Have only just caught up with your query re allergy testing Pip. I dont know if the tests are all that reliable - they may be better now but a few years ago they werent. As far as I know an elimination diet is still the best way to go. Nightshades affects around 30%, gluten, dairy, eggs, corn (especially in the U.S.)
caffeine,beef. are the ones that come to mind. A research dr. from the local hospital told me to avoid dairy and make sure I get a lot of vit. D from the sun - cant get enough from supplements apparently. I have read that a vegan diet is the best way to go but that is my belief philosophically even if I do have a little milk in my tea and cheese occasionally plus I do eat eggs. It seems to have helped me. I have mentioned before a book called Diet & Arthritis by Dr. Gail Darlington who is a rheumatologist at Epsom General Hospital in the U.K. who a few years ago did a complex study into the relationship between diet and arthritis and mentions a lot of arthritis diets. It is prob. obtainable on Amazon and well worth a read.
I would try out the allergy testing and give it a go. It can be a long process but the testing may be a lot better now than when I last had it done. I had the 'scratch' testing method done where they scratch your arm with a pin and put various substances on the scratch and if there is a reaction it was meant to show you were allergic. I didnt react much to the amusement of my dr. at the time as I was covered in welts, lumps and bumps but I believe that works for things like mites
etc but food needs to react from your stomach somehow.
Would be interested to hear your results.hi cass
ive read over and over again that people with ra often have allergies... so it seems strange to me that when we are dxd with ra we dont get tested for them.
we tried the blood-test allergy test for my hubby and daughter and got some weird results, they both have big problems with gluten and casein, and the test said they could eat wheat, oats, rye, barley and dairy, but they definitely cannot.
i would like to get some allergy testing done, but it wont be the blood test because of above. I suspect that your probably right in saying the elimination method is best.
anna
Thanks to both of you!
I know the elimination is the easy, cheap fix - but what Karin posted was really cool. Let me see if I can find it....
Ok - let's hope this works - it's her original post on AF that got me thinking.
Then this is an excerpt from a later post.
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They were IgG (delayed-onset) food allergy tests. I read a book called Hidden Food Allergies and decided to get tested. I posted about them a couple weeks ago. You can do a search for the post. Here is a site that tells more about them:
http://www.drbralyallergyrelief.com/igg.html
I just went to my local allergist for the tests. But he only did a small sampling of foods. So I have ordered a more extensive test from an online lab. The prices vary from lab to lab. Here is a link to a couple labs that do delayed-onset testing:
http://www.yorktest.com/
http://www.alcat.com/
http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/foodallergy.html
Hope this helps! Take care, Karin
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I certainly do not believe that food allergies are the cause of RA. But I do think that people with autoimmune disease tend to have very sensitive immune systems and are often allergic to multiple things. So it might be helpful if we can figure out what those things are! You might look into the York or ALCAT tests. You can order them online. I think one you can do at home with a finger prick. And the other sends you to a local lab with instructions for the lab.
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This whole thing made me think. If 70% of AI diseases are in the gut...then checking them out first as a place to start makes sense. And I did have food allergies as a kid. Maybe we really don't grow out of them.
Pip
Hi! I just got my test in the mail. I will go next week to the lab to have the blood drawn and mail it in to ALCAT.
According to my allergist I had "0" IgA allergies, but had "13" IgG allergies (delayed-onset). Warning: Some allergists do not believe in this method of testing. Read Hidden Food Allergies by James Braly, MD for more information. My allergist said he was "somewhere in the middle" on this.
Yes, elimination is cheap-- but I think it would be EXTREMELY difficult! It would be very hard for me to avoid a food for months, if I didn't even know if I was allergic to it! Also, I feel so good and have such little joint pain (a couple stiff fingers) I think it would be hard for me to gage what elimination was helping and what was not.
Take care, Karin
Well, the nutritionist appt is tomorrow at 9. I'm taking all this with me. Well, notes of it anyway - no printer.
Sigh.
Pip
Here was my original post on the subject:
I have decided to look at some dietary issues. I read a book called Hidden Food Allergies by James Braly, MD/allergist, and Patrick Holford. The reason different diets may work differently for different people with RA may be because we are all allergic to different things. RA patients have hyper-sensitive immune systems and are often allergic to many things. I have been tested by an allergist, both skin tests and blood IgE RAST tests-- and neither test showed any FOOD allergies. Well, after reading this book, it seems I have not had the appropriate testing. I am going to go back to my allergist and request what this book recommends, which is IgG (delayed-onset) blood tests. IgE (immediate-onset such as anaphalactic)food allergies are far rarer than IgG (delayed-onset) allergies. According to this book/allergist, if you are chronically ill, a vital first step on the road to optimum health is to suspect that a delayed-onset IgG food allergy may be involved. The crucial second step is to eliminate the relevant food allergies.
"...IgG antibodies bind to the allergens, forming food allergen-antibody immune complexes. These immune complexes circulate throughout the body, and if not gobbled up by the detoxifying immune cells called macrophages, they will penetrate the walls of the small blood vessels in various vulnerable sites in the body. Once firmly entrenched, immune complexes become sources of constant irritation, inflammation, and, ultimately, dysfunction and destruction of body tissues. Diseases such as food allergy-induced rheumatoid arthritis can then develop.
Since the gut lining never functions perfectly as a barrier at the best of times, the big difference between food allergy sufferer and a nonallergic person appears to be the amount of partially digested food that reaches their bloodstream, and how well their immune system clears these allergens from circulation..."
"Warning: not all labs are created equally. If you go to an allergist for an IgG blood test, ask the doctor if he periodically does "split sampling" to assure lab quality control. Split sampling is when the doctor draws two tubes of blood from the same patient, but unbeknownst to the lab sends the sample to the lab under two different names. The two sampes should come back with similar results. If the doctor does not regularly send in split samples, the reliability of the lab results are always suspect."
Depending on the lab, they can test the blood samples for 100 or more foods. The IgG ELISA test is strongly recommended.
Reversing IgG food allergies: Once you find out what you are allergic to, you can start to reverse the allergic process by:
1) Strictly avoiding all foods you are allergic to for 3-6 months and 2) healing your gut.
The reason for 3-6 months is that IgG antibodies have a half-life of six weeks. This means that after six weeks, half of your IgG antibodies have died and been replaced, and after twelve weeks another half have died and been replaced. After 3-6 months you no longer have any of the IgG antibodies you had to start with (6 months is preferred). The new IgG antibodies will no longer react to your food allergen if you reintroduce it. They recommend reintroducing foods slowly, one at a time. Caveat: This does not work with IgE-based, immediate-onset food allergies or celiac disease.
Healing the gut involves taking digestive enzyme complexes, zinc, vit B6, vitamin A, probiotics/beneficial bacteria. You might like to look into the book for more detail.
Top 15 IgG food allergies:
cows milk
gluten grains
gluten
yeast
egg whites
cashew nuts
egg yolk
garlic
soybeans
brazil nuts almonds
corn
hazelnuts
oats
lentils
(Notice dairy and gluten are among the most common).
Hope this helps someone! Take care, Karin
Well, get this.
I get my 6 year old up, showered, get myself showered, get us both dressed and both of our hair 'done', get the computer packed up so I can work, get her Baabie and coloring kits and books, get us into the car, and am in drive thru (yes, I know I said no fast food but figured I was starting a tough diet tomorrow so said 'what the hey') - when the doctor's office called. They canceled. I can't see them for over another month.
I took the new appointment but think I'm going to go a bit closer to home. I need to get this diet angle figured out and really don't want to waste another month. If I can find somebody sooner - great.
If not, it gives me some time to actually read the books you guys suggested.
Pip
Hi, Pip. I just had another allergy test today. It will be more extensive, but also double check the other for accuracy. You might look into the York and ALCAT-- you can order them online. At least read the sites for information. I went to a lab for the draw and they FedExed it to the lab. I should get my results in about a week. I'll keep you posted.
Take care. ~Karin
Bumping for JB.