Food Intolerance

[trekster]

i have asthma which is usually triggered by dust, stress or certain foods such as coconut and that fake seaweed they put in chinese food. i also throw up if i eat fatty dairy - i can only tolerate small amounts of skimmed milk. i cant eat cream at all but hard yellow cheese is ok. white and soft cheese give me the same problems as cream. i get migraines if i eat mozarella... you get the idea. i also have massive skin allergies, my skin literally blisters and peels off when i touch things - very random things like artificial christmas trees- half the time i dont even know whats caused it, my skin just starts falling off! i'm banned from all vaccines unless i'm in hospital because i had an allergic reaction to a hepatitis B shot am allergic the some antibiotics... and the list keeps growing

 

does this collection of symptoms ring a bell for anyone? apart from the obvious dairy issue i cant see any proper link to anything, but it seems to big to just be not a real problem.

 

The fake seaweed could be a form of MSG, which i have problems with. i also cannot tolerate meds as they cause me to feel suicidal.

 

Alexis

[trekster]

I think your dairy issue may well be different to the other ones. It sounds more like an intolerance than an allergy. If it were an allergy then you wouldn't be able to eat any at all. That doesn't mean it is not serious and real, but it just sounds like a different issue than your allergies and asthma.

 

I have problems with dairy. I can eat small amounts, but it seems to have a cumulative effect and if I eat too much it causes me to feel depressed and tired, and also causes some gut problems.

 

I also have an allergy to many antibiotics. In the past it has led to sickness and skin rashes, which was considered part of the illness until it was recognised as a reaction in my teens, and I have opted to take them at times when I feel that the benefits will outweigh the reaction. Since I had an anaphylactic reaction a few years ago, I will no longer take them at all. My dad, who probably also has AS (though does not wish to seek diagnosis) also has an allergy to Penicillin.

 

Do you have an epi pen and medic alert bracelet? Or is it only antibiotics that cause this reaction?

[A and A]

Hi we have a 3 year old son diagnosed with asd and I have been reading other parents posts and the sunderland research unit is mentioned frequently we would like to hear from other families who have been in contact with this unit about what they do.

A and A

[joybed]

Hi i looked at this before but didn,t have time to reply. In a nutshell they analyse urine to see if you have a problem with gluten and casein. there is a thought that in some people with autism gluten and casein are processed by the body diferently and turn into morphine like substances which give the child a high (like morphine ) followed by a sudden crash and a craving for more gluten/ morphine. This is it in very basic terms. ASD people also tend to have a problem with aspartame and monosodium glutamate as well. A lot of children with ASD have a history of severe colic and/or lactose intolerance both my boys included.

I have found them to be helpful at Sunderland, Paul Shattock is very approachable. The diet doesn,t work for everyone and is strict but once you get into the swing of things not so bad. We had Marcus urine analsed in 2007 and he was found to have a problem with gluten but we gave up both anyway, i did notice a change in him but unfortunately he spends a lot of time at his grandparents and they wouldn,t stick to the diet so he would come back from them high and it would take a few days to get him back to normal and then he would go to them again. Once we stopped the diet his bahaviour rapidly deteriorated and we had a really bad year but he wouldn,t go back on the diet because his Nanna said it was stupid and he was missing out on nice food .

I recently spoke to Paul again as my youngest boy was severely lactose intolerant as a baby and toddler and still has incedents of this and bouts of eczema he spent a long time explaining why he thought Piers had a problem with casein instead of lactose and discussed family history. Following this discussion i had food intolerance testing as he sugggested i probably had a problem too and was found to be intolerant to gluten, eggs and dairy products. DH isn,t keen to try the diet with Piers so for the moment we are holding off but may be something we will try in the future. The test costs £60 and includes you sending a urine sample and a detailed medical and family history. Hope this helps.

[A and A]

Hi i looked at this before but didn,t have time to reply. In a nutshell they analyse urine to see if you have a problem with gluten and casein. there is a thought that in some people with autism gluten and casein are processed by the body diferently and turn into morphine like substances which give the child a high (like morphine ) followed by a sudden crash and a craving for more gluten/ morphine. This is it in very basic terms. ASD people also tend to have a problem with aspartame and monosodium glutamate as well. A lot of children with ASD have a history of severe colic and/or lactose intolerance both my boys included.

I have found them to be helpful at Sunderland, Paul Shattock is very approachable. The diet doesn,t work for everyone and is strict but once you get into the swing of things not so bad. We had Marcus urine analsed in 2007 and he was found to have a problem with gluten but we gave up both anyway, i did notice a change in him but unfortunately he spends a lot of time at his grandparents and they wouldn,t stick to the diet so he would come back from them high and it would take a few days to get him back to normal and then he would go to them again. Once we stopped the diet his bahaviour rapidly deteriorated and we had a really bad year but he wouldn,t go back on the diet because his Nanna said it was stupid and he was missing out on nice food .

I recently spoke to Paul again as my youngest boy was severely lactose intolerant as a baby and toddler and still has incedents of this and bouts of eczema he spent a long time explaining why he thought Piers had a problem with casein instead of lactose and discussed family history. Following this discussion i had food intolerance testing as he sugggested i probably had a problem too and was found to be intolerant to gluten, eggs and dairy products. DH isn,t keen to try the diet with Piers so for the moment we are holding off but may be something we will try in the future. The test costs £60 and includes you sending a urine sample and a detailed medical and family history. Hope this helps.

Hi there that helps alot thank you, we are keen to get Liam tested do you have any contact details for sunderland research centre and Paul Shattock.

Thanks Anna and Anthony

[call me jaded]

I know lots of families who've sent off for the test. We never did, (I couldn't get a urine sample) just started the diet.

 

I like Paul Shattock - you can find some of his posts on Adam Feinstein's online conference. He goes out of his way to answer questions and the conference he does in Newcastle is both affordable and informative. I used Airmiles to get there one year and have always meant to go back.

[A and A]

I know lots of families who've sent off for the test. We never did, (I couldn't get a urine sample) just started the diet.

 

I like Paul Shattock - you can find some of his posts on Adam Feinstein's online conference. He goes out of his way to answer questions and the conference he does in Newcastle is both affordable and informative. I used Airmiles to get there one year and have always meant to go back.

 

Hi there thanks for the reply, the diet you started how did you decide what foods did you have any help in sorting out what foods were ok. Liam is currently on a dairy free diet and reduced gluten intake would it still be worth doing the test.

A and A

[A and A]

I know lots of families who've sent off for the test. We never did, (I couldn't get a urine sample) just started the diet.

 

I like Paul Shattock - you can find some of his posts on Adam Feinstein's online conference. He goes out of his way to answer questions and the conference he does in Newcastle is both affordable and informative. I used Airmiles to get there one year and have always meant to go back.

 

[call me jaded]

Hi there thanks for the reply, the diet you started how did you decide what foods did you have any help in sorting out what foods were ok. Liam is currently on a dairy free diet and reduced gluten intake would it still be worth doing the test.

A and A

 

We used Marelyn le Bretons' 'Dietary Intervention and Autism' - has loads of recipes and explains the theory behind it quite simply. Went back to it again and again. Graduated to Antoinette Savill for more grown-up meals.