How to cleanse/detox (allergy)?

lilawolf

My mom has some allergy issues with her diet. She has diarrhea all of the time, sometimes throws up, and sometimes her stomach will swell and get very hard after a meal. She does have a hernia which may be causing the throwing up because that is fairly new, but the rest has been happening for a couple of years. She does take high blood pressure meds and has for a long time, but changing brands/meds hasn't helped. She has NO insurance, and is a bartender without much money, so she can go to a free clinic, but can't get expensive tests/procedures done (like hernia surgery).

Her doctor told her that she thought that my mom had a dairy allergy. My mom stayed away from dairy for two weeks and her problem got better but did not go away, so she reintroduced it. I think she may be gluten intolerant, or maybe gluten and dairy. Or even something crazy like red lake 40, or ? Or maybe her system is just getting overloaded with the allergen and freaking out about everything.

My question is: I'd like to see her do a cleanse where she stays away from anything that she might be allergic to, "resets" her system, and slowly adds stuff back in to determine the problem. Since I have no idea what she might be allergic to, I am having a hard time figuring it out. Meat, veggies, and rice? Then potatoes and fruits? Then milk; then wheat? Anyone gone through this or have any ideas?

Thanks

Elisirmon

Sounds like she has a gluten intolerance and a cleanse would be great ....fresh veggies and fruit and very lean meats for 10 days will help my husband has this and he would do the same thing.. It took us 4 years and tons of money to find out on our own that he has a gluten/wheat intolerance...I myself is lactose intolerant so we go very fresh and lean with our diet...sometimes it takes more than two weeks to feel alot better.

GiveMeCoffee

When I was trying to figure out my food allergies, my allergist had me drop to only eating boiled chicken and lettuce, for 2 weeks, then we slowly starting adding 1 thing in at a time. That was probably my worst 2 weeks.

lilawolf

When I was trying to figure out my food allergies, my allergist had me drop to only eating boiled chicken and lettuce, for 2 weeks, then we slowly starting adding 1 thing in at a time. That was probably my worst 2 weeks.

Wow. How would you get enough calories with just boiled chicken and lettuce?!? That sounds awful. Do you remember or have a record of what you added back and in what order?

holothuroidea

She really needs to see an allergist. They'll probably have her do an elimination diet, and reintroduce things one at a time giving it at least a week to see if there's a reaction.

lilawolf

Sounds like she has a gluten intolerance and a cleanse would be great ....fresh veggies and fruit and very lean meats for 10 days will help my husband has this and he would do the same thing.. It took us 4 years and tons of money to find out on our own that he has a gluten/wheat intolerance...I myself is lactose intolerant so we go very fresh and lean with our diet...sometimes it takes more than two weeks to feel alot better.

Why very lean? I highly doubt that she is allergic to fats, particularly animal fats, and it will be very hard to hit calories without fats or most carbs...

Do you guys have any great brands/suggestions to get around your wheat and/or gluten allergies? Butter, cream sauce, bread substitutes, etc?

lilawolf

She really needs to see an allergist. They'll probably have her do an elimination diet, and reintroduce things one at a time giving it at least a week to see if there's a reaction.

No money or insurance as I said

Sqeekyjojo

What does she normally eat?


Would be simpler, less traumatic and far, far cheaper if she were to log what she eats and note any symptoms she has after eating it for a reasonable period, then see if there's a particular food or method of cooking that coincides with those times.

Once there's something obvious that seems to start it off, then look at seeing whether there's an improvement if she doesn't eat that particular food.

groundhawg

The Whole30 program is designed to be paleo, but it really helped me figure out what my body did not respond too. I had problem with gluten and some dairy, but my friend for out she was allergic to nightshades (tomatoes, blackberries, etc).

I highly suggest the program, that way you can have whole meals set up that arent just chicken and rice, and if she is allergic to any of the big things she'll find out. If it is something like Red Lake 40 I dont know if you can tell that without an actual allergy test, but thatmight be worth payuing for if you already know you arent allergic to anything else.

rmhand

Read up on the Whole30 and the Virgin Diet. They both removed the foods that people are most commonly intolerant to and then described how to add them back slowly. Any paleo/primal frame of mind may help as well.

Most of these remove gluten, dairy, and soy. It may take more than 2 weeks to really feel better depending on if any damage has been done to the digestive system. Fermented foods and/or probiotics will help heal the digestive system.

rmhand

What does she normally eat?


Would be simpler, less traumatic and far, far cheaper if she were to log what she eats and note any symptoms she has after eating it for a reasonable period, then see if there's a particular food or method of cooking that coincides with those times.

Once there's something obvious that seems to start it off, then look at seeing whether there's an improvement if she doesn't eat that particular food.

This is a good idea but I have heard you can have symptoms of an intolerance for up to 3 days after ingesting the food. It doesn't always happen right away.

GiveMeCoffee

When I was trying to figure out my food allergies, my allergist had me drop to only eating boiled chicken and lettuce, for 2 weeks, then we slowly starting adding 1 thing in at a time. That was probably my worst 2 weeks.

Wow. How would you get enough calories with just boiled chicken and lettuce?!? That sounds awful. Do you remember or have a record of what you added back and in what order?

Oh I can eat a lot of chicken LOL when I went through this 2 years ago I could have cared less about my weight at that time.

My allergic reactions were bad that I would be rushed to the emergency room, so we had to go extremely strict until we figured out what was causing them. Not everyone has to go this strict, but she should see an allergist to do this safely. I was under the care of 4 different doctors while this was going on.

I did a cycle of adding back a dairy, then a starch, then a protein, then a veggie. 1 addition at a time for a week at a time.

Sqeekyjojo

What does she normally eat?


Would be simpler, less traumatic and far, far cheaper if she were to log what she eats and note any symptoms she has after eating it for a reasonable period, then see if there's a particular food or method of cooking that coincides with those times.

Once there's something obvious that seems to start it off, then look at seeing whether there's an improvement if she doesn't eat that particular food.

This is a good idea but I have heard you can have symptoms of an intolerance for up to 3 days after ingesting the food. It doesn't always happen right away.

Hence doing it for a reasonable length of time and recording it properly. It's easier to spot a clear trend that way, if every episode occurs up to 72 hours after eating x, but not when it hasn't been eaten during that period, then there's a good possibility that x is involved somehow.

lilawolf

Thank you guys for the Whole30 recommendation! That sounds like exactly what I need. If it isn't laid out very simply, I don't think that she will do it. I'll check out the virgin diet as well. Thanks again.