aunie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Okay so currently I can eat a total of maybe five or six foods right now. White rice, Bacon, Beans, sweet potatoes and apples. I have a reaction to everything else. Headache, dizziness, nausea, cramping, and runny nose and sinus inflammation, not to mention the all over burning and inflammation throughout my body. They think it's allergies with a combination with the POTS. Does anybody else have this problem? I can't even take half a kids vitamin without a reaction, ensure too. I am really frustrated and the doctor's don't know what to do other than give me steroids. Does anybody have any suggestions or insight, I would love to hear it! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I went through the same thing when I started having symptoms of Dysautonomia. The only things that didn't trigger a migraine, fainting or some other symptom was white potatoes, sweet potatoes & green beans. My dr's didn't know what was wrong with me but suggested I stop eating anything that could have been sprayed with pesticides. I started gradually adding organically grown foods a few bites at a time. There's still a lot more foods I can't eat than I can eat but going organic did help some. I still have a bad reaction to all medicines (except a couple) & supplements. If dr gives me an IV of supplements I loose consciousness. The dr put me on Neurontin to try & help calm my autonomic nervous system & it also helped some. I haven't found anything that has helped me a lot. Sorry I could be more help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwise Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi Aunie,Sorry to hear you are having eating problems. I had difficulty eating foods causing similar symptoms. I was also diagnosed with Gastroparesis and Diverticulitis. I saw GI doctors who made a referral to a Dietician who helped me find the right dietary/caloric intake along with prescribing Domperidone (I get the medication from Canada) to help with digestion, nausea and motility. The Dietician recommended a low fat, low fiber diet. This has made a huge difference along with the medication in me being able to actually eat again. I have even gained around 5 lbs. I would suggest you may want to see a GI doctor if you haven't already done so and also see a Dietician. I am in agreement with Alicia that organic foods are so much better to eat. I wish I had more suggestions to share. Good luck:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lieze Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 I am having the same problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songcanary Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 I have an unbelievable number of food allergies. These all started a couple years before my dysautonomia symptoms got real bad. I finally saw my allergist who did oral provocation/neutralization testing and that was a godsend. It is common in Europe but not so much here, I am lucky to have this Dr, he is an M.D. I take sublingual food drops for 11 foods so I don't starve. I also find that Claritin can help blunt a bad reaction and I am also on doxepin for fibro, which is a good antihistamine as well. If I didn't use these three things I would be scratching myself raw with full body hives. Food allergies are horrible, I am truly suffering with this crap. My rheumatologist explained that I have central sensitization syndrome and I really think that explains why I'm hypersensitive to foods. I wish it would just go away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzysillyak Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 In 2005, I reached the point where everything I ate hurt. At that point, my doc put me on the bland elimination diet .. meaning no foods that are common allergens. Wheat, dairy, corn, soy or corn or anything I knew that hurt. Beans and bacon are known to cause digestive issues, so I'd stay away from those. It still hurt my digestive tract to eat but by sticking to a bland diet, my gut healed enough that eventually I could add back in real foods. FWIW ... Even though I wasn't supposed to eat dairy, I was drinking Helios organic kefir and it seemed to help. I was taking about 1 tbsp every few hours at that point. It seemed to calm my digestive tract. I went through a bottle every 3 or 4 days. Boost or Ensure are an easy way to keep your calories and nutrients up. If this is your main source of nutrients, you want to drink 3 or 4 of the high calorie / high protein ones per day. Before I learned about food intolerances and got better control of my digestive issues, I used to drink these and eat some plain bread to help me feel full ... Force yourself if you have to but don't get malnourished or allow yourself to lose weight. You may want to look at getting tested for food intolerances too. Gluten, dairy, soy, corn and chemicals are common ... hope you feel better ... dizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopeSprings Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 HOW do you guys figure out what foods you are reacting to? I am sensitive to everything -- chemicals, alcohol, medications. I have to assume food is probably on the list. It's just so hard to tell because I feel so bad everyday and you have to EAT everyday! If I knew certain foods were a problem, I'd eliminate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aunie Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Right now I eat organic everything! I go to a local farmer and buy all organic grass fed meats and I don't use lotions or such with any fragance/paraben and so on. I have multiple air purifiers, allergy bedding, reverse osmosis water, glass jars, cast iron pans. I've done almost everything to reduce toxin load and reduce my allergies, but the food is killing me. I tried Ensure, too many additives can't tolerate it! I have a Gastric test tomorrow actually. I think that most the food reactions are allergies because I get runny noses and inflammation. I am also extremely sensitive to medication and other chemicals, house cleaners, pretty much anything you can think of. I take a zyrtec everyday and I think it helps a little, but I am still struggling to find a solution. I feel malnourished and on top of that I am very vit D deficient and I can't get the supplements down without having a reaction similar to shock. I've tried so many different brands and I just can't find one I don't respond to! Well at least I know I am not the only one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Aunie, as far as the vitamin D, I don't tolerate any OTC vitamin D supplements. BUT, I tolerate the prescription 50,000 IU version. I have no clue why. If you are really low, maybe you can try that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzysillyak Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Right now I eat organic everything! I go to a local farmer and buy all organic grass fed meats and I don't use lotions or such with any fragance/paraben and so on. I have multiple air purifiers, allergy bedding, reverse osmosis water, glass jars, cast iron pans. I've done almost everything to reduce toxin load and reduce my allergies, but the food is killing me. I tried Ensure, too many additives can't tolerate it! I have a Gastric test tomorrow actually. I think that most the food reactions are allergies because I get runny noses and inflammation. I am also extremely sensitive to medication and other chemicals, house cleaners, pretty much anything you can think of. I take a zyrtec everyday and I think it helps a little, but I am still struggling to find a solution. I feel malnourished and on top of that I am very vit D deficient and I can't get the supplements down without having a reaction similar to shock. I've tried so many different brands and I just can't find one I don't respond to! Well at least I know I am not the only one!{{ HUGS }} I really feel for you ... I was like this too for awhile ... Everyone is different as far as what they're allergic too. Organic foods are a great idea unless you're eating ones that you're intolerant of. There are some common ones that should be removed so that you know you're not reacting to those .. These are common problems because our food industry has managed to put these into most foods. GLUTEN, WHEAT, SOY, DAIRY, CORN, EGGS and all those chemicals. Foods like plain chicken, fish, and only cooked veggies and fruits like peas, asparagus, apples, pears, pototoes are typically the easiest on us ... use raw oils like extra virgin olive oil and grapeseed oil freely. Don't cook these though ... you'll get more nutrients if you just add these to your foods after they're on your plate ... avoid spices. Pepper was hurting me for awhile ... Eliminating all these foods may not be a life sentence for you ... I was able to add back in quite a few foods after my digestive tract healed. Sorry to hear you can't tolerate Ensure. I can't either but figured it was worth a shot for you ... Other protein powders may work for you right now. Rice is supposed to be the least allergenic. I can tolerate Metagenics Ultra Clear Pineapple protein powder. There's another one that I can't think of right now that pediatricians use for kids with food intolerances .... The problem is that IF you're eating just one food that is causing you problems your digestive tract can't heal enough to tolerate other foods .. If I eat gluten or soy, I'm a goner ... lol ... I can tolerate a little dairy and corn but I just don't feel right when I eat these ... oh and all poultry puts me to sleep. I couldn't tolerate supplements for several years and still wouldn't try a multi .. those are typically too strong for anyone with digestive issues ... PAPAYA, mango and pineapple have natural digestive enzymes in them that can help you digest your other foods too ...I hope your appt goes well ... tc ... dizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aunie Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thanks everyone for the info! I have been on 50000 iu a day and now that I think about it, I did tolerate that better. I haven't tried mango's maybe I can have them. Pineapple is a big no no for me, but maybe I can think of some not so common things to try. I really do appreciate everyone's feedback. I really want to try a juice fast, but my glucose tends to crash so I am a little nervous about that. Plus I don't tolerate many fruits, but I think going easy on my digestive tract would be a good idea. So is it digestive upset that is causing the allergies? I am confused as to why so many of us have these problems and what exactly causes it!I have had allergy testing and pretty much all foods came up positive, fish, chicken, gluten, corn, dairy and so on, but I react to tons more, what causes our symptoms to freak out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 AHA!! Another person that gets low blood glucose! Aunie, you can't imagine how many of us have talked about our low bs in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzysillyak Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 HOW do you guys figure out what foods you are reacting to? I am sensitive to everything -- chemicals, alcohol, medications. I have to assume food is probably on the list. It's just so hard to tell because I feel so bad everyday and you have to EAT everyday! If I knew certain foods were a problem, I'd eliminate them.Hi Naomi,There are a variety of ways to find these and opinions vary on which tests / methods work the best. Food intolerance stool testing, RAST, allergy skin prick tests, elimination diet ... IMHO, A combo seems to work the best ... Personally, per my stool tests, I have antibodies to egg whites but don't get a reaction from these. So simply eliminating these from my diet wouldn't have picked up the problem ... And I get black marks around my eyes from dairy but that's all. I feel fine ... Basically what I was told was that we react to the foods that we eat all the time. And since most of us in the US eat gluten, dairy, soy, corn, etc most of the time our bodies build up intolerances to these. BUT ... For example, if you eat a lot of rice, you can become intolerant of that as well. There is a theory about leaky gut being behind all of these food intolerances and there are several ways this can happen. NSAIDS, viruses, celiac disease are 3 that I can think of off hand ... A leaky gut will allow food particles to enter our bodies that shouldn't so our bodies launch an attack on these ... Not all food intolerances are met by antibodies though. Sometimes people just can't handle the peptides, etc found in certain foods. They've been finding that a lot of the autistic kids can't handle gluten or casein but they don't necessarily have antibodies to these. As long as our guts are leaky aka damaged, we'll continue to have symptoms ... Unfortunately, in the case of someone with celiac disease, ingesting small amounts of gluten will interfer with the healing process. Maybe not entirely but enough so that person feels sick or has other symptoms regularly... I get brain fog, seizures and ataxia from gluten but a freind of mine gets RA, another celiac friend doesn't react until he's really over it, etc etc ... the list of "possible" symptoms from gluten intolerance is never ending. hope that helps ... dizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwise Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Aunie,What gastric test are you having-Gastric Emptying Study? You may want to try some Stoneyfield yogurt smoothies and yogurt products. They are organic and will help you with calories. They are very easy on the gut for digestion and low fat too. Breeze drinks, V8 Fusion and almost any fruit drinks help with calories. Just beware of the Carb contents. You may want to make your own smoothies with fruits and fluids you can tolerate. Just keep trying with small bites of food and process of elimination til your gut heals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aunie Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 It is Gastric Emptying. I'll try just juice and smoothies and maybe some rice. I use to drink green smoothies everyday, but I can't have a lot of the greens, banana or some of the other fruits so it got complicated. I haven't done v8 splash either, maybe that would be good. I've done yogurt, activia to be precise and it made me so tired, felt like I was on a strong sedative. Maybe the stonyfield would be better because it's organic. Hmmm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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