Question Re: Specific Food Intolerance and Reaction

9thChakra
9thChakra Posts: 141 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm so frustrated right now. I had a food intolerance reaction, in the form of severe stomach pain, from my breakfast.

I've eaten all of those things in the past and only one has given me problems like this: the almonds.

What's hard is, I just ate almonds the other day with no incident.

I have just a few foods that occasionally bother me...bananas, green peppers, almonds and cantaloupe.

I feel it's likely an enzyme issue but it's weird how not connected these foods are.

I haven't been able to eat since breakfast due to the pain. Now, I'm getting hungry but the pain is flaring up again. It usually only lasts an hour...aarrrghhh!

I'm open to hearing if anyone else has this type of intolerance - ABOVE FOODS SPECIFICALLY and severe stomach pain (not gas...more like I got punched just below my xiphoid process).

If so, aside from avoiding these foods, have you done?

Thank you!

Replies

  • bperfetti15
    bperfetti15 Posts: 1
    Hi!
    I have been having a very similar issue.
    Five years ago I could eat anything and be fine. However, one day I had a small bag of almonds and I had a similar pain that you described. I has that pain on and off for close to 5 months and I couldn't figure out what the issue was.

    Now, only once in a blue moon I get the pain and it happens if I eat
    1) pesto ( I think it's the pine nuts)
    2) Almonds
    3) Bananas and mostly all other fruit ( if they are baked- like apple pie I am fine and even in smoothies I do not get the pain)
    4) Sometimes soy products
    5) random days I will have the pain

    I've head many tests done- MRI, ultrasound, allergist - everything came back fine. A few allergies but my doc said it would not cause the described pain I have been having.

    I'm still in the hunt to see if there is a solution- if I find something or the root cause of the issue I will let you know.
  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    Are the almonds you eat always cooked the same? I can eat roasted almonds, but raw almonds cause sharp abdominal pain. Foods that I can eat cooked but not raw include: onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and almonds. Others that I can't eat at all include: peppers, watermelon, and other types of melons. While I do not have any official allergies, and the allergist ruled out oral allergy syndrome, I have the same issues as described in it.

    I just finished an elimination diet that helped me find out about sensitivities that I was not previously aware of (mostly because they had been fairly well ingrained in my diet). I have allergy symptoms with dairy (congestion, mucous production), stomach pains with roasted peanuts (I'd be interested to see if I can eat boiled peanuts without pain), and headaches and other issues with benzoates. I also have stomach cramps with either black grapes or cherries or both - I have to narrow those down (I had tested cherries, but maybe not enough).

    Some information about oral allergy syndrome - it might help explain why sometimes a food bothers you and other times not.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome
  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    Hi!
    I have been having a very similar issue.
    Five years ago I could eat anything and be fine. However, one day I had a small bag of almonds and I had a similar pain that you described. I has that pain on and off for close to 5 months and I couldn't figure out what the issue was.

    Now, only once in a blue moon I get the pain and it happens if I eat
    1) pesto ( I think it's the pine nuts)
    2) Almonds
    3) Bananas and mostly all other fruit ( if they are baked- like apple pie I am fine and even in smoothies I do not get the pain)
    4) Sometimes soy products
    5) random days I will have the pain

    I've head many tests done- MRI, ultrasound, allergist - everything came back fine. A few allergies but my doc said it would not cause the described pain I have been having.

    I'm still in the hunt to see if there is a solution- if I find something or the root cause of the issue I will let you know.
    I was very frustrated with my visit to the allergist. There is apparently a blood test you can take for food sensitivities, and I don't see how the standard skin pricks would help me, since processing the food tends to help. I wish the allergist had suggested the elimination diet, but I had to stumble across an article a year-and-a-half later that led me to try it. Here is the book that I used to guide me through it. I now know that I was constantly barraging my body with foods it couldn't tolerate.

    http://www.amazon.com/Elimination-Diet-Workbook-Determining-Allergies-ebook/dp/B00J75N54M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405259181&sr=8-1&keywords=elimination+diet+workbook
  • Beckboo0912
    Beckboo0912 Posts: 447 Member
    The skin test can help...it takes the oils from the food and introduces it to your system. If you are allergic you will have a reaction. So it's not processed, it's simply a liquid form. However, there are two different types of allergic reactions. There is the one where your throat closes up and the kind that kills your stomach. So it's harder for people to understand that it is an allergy. But if it doesn't make you feel good then don't eat it. I'm am gastro allergic to fish so I don't eat it. There is no sense in making myself miserable if I can avoid it. So why not just avoid it if you can.
  • mg1123
    mg1123 Posts: 69 Member
    The skin test can help...it takes the oils from the food and introduces it to your system. If you are allergic you will have a reaction. So it's not processed, it's simply a liquid form. However, there are two different types of allergic reactions. There is the one where your throat closes up and the kind that kills your stomach. So it's harder for people to understand that it is an allergy. But if it doesn't make you feel good then don't eat it. I'm am gastro allergic to fish so I don't eat it. There is no sense in making myself miserable if I can avoid it. So why not just avoid it if you can.
    A skin test can help with some sensitivity testing, but not others. I am not referring to processing like typical processed foods, I am talking about anything that can change the food in question. I have a sensitivity to certain foods raw. If the skin test uses raw foods then it may help determine the sensitivity, but that's only when raw foods are used (in my case). However, the allergist I saw was only looking for "allergic" reactions, not "sensitivity" reactions. Some allergists will use tests that will help determine sensitivity, but others feel that it is unreliable and won't use them.

    You can avoid the foods if you know which ones are the problems - at least as much as you can. It can be very hard to figure out what food is causing it, especially when you have a problem with it raw but can eat it cooked. I know I can't eat raw cucumbers, but I have had reactions later only to find out that a food had tiny bits of raw cucumber, and the menu did not indicate it.

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