Food Sensitivity

[matis_mom]

I had put ds on a very restrictive diet awaiting results and he did seem to feel better on it. So we got results back today.

He is allergic to:

Milk, cheese, yogurt (all dairy I guess)

Wheat

Gluten

Most fish

Peanuts

Chicken

 

The chicken kind of surprised me, but it's easy to avoid.

At least he is fine with eggs, oats, rice, all fruits and vegetables, and some of the nuts (we've been using almond flour a lot)

 

I'm wondering if others have tested and found that changing the diet helps.

[smartyjones]

hi isabel. i'd say about 3 months into pandas behaviors -- when still trying to figure everything out -- we went to a naturopathic dr who did IGG blood testing on ds. he came back extremely reactive to all dairy, most grains, eggs, peanuts, some other random things. the ND was kind of freaked out -- she runs these test often and was not really used to seeing such an extreme result. we immediately took him off all items. 1.5 years later, he still basically is -- we've allowed some french fries at restaurants during the summer, which are gluten free but are fried with other items so pick up gluten off of that. and he's begun eating yogurt out of a tube which was one of the only things he'd eat when we were having extreme contamination fears with no eating in July.

 

at the time of the test, we were so searching for answers and ready to try anything. a few months after that, i left that ND b/c i didn't think she was giving enough weight to the strep infection -- she thought he could be celiac and even if not, the food allergies were enough to screw up his system and allow him to not be able to kick the strep. i thought the strep was more important and more the root. . .

 

although i do believe many people see good evidence in their children of food restrictions making a difference, we have not. he has had good times and exacerbations while eating GF/CF. at present, i leave him on this diet b/c i am trying to stress his immune system as little as possible, but for actual definitive results, i can't testify to any. it just makes sense to me to not allow his screwy immune system ot make antibodies to food if it doesn't have to. although a MD allergist, did tell me, "this test shows he's making IGG antibodies to these foods, but so what. . . "

 

i do believe some with lyme see good results with GF --

 

there was an interesting article some time ago on here -- maybe posted by denmarkpandas ? -- that some believe strep may bind with an enzyme in the gut that is instrumental in digesting gluten and dairy.

 

i am inclined to think the infections are more the issue -- the infections start everything, then there may be issues with particular foods, etc -- thus, clear the infection and you can clear the other issues. that said, while clearing the infections, it's probably good practice to steer clear of anything that may be exacerbating or adding to any trouble.

 

i will disclaim that i seem to be more and more entrenched in the idea that infections are at the root of so many ills.

 

in theory, i do beleive that GF/CF is probably the most healthy way to eat, pretty much for everyone, and if your kids are into fruits and veggies, they would be so very healthy for it. even with my kids, who hate fruits and veggies, it's not so hard, once you're used to it -- it's just so very different from how most people eat. and, i don't buy too many packaged GF items b/c my theory is, 'if you can't eat grapes or strawberries, i'm not buying you a $6 bagel!" ds does eat more meat than i would like him to, but i figure i can't limit everything.

 

please keep us posted on what you decide and your results.

Edited September 25, 2010 by smartyjones

[Suzan]

My girls were tested for IgG food sensitivity and the High and Moderate were:

 

dd8

Dairy

Wheat/gluten

Lemon

Cashews

Pistashios

Flax

 

dd9

Dairy

Wheat/gluten

Flax

Bakers Yeast

 

We were already gluten free so now adding dairy and cutting out the other things. Gluten free helped quite a lot. We have not been doing the other long enough to tell yet but I think I see an improvement in my dd9. Still waiting to know...

 

Susan

[smartyjones]

susan -- your girls still tested with IGG antibodies to wheat and gluten although eating gluten-free?

 

 

[Suzan]

susan -- your girls still tested with IGG antibodies to wheat and gluten although eating gluten-free?

 

Yes! I assume this is because we are getting hidden gluten or cross contamination and/or making some mistakes. I know of a few instances in the month before the test where we got "glutened". dd9 tested moderate and dd8 was just barely under moderate for gluten and wheat so I assume if we had not been gluten free already they would have been highly sensitive. Does that sound like a reasonable assumption?

 

Susan

[philamom]

dd9 IgG Immuno Lab Food Sensitivity test:

(+3)= bakers & brewers yeast

(+2)= wheat, sesame, cow milk, cranberry, coffee

(+1)= soybean, rice, oat, peanut, egg, goat milk, cheese, coconut, chocolate, pumpkin, kidney bean, cantaloupe, garlic, mustard, canola,

 

I haven't been able to make any dietary changes at this time. Eliminating the yeast has been very difficult. Can anyone recommend any yeast-free breads or snacks?

[pixiesmommy]

I hardly ever use actual yeast. I have a recipe for some crackers that can be made with nuts or seeds on my blog. Click the link in my signature and then the recipes tab to see it.

 

We base our diet around food sensitivity testing we had done- both MSA and NRT. We have had no IGG, etc testing and both blood and scratch tests done by the allergist (Maeve Connor in NC) came back negative for everything. It has definitely helped the whole family to go GF. We are not dairy-free, but have been in the past with no change (other than for my youngest non-PANDAS daughter.) We do fine with goat milk and raw cow milk, however, even for the toddler now.

[philamom]

I hardly ever use actual yeast. I have a recipe for some crackers that can be made with nuts or seeds on my blog. Click the link in my signature and then the recipes tab to see it.

 

We base our diet around food sensitivity testing we had done- both MSA and NRT. We have had no IGG, etc testing and both blood and scratch tests done by the allergist (Maeve Connor in NC) came back negative for everything. It has definitely helped the whole family to go GF. We are not dairy-free, but have been in the past with no change (other than for my youngest non-PANDAS daughter.) We do fine with goat milk and raw cow milk, however, even for the toddler now.

I'm sorry--I'm new to this. What is MSA & NRT?

[aidansmom]

Before my son was diagnosed with PANDAS his doctor did muscle testing to test for food sensitivities and found him sensitive to:

 

Gluten, casein/milk, soy, corn, grapes, tomatoes, tree nuts, honey, nitrates, food colors, preservatives

 

We eliminated all of these from his diet over a year ago and saw quite a bit improvement in his behavior - calmer, better motor skills and speech, less aggressive, slept better. Even though he was overall better he still had fluctuations.

 

Then about 8 months ago he seemed sick and his behavior did not seem as good and that is when we had his ASO test done only because his sister was being treated for strep throat. It was elevated (450) and he was diagnosed with PANDAS. Again about 2 months ago his behavior flared up really bad and my first reaction is that he ate something that he was sensitive to. Then I realized he had symptoms of illness in conjunction with the behavior so I figured it is a PANDAS flare up and he got better with antibiotics.

 

Now I am thinking that most of his issues may have been PANDAS all along but that the food sensitivities were somehow tied in with this. It definitely was worth it to eliminate these things since his behaviors were so extreme. I do really wonder how many PANDAS children would improve with diet changes.

[pixiesmommy]

MSA is Meridian Stress Assessment

NRT is Nutritional Response Testing (similar to muscle testing, which is also mentioned)

 

Both are "alternative" forms of testing. We had these done for the whole family and have had amazing accuracy, so I don't discount them.

[momcap]

Ds7 has food sensitivities to casein/dairy, corn, egg protein, and peanuts. We eliminated all of these for 6 weeks and ended up with a very angry, raging monster. Due to ds3's severe sensitivity (chronic ear infections & asthma) we stayed off dairy for 1 year. We also added in probiotics. That winter we only had a couple of regular colds - no mystery fevers, no infections. Ds7 still struggled at home, but was able to hold things together at school, which is a significant improvement for him. After a year we added dairy back in as ds3 was now able to tolerate it without getting asthma or ear infections. However, we saw a return of the mystery fevers and frequent infections (throat, sinus, ear) in our whole family, and even a bout with scarlet fever. Needless to say we're going back to dairy-free.