My Aunt's Enterolab results....

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ladyathome
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My Aunt's Enterolab results....

Post by ladyathome »

Gluten/Antigenic Food Sensitivity Stool Panel
Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 36 Units

Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 16 Units

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 22 Units

Fecal Anti-soy IgA 46 Units

Expanded Antigenic Food Sensitivity Stool Panel
Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 23 Units

Within each class of foods to which you displayed multiple reactions, the hierarchy of those reactions detected were as follows:

Grains:
Grain toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Rice
Grain toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Corn
Grain toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Oat

Meats:
Meat toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Tuna
Meat toward which you were next most immunologically reactive: Chicken
Meat toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Beef
Meat toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Pork

Nuts:
Nut toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Cashew
Nut toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Walnut
Nut toward which you displayed the least immunologic reactivity: Almond

My aunt does not have MC, (she's had a colonoscopy fairly recently) but she has several autoimmune diseases: Sjogren's (severe), rheumatoid arthritis, Psoriasis, fibromyalgia, as well as sinus issues, brain fog, some digestive problems, and no energy. She is completely overwhelmed getting these results, and wants to know what she can eat now?
...I'm looking for any help or detailed suggestions on how she should proceed and you're thoughts on these non-MC results - as far as what she can expect with healing for her issues.
Tex, this is the aunt I PM-ed you about several weeks ago.
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Post by ladyathome »

Since she doesn't react the way we do to foods, how will she know what is safe and what isn't?
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Post by Leah »

Interesting results... and quite overwhelming for her I would think.

If I was in her shoes, I would definitely take COMPLETELY out the main four ( g,d s, e ) because these will probably cause most of the inflammation that is throughout her body. She might also want to take out THE MOST reactive meat and nut, and grain (rice, tuna, cashew). With these changes, she may see enough improvement over the next few months that she won't have to take out any other food. Chicken would be next.

Good luck to her

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tex
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Post by tex »

Hi,

Wow! It's easy to see why she has so many autoimmune issues. If she doesn't show any GI symptoms, then she will just have to do as I do with dairy products — I just totally avoid them, even though they don't seem to cause any obvious symptoms. Like her, I produce antibodies to casein, but I don't show any gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms if I eat it.

Changing her diet may not be enough to undo all of the damage that has already been done, but it can certainly help to prevent the inflammation that is causing her problems, so that the damage doesn't continue to progress. And she should be able to notice an improvement in many of her symptoms after she has followed the diet long enough to allow some significant healing.

I agree that we are the lucky ones, because our GI symptoms prevent us from ignoring our food sensitivity problems. Without the GI symptoms, many people would just assume that all is well. But unfortunately, all is not well, as is demonstrated by the list of autoimmune-type issues that she has developed.

Leah might have the right approach, but if I were in that situation I would probably assume that most of the other foods will probably cause problems, so I would try to go easy on the "intermediate" foods if I didn't avoid them completely. Of the foods tested, she should be able to eat pork and almonds. Tolerating almonds should allow her to use almond milk (in place of cow's milk), and almond flour is good for baking. She may also be able to use coconut milk and other coconut derivatives. With any luck at all, she should be able to use turkey as a substitute for chicken, and unless the report stated otherwise, she should be able to tolerate potatoes.

Of course potatoes (and all other nightshades) are generally contraindicated for RA, but if the test didn't show any antibodies to potatoes, then they may be safe for her. Sweet potatoes and yams should also be safe.

Regarding foods to which we produce antibodies, but which don't seem to cause any GI symptoms, I'll share a personal experience. I tested casein many times, by trial and error. Sometimes I avoided it for weeks and then I would try it again, and sometimes I avoided it for at least several months. I never could see any significant changes, so I assumed that casein was safe for me. An EnteroLab test that I did a year and a half ago, though, showed that I was sensitive to casein. So I cut all dairy products out of my diet, 100 %. It never dawned on me that changes might take longer to detect than just a few months.

About 6 weeks ago, I had a light case of the flu, but one of the symptoms that developed about the second week, was a backache and a stiff, sore neck (typical symptoms for the flu, for me, at least). Back when my MC was still active, it caused the same symptoms (among others). So when I finally got over the flu, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed something that I had been overlooking for some time. I now no longer wake up some mornings with lower back pain, and/or a stiff, sore neck. It's gone. Previously, it didn't happen every morning, but quite often, I would have at least a hint of lower back pain, and sometimes I would wake up with a stiff, sore neck that I blamed on not sleeping well. Apparently it just takes a lot longer for the effects of casein to wear off than I realized, because after a year and a half with casein out of my diet, my backaches and neck aches are now gone.

But (and this is a big caveat). When I tested casein, I also ordered a gluten test, and that test result was also positive, indicating that I was getting cross-contamination in my diet from something that contained traces of gluten. So I reorganized my cooking/diet practices to make sure that cross-contamination with gluten was eliminated. So that may have also made a difference in my osteoarthritis symptoms. Anyway, my point is, arthritis and other autoimmune-type issues are a consequence of our diet, whether we have GI symptoms or not.

I have high hopes that your friend will be able to resolve most of her AI symptoms after she gets her diet fine-tuned, and after her body has had some time to do some healing, once the inflammation subsides.

I apologize for my late response. I started on this message as soon as I noticed your post, but I had to leave for a few hours in order to help someone who is clearing a space to erect a grain storage tank.

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by JFR »

The report should also list the foods according to whether each was highly reactive, moderately reactive or least reactive. I eat only foods that fall into the least reactive category.

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Post by Leah »

...plus she can eat lots of fruits and veggies since she doesn't have gut issues :)
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Post by ladyathome »

Thanks for the replies everyone! I appreciate all the feedback!
I think she's in shock but ready to get on the program! I really think she only did the test to make me happy because I was so convinced after all the stories here and talking to Tex that she had food intolerances.
I was wrong about her having a colonoscopy recently. She said it has been a number of years. She has C but never D.
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Post by brandy »

Hi L.A.H.

Saw your comment on brain fog. See my recent post under treatment heading, my last post in the phosphatidylserine thread. (I don't recommend phosphatidylserine supplement for brain fog but see my discussion about the brain fog as I had brain fog for a year that resolved with b vitamins. brandy
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Post by Zizzle »

Wow, your aunt's results are pretty convincing evidence that autoimmune disease originates in the gut, even if you don't have digestive symptoms. Thanks for sharing.
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tex
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Post by tex »

Zizzle wrote:Wow, your aunt's results are pretty convincing evidence that autoimmune disease originates in the gut, even if you don't have digestive symptoms.
Yep, this fits my theory to a "T".

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by ladyathome »

I fully believe that. She went vegetarian for 3 weeks prior to getting her results just to be safe, and the joints in her fingers began to feel better after the second week, and she said her sinus' were already feeling better! I told her how you said she does need protein to heal.

If one has an intolerance to Tuna...is it wise to stay away from all oily fish?
And if so, is taking "fish oil" wise?
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