will be sticking to it and convincing my boyfriend that I haven't gone off the deep end. 

I will check out the aloe vera juice next time I'm at the store.  Thanks jsnm!

I've seen a ton of studies implicating leaky gut (hyperpermeable intestinal lining) and think it has a great influence on how we progress with this disease. 

I'm looking into seeing an allergist for the controversial delayed onset food allergies.  Yes, they're expensive but I've heard people say "I thought I was allergic to X and I wasn't, it really was Y".  I mean, if gluten is not a trigger, I'd rather not give up my morning bagel. 

:-)

Pip

P.S.  Look back over the last few days.  Somebody was just posting about the diet.  You could be 'diet buddies'.

 

Hey....im gluten intolerent/celiac who knows.....although not eating gluten makes my stomach a bit better i dont really find that it effects my joints. Have a read of this site if you haven't already.....
http://www.frot.co.nz/dietnet/reviews/mcferran01.htm

This guy seems to have been thru it all.

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