If you’ve been following along with my food drama, you know I’ve been dealing with some sort of mystery food issue. For months, I’ve suspected that an undiagnosed food allergy is tied to my EoE because every so often my body decides to freak out after I eat something. And sometimes not freak out when I eat that same thing. So, it’s super fun.
Anyways, I finally got an appointment with an allergy doctor and I was SO EXCITED because I would finally get some answers! And then… we talked.
That’s it. We just basically rehashed everything I had already put in my intake forms. Sigh. No magic wand. No diagnosis moment where someone kicks the door down yelling “IT WAS THE GLUTEN ALL ALONG!” Nothing.
Anyways, the allergy doctor doesn’t think it’s a food allergy (which means no EpiPen needed). However, she does think it is a food intolerance.
It could be gluten or a combination of foods. She said that we can narrow down the culprit with a food allergy prick test. Basically, they poke you with tiny amounts of various allergens. If your body releases histamines, you’ll get an itchy reaction bump and you’ll know which specific food(s) triggered the reaction.
I had it done long, long ago on my arm for non-food allergies back when I was in college (I’m super allergic to cats and pollen). It’s uncomfortable, but you get instant gratification, and I’ll know EXACTLY what foods are causing reactions by the end of the appointment so I can avoid them.
So, obviously I was like, HELL YEAH, lets stab me with pokey things!
And then she told me the next available appointment was in January.
UGH.
But I put myself on the waiting list and thankfully got moved up to an appointment in December. So… yay. Kind of. I mean, I still get to spend another month not knowing what’s actually triggering me. Which also means I get to go into Thanksgiving avoiding the delicious lineup of stuffing, rolls, cookies, and pie.
I mean, I could eat the stuffing. But I don’t know what the exact magical amount is that my body will tolerate, and what amount will have me up at midnight vomiting. Will I chance it? Probably.
So anyway, that’s the update. The silver lining is that I should finally have answers next month!
You may have celiac disease – I would recommend asking for bloodwork to check for this. You have to be eating gluten to test positive for it. Celiac is an autoimmune disease and not an allergy. Your PCP can even order the TTG/IGA blood tests. It’s a really simple blood draw and so important to get done before you go GF completely. If you are completely GF, your body won’t be producing the antibodies that they test for because if you’re GF, your body doesn’t need to produce the antibodies so you could get a false negative. I also think that any medical professional should order a TTG/IGA blood test immediately a patient mentions that gluten may be a trigger because celiac disease is so under diagnosed and has over 200 symptoms!
Hi Stacey – Thanks for your suggestion. I actually had an upper GI scope a few years ago where it was determined that I don’t have celiac disease, but I do have eosinophilic esophagitis (EOE), which is also a chronic immune system disease. Gluten is a trigger for many with EOE, as well as a bunch of other things. It’s confusing for my case though, in that it appears I can eat gluten in the morning with no issues. Also, I can sometimes tolerate gluten at dinner and other times my reflux is so bad, I wake up to vomit. I’m hoping to learn more at the allergy poke test!