Food intolerances test results. What next?

[Chandra]

OK, DS results came with the post this morning, he had been tested for 113 foods and... he is not intolerant to meats, barley, millet, spinach, apricot and cranberry... But he is intolerant to the other 100+ foods tested!

Obviously I can imagine DS growing healthy by eating only spinach (nor even imgining Popey), so I supose that we would need to concentrate in avoiding the things which he seems to be more intolerant to: cows milk, gluten, eggs, lentils, nuts, soya and mustard seeds.

So, in the mean time to get the appointment with the nutriologist, the first question of the list is: where do you get goats milk?

[Chandra]

can't imagine ds growing healthy eating only spinach

[charellie]

Waitrose sell full fat and semi skimmed goats milk

[charellie]

Also, most supermarkets have a free from aisle. So, hopefully there will be some food there you can choose from.

Sorry, not very knowledgable about this subject

[Nightynight]

chandra,

there are 2 big goatsmilk dairies in the UK:

st helens and delemere.

You can get goats milk in most supermarkets. You can also get goats butter, yoghurt, cream and cheese (cheddar type, fresh type or brie type)
Also, you can get some sheeps products - Sainsburys sell the yoghurt.

Wheat free: Sainsburys is the best ime, or independent health food shops of course.
You can get corn pasta and barley couscous.

In short, most things can be substituted. Hope he grows out of his allergies!

good luck!

[Chandra]

Thank you very much for the tips. I wil get some tomorrow. I was wondering also about sheep milk (the test result mention that given the high score intolerance to cows milk he was also likely to be intolerant to goats milk but may be less intolerant to sheep milk.

Do you know how nutritionally complete is sheeps milk when compared to gaots or cow milk?

Thanks also for the tips of barley couscous, the only cereal that he's not intolerant to is barley (and I don't even know what that is ). Corn scored a +1 which means it should be avoided but is no as high as rice or wheat. I'm not excesively worried because I expect he will grow out of many of these things (hopefully) but I'm soooooo confused about how to deal with them in the mean time.

[tatt]

according to this page www.sheepdairying.com/haenlein.htm#table12

sheeps milk is higher in many nutrients. It also has a higher fat content but for a young child that isn't a problem. Of course this page is from the sheeps milk bureau but it still seems likely to be accurate. Does depend on what the sheep have been fed on. Mares milk is also supposed to be low allergy but although I've read in the papaer of it being sent all round the world I couldn't find a web page selling it.

I know you can get pearl barley in supermarkets. My mother used to add it to stews when we were children because it was cheap and filling. I hated it Look with the lentils/ similar dried foods.

Once things have improved you might want to try reintroducing the things like corn with lower scores but on a rotational diet so you only give them once in 4 days. Sometimes its possible to tolerate foods in small amounts.

Do you know if they test raw food or cooked? Sometimes people can tolerate cooked foods but not fresh - wondering about things like pear that don't usually cause allergies.

[bobbybob]

What sort of testing was this Chandra?

[Nightynight]

the three least allergic foods are apparently pears, chicken and rice. (hearsay)

My bro managed to have a chicken allergy though.

I heard, via a rellie who is an agricultural engineer, that donkey milk was the most like human milk!

chandra,
I used to use barley flour to make a sort of soda bread. But in those days, there wasnt so much available at Sainsburys. It sounds as though you're in for a few weeks of intensive label reading!

[mandyc66]

Hi I am new to this so hope i get it right!! My eldest boy had a few allergies but not as many as DS.No one would believe that food caused his excema so it was trial and error on my own!! Supermarkets and health food shops have improved greatly since then. Apparantly most supermarkets can give you a 'free from' list for most common things. label watching is important and when a trusted product becomes 'improved' watch out!! as your child grows he will know what to avoid and do it instictivly!!!

[bobbybob]

I think it's lamb not chicken.

[Chandra]

Thanks again.

Bobbybob, It's an ELISA test.

Thanks for that Tatt, the suggestion of avoidance and then reintroduction has cleared a good deal of my confusion

Nighty, yes aparently pears and rice are the most inocuos tings in Earth but he managed to get a +2 for pear and rice. However he can eat all meats without problems (I think I have a carnvorous at home )

[Chandra]

Mandy, I know... I noticed reactions to egg, potatoes, tomatoes and peanut (rashes) but I would have never imagined that he was intolerant to rice.

[tatt]

This is what a doctor trained in allergy has to say about the ELISA test - unreliable. www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/controversial_allergy_tests.htm

If you're desperate enough to restrict all 113 foods reintroduce one at a time and check for reactions. Rice and pear would be ones to reintroduce quickly.

[tatt]

thinking about this some more - were fish, flaxseed and linseed things he is said to be allergic to? Was eczema why you had the tests? If he was mine I would be worried about not getting enough omega 3 on a very restricted diet. Is he in a queue for NHS testing or did you just prefer this route?

[Chandra]

Forget about the NHS, my gp couldn't find any allergist that could see him before he is five, apparently there are 2 (two) in the north of England and they are booked until the end of time. Not even trying to go private we managed to get an appointment. Though we continue in the waiting list.

We ordered the Elisa test because having eczema, asthma and having had a reaction to peanuts we were not in the mood to wait until he was 5 to know for sure what was going on, the paediatrician told us that considering the background and reaction it was likely to be a nut allergy but in the mild form. The reason I'm not that worried about the results is because I understand about the unreliability but it was a way to find out to which foods he was reacting more (the ones graded +4 where the margin of error is smaller) As per the result, he has the highest reactions to cows milk, any nut but coconut, egg white, lentils, soya, and mustard seeds. The reaction to oily fish is +1 so not much to worry about.

[bobbybob]

Only avoid the really big ones - the one's that stick out. I think we are all intolerant to all foods to some extent - they are foreign bodies after all. Ignore all of the others for the sake of a balanced diet, unless you see a reaction that you can actually trace to a food.

[tatt]

I know the feeling Chandra but I'd have gone for a York test rather than Elisa. We've had a similar problem recently and managed to get a blood test done in the surgery and the sample sent off for a NHS RAST test. Took weeks to get a result and then the doctor needed a couple of days to work out what the results meant ( we could have told him sooner ) Not as good as seeing a consultant obviously but something you may want to see if you can get as the consultant may be in shorter supply than the lab. If you do manage it get a nurse to take the blood if possible as they tend to be less painful than doctors and getting blood from young children isn't easy

[tatt]

should have said that the RAST test only does IgE mediated allergy so misses food intolerance. Still if he's getting rashes he's having IgE reactions to some foods. Have you got him on a dairy free probiotic because some of us swear by probiotics with a side dose of fish oil for the eczema ?

[Chandra]

Hi Tatt,

The York test is an ELISA test and that's the one DS had. I agree with Bobbybob that all of us have some kind of intolerance to one food or another so I'm not particularly worried with the foods that scored +1 & +2. I'm removing the ones with +4 in the mean time we get the appointment with the nutriologist. When you had the consultation withe nutriologist (assume I had it as it's included in the price of the York test), how long did you keep your child away of foods in the avoidance list? mean to say, how long before you started reintorducing the less offensive ones?

Another question, which York test you used? the ones for food intolerancies or the food allergies one?

[Chandra]

asume youhad it as... blabla bla... where's my brain today?

[mamaoftwo]

chandra - just a thought, but ask your GP to refer you to a hospital dietician. All hospitals should have one, but you may need to go a bit further for a paediatric one. Go on pretext of 'I don't know how/what to feed him' etc. When there, dietician can arrange intolernace testing. Hope this helps, and apologies if you've tried this route...

[bubbaloo]

chandra,

if it's any help,ive had the york test.it was the dearest one for food intollerances and i think it tested 144 different foods.
it was definately the best money i have ever spent.i have intollerences to wheat,gluten,cola nut,cows milk(very slightly),ginger and yeast and find if i eliminate these foods im 100% better.my main problem was i suffered with a very upset tummy which was so bad i couldn't leave the house some mornings but now i know what causes it,i can take steps to prevent it.funny thing is im 40wks pg at the mo and have been eating all the "bad" foods for most of my pregnancy and it really hasnt affected me too much.lets just hope it doesnt come back with a vengence next week.

[tatt]

Sorry Chandra, I thought the York test was a RAST test. We actually had an NHS RAST test without seeing a consultant first. I've discovered this is available generally - see www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmhealth/696/696we44.htm

You could ask your gp for a test for the allergens with the highest levels to confirm or dispute the ELISA test.

As usual the problem is cost (£8 per allergen) and lack of gp knowledge. I'm actually spitting mad about this because we waited ages to see an allergy clinic with our daughter when our gp could have done a blood test and we'd have had the most important result in a month or so (peanut allergy)! Just off to e-mail the anaphylaxis campaign and ask them to give it a lot of publicity.

[mandyc66]

hope all is going well.start with the foods you know are safe then gradually add one at a time try for about 10 days then come off it for about 10 and see if you notice anything. Very hard work but worth it.Do you know if it all the milk he is allergic to or just the protien as you can get 'milk'without certain things. the dietician will help. I found fish tomatoes and citrus to be the worst offenders.My son still cant eat raw fruit! he soon learned how to microwave an apple!!!

[Chandra]

Thanks all for your replies, I have several questions for each of you (please bare with me, I wrote them down in a paer and now... can't find it!)

Thanks again