Introductions

ahavoc

Hi, I'm ahavoc and I have multiple food sensitivities which make eating in general a challenge. My symptoms range from hives, break outs, intestinal pain, diarreah, headaches, migraines, bloating, and feeling like crap when I eat something I'm not supposed to. Here's a partial list of what bothers me, either by itself or when mixed with others.

Wheat or any sprouted grain (not just gluten)
Cow Milk and Cow Milk products
Chicken eggs
Strawberries
Hazelnut
Walnuts, cashews and treenuts in general
Peanuts
Sorbitol or any sweeteners derived from fruit sugars
Orange juice
chicken
certain shellfish

There's more, but this will do for a start.

Welcome!

asltiffm

ahavoc, your symptoms sounds similar to mine! I'm not sure which is worse, the hives, the bloating or the digestive issues but none are pleasant.

I've always known I was allergic to cranberries, but that was all I thought I had to avoid. As an 18 year old, I really started having issues off and on. I would go to the Dr. and they would say nothing was wrong with me and send me home discouraged. The last few years, I have been really trying to change my diet to a more natural one. As I've experimented with different kinds of "diets" my body responded in differently to different ones. I noticed the most drastic change when doing the raw food diet and a similar but less drastic change on a no sugar/white flour diet. I am currently back on the no sugar/white flour diet. I slipped for a few weeks and all my bloating, cramping, digestive issues came back with a vengance. I currently actually have no idea what it is that my body hates so much but I've decided to figure it out so I can lead a "normal" life but I am just not sure how to go about it....any suggestions? Eating a restrictive diet is really difficult!

trail_turtle

Finally posting an introduction here.
I think the tough thing about allergies/sensitivities, is how even the doctors are flummoxed. Sensitivities, especially. If you can treat it (ie: an allergy), it's something they can talk about...but with a sensitivity--which a patient obviously knows they are experiencing, but which can't be 'measured' by the usual tests...how do you deal with it?

I have multiple food/environmental/inhalant/chemical allergies. There are the foods I've tested allergic to, the foods I know I'm sensitive to, and then the things that I know I react to that are in foods (MSG, autolyzed yeast extracts, sulfites, flavor enhancers, artificial sweeteners, etc.).

I have had eczema since birth, along with psoriasis, parapsoriasis, eosinophilic esophagitis, IBS, dermatitis, asthma--all of which are agitated by foods I might eat.

I try to eat very 'clean' now--meaning I avoid most processed foods and make most everything from scratch so I know what's in it. I eat a lot of chicken, fish, organic (grass fed) beef and vegetables, some rice and legumes. Green smoothies lately seem to be working out for breakfast--which is a nice change and helps me incorporate frozen fruit.
I read every label when I do buy prepackaged foods, and I always have to ask about certain foods in the menu when I do eat out (that's such a pain!).
I carry an Epi-pen though, thankfully, I've never had to use it.

Every now and again I break down and buy a Subway sandwich , or I'll go out to eat--and I usually 'pay' afterward with a skin breakout, or inflammation and puffiness.

I'm very active--hiking, walking, running, but I look far from 'lean,' with puffiness in my limbs and fingers and in my face that fluctuates. And it's very difficult to lose weight!

I'm considering going on a modified Paleo diet for 2012. I tend to do well when I avoid all grains (white rice seems to be okay, but it's high on the glycemic index so I don't eat it often). I crave bread and grains, but usually bloating results. Sugar...well, we all know what that does to us! It's been hard to avoid this time of year!

I have to admit, I look at eating differently than I used to. I'd like to say I enjoy eating, but it's more like 'damage control' than anything else. I'm reactive to food, but I pretty much know which foods I react to the least or not at all--and I eat them most of the time.

It can make for a pretty mundane menu, but it beats the alternative!

ahavoc

I didn't know I had problems until I had a skin test done. I thought I was allergic to strawberries, and I'm very sensitive to them, but found out I had even more problems. Whenever I get a re-check skin test I always go analphylactic, as I'm having so many reactions all at once.

There's nothing easy about it. I read, read, read all labels and cook as much as I can from scratch.

At least I know it's not just me. It's not easy, but I've got a core group of foods I use that really help me lead a "normal" kind of life.

Stay away from the wheat. I get puffy and have skin problems when ever I cheat a little. I try to eat a salad everyday, and have found that goat milk, and goat and sheep milk cheese are ok for me.

I use Anthony's white corn flour for coating proteins prior to cooking when the recipe calls for regular flour. But I haven't found anything that you can bake with that isn't weird, although King Arthur has a new product line I saw at the grocery store. A little pricey so I haven't tried them yet.

Make a list of all the foods you CAN eat. That's the first step. Then you have to slowly bring stuff in, because by eating the same things over and over you can cause your body to become sensitive to what is currently ok. Technically the best thing to do is rotate foods and do the three day thing. So, try not to repeat any foods within three days, then start over. It's not easy, but it helps.

gillybumbler

Hi everyone! My household is gluten free, casein free, soy free, MSG free, I am sugar and yeast free, and my son is egg free. I suspect more intolerance's in my son but am having a hard time finding them. I think red dye is definitely a problem. I started eating this way because of my son and then my husband and I realized that we have food intolerance's as well! MSG, gluten, and dairy are the big ones for me. It is hard to bake without eggs!!! I have almost given up on baking. Gluten free is hard enough to work with!! And eating out is very hard as well. I would love more allergy free friends

JennaGermain

I'm Jenna.

I'm allergic to plaintain, ragweed, timothy grass, chamomile, aloe, MSG and raw fruits and vegetables (which I only recently found out about. I thought everyone's lips, mouth & throat itched & burned when they ate these things but apparently not). Somehow cooking the vegetables removes the part I'm allergic to (even if just steamed).

My doctor tested me that I'm NOT allergic to cats, dust mites or gluten so at least I don't have to avoid those things (not that I seek out dust mites but it explained why winter was the only season I could breathe through my nose)

I'm currently trying to eliminate dairy to see if I'm allergic to it. 2-5 times per week, I get a burning & itchy feeling on my face that then spreads downwards to eventually cover my entire body (and I also turn red everywhere as it happens). I feel like boiling water is being poured down my body and the itching is extreme. If I take an anti-histamine, the red/itching/burning will start to fade within 1/2 hour to an hour and a half and then I get shivering cold for 1/2 an hour to 2 hours where I have to have a space heater on me because I'm so shivering cold (and normally I don't hardly ever get cold and have a higher tolerance for low temperatures). This has been happening for a few months now and I can't point to any food I haven't eaten or drank that I didn't also have on days with no reaction. I've also noted all I've washed my body, hair & clothes with and there's nothing that I haven't also used on non-reaction days. After the fire & redness fade, my skin will still be sore for several hours and feel like I've suffered a severe sun burn.

I used to think the allergen must be something at work because the reactions were always happening at work, but have since had the reaction happen twice at home and once at the doctor's office (though that one was a mild case w/o the freezing after-effect). My doctors are currently stumped and I think it may take forever to get them to solve this (if at all) especially since they currently aren't that concerned because I'm not (yet) having any breathing troubles.

Sharni_19

Hiya,

firstly thanks to gemiwing for pointing out that I'm not alone here and that I should check out the groups for others journeying along the food allergy/sensitivies and trying to loose weight.

my baby boy is allergic to dairy, egg, peanut, banana and other environment factors.
my five year old and I are currently on a supervised elimination diet trying to determine what foods we can/ can't eat and how much/how often we can eat the ones we can.

It is such a constant weight trying to get anything remotely interesting/healthy each week for the family and it's mentally exhausting for me. I am getting better with it, slowly after 12-14 months with my little one but feel so single from my world sometimes as so many don't understand or aren't supportive of what I am doing.

my goal is to loose 22Kg to become a healthy weight for my height and the only times I have had success in the past are eating foods that, at present, aren't suitable for our diets :sad:

I am overwhelmed at the idea of finding a group of support here especially in this area.

my time on the computer for tonight is up so I hope to hop on tomorrow and come back and read through the posts already here.

Nite.


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HealthyChicana

Hi there, I have food allergies and sensitivity to wheat, corn and dairy. Along with that I recently found out I have to follow the Candida albicans diet. At first the assumption was that I had yeast in the gut only but now they found I have an allergy to yeast. Due to this I cannot have sugars which includes natural sugars like in fruits. I can only have 80 g of carb because usually those convert to sugar and feed the yeast. Plus, I have to eat low fat meals as well.

No dairy, wheat, corn, yeast or anything having yeast, sugar. 80 g of carb and low fat.

arfdemob5

I've recently been diagnosed with a TON of food allergies. I am trying desperately to avoid the foods on my list, but its so long I'm having a really hard time. I like doing a protein shake in the AM because I pretty much hate breakfast food, but am having a hard time finding one that I can have that isn't hideous.
Allergies: Peppers (all), avocado, carrot, celery, corn, green bean, onion, tomato, Melons (all) pineapple, all nuts, all seeds honey and soy.

The allergist I saw as useless as tits on a bull as was a nutritionist I saw. I'm trying to figure this out on my own...and any help would be appreciated!!!

LindaLou1397

Hi all,

I am new to this group. I am lactose intolerant and am food sensitive to msg and all raw vegetables except lettuce and black pepper. They cause diarrhea, itchy throat and ears and to top it off I am diabetic. I carry an epi pen in my purse and one at home in the cupboard by the table because one time my symptoms were so severe I had trouble breathing. My whole family has stomach problems and have been to multiple doctors. It is so bad in the family we have our own name for the problem. I will have about ten minutes after eating msg before my body erupts in terrific diarrhea. Makes it really fun to go to a restaurant and find out they lied to you about msg in their food. I made many bad trip to Kentucky Fried Chicken before finding out they put it in everything. The raw vegetable thing makes it really hard to diet and eat healthy. I was very happy to find this group and see there are other out their with my same problem. I would welcome any friends with the same problems.