Got Back My Son's Enterolab Results

[crervin]

Hi all,
I hope to find everyone well! I wanted to show my 15 year old son's enterolab results and get some recommendations as to what he can eat now. I haven't taken him to doctor yet, but I did send off his stool sample and the results don't look good. Honestly without beef and chicken in his diet, he will have no protein. Please help! He is growing so fast and is so hungry all of the time. Should I take him to dr to see if he has celiac disease? Below is his result:

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 30 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 25 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 5 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-soy IgA 6 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 16 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

While all of the foods tested can be immune-stimulating, the hierarchy of reactions detected were as follows:

Food to which there was no significant immunological reactivity: Food to which there was some immunological reactivity (1+): Food to which there was moderate immunological reactivity (2+): Food to which there was significant and/or the most immunological reactivity (3+):
Rice none
Pork none
Almond none
Walnut none
Corn +1
Tuna +1
Cashew +1
White potato +1
Beef+2
Oat +3
Chicken +3


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: Oat
Grain toward which you displayed intermediate immunologic reactivity: Corn

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

Nuts:
Nut toward which you displayed the most immunologic reactivity: Cashew

Nightshades:
You displayed immunologic reactivity to white potato, the member of the nightshade family usually consumed most often and in greatest quantities. While this does not necessarily mean you would react to all other nightshade foods (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant), it is possible. In the realm of elimination diets for immunologic disorders, nightshades are usually eliminated as the entire food class (i.e., all four previously mentioned foods in this class). This is especially important to the clinical setting of arthritis.

I appreciate any help that you can give,

Thank you!

[tex]

Hi Martha,

Yep, the bad news is that he's highly sensitive to gluten and all dairy products. But the good news is that he's not sensitive to eggs and soy. That leaves a lot of good options. I have to avoid beef, and I also avoid chicken because of histamine issues. But I can assure you that there are many, many good options in pork and turkey products. According to his test results, he definitely needs to totally avoid the 3+ foods, and the 2+ foods. He might be able to eat some or all of the 1+ foods, as long as he eats them on a 3 or 4 day rotation basis.

If he refuses to eat pork, there's more protein in soy than there is in meat, but be careful if he leans toward the vegetarian side, because that will eventually lead to a vitamin B12 deficiency, so he will need to start taking a vitamin B-12 supplement.

It's usually a good idea to get a celiac diagnosis, if possible, so that it will be on his medical record, in case it should ever matter. But please be aware that you'll need to do that before he cuts gluten out of his diet, and even if you do, the celiac screening tests have such poor sensitivity that they miss from 90 to 95% of celiac diagnoses.

You might find a newsletter that has been published by the MC foundation in the past to be helpful. For your convenience, here is a direct link where you can download a copy of it:

https://www.microscopiccolitisfoundatio ... 479987.pdf

I hope this helps, but remember, it's just my opinion.

Tex

[crervin]

Thank you so Tex! I value your opinion and so appreciate it! He will be devastated when I give him the news. I am just glad his symptoms are more tolerable than mine, even though sadly, his results were worse than mine. I expected it about dairy, but not chicken or beef. I better get him scheduled for a celiac disease test quickly I guess so I can get him off of gluten.

Thanks again Tex, you take care!

[Erica P-G]

HI Martha,

Working in a Foodservice environment (bookkeeper) for 28 years now the first thing that came to mind was he can have Chinese or Japanese food! YUM.... Rice noodles, Fried Pork, Almond. Wow I wish I had this diet for a while....He could have Turkey in there or Cornish Hen. Scrambled Eggs and Bacon, gluten free pancakes for breakfast!!

There are lots of ways to prepare these things and many proteins left to try out in the world

I wish you both well,
Hugs
Erica

[crervin]

Thank you so much Erica! Your post put a smile on my face. I have been so focused on what he couldn't eat, and I need to focus on what he can! I just hate he is having to deal with this at such a young age. Honestly, my kids having this has been one of my worst nightmares....

He doesn't have any allergy issues, like seasonal allergies, so I am hoping that he can eat way more than me and won't suffer from histamine intolerance.

Thanks again!

[Erica P-G]

Your welcome Martha,

He'll be so much happier once he has a routine with food....it will become second nature and he'll eat well and safe and heal and be much much happier as he ages all because you helped him at this stage in his life

It might look grim because he has to deal with this but he's so much more ahead of the curve now!
YAY!!!

Hugs
Erica

[crervin]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to update you on my son's progress. He is doing so well with his gluten, dairy free diet right now, His gut problems have resolved, so this is a blessing! It has been kind of hard with getting him the food he can eat for lunch at school and during his basketball games, but we are working through it. I only work 2 days a week this school year, so I am glad of that. Cooking for him has been my full time job. He has meals before home basketball games that the mom's cook, so he can't eat any of that. I have been bringing him his own lunch. He feels awkward when his teammates eat and he doesn't, but he will get through it. He hasn't told them yet about his food situation (only his close friends), but I am not going to press him about it. He is 15, and I know they do not like to have the spotlight at that age. I know with time, he will not care and mention it. I was the same way, it is depressing and you don't want anyone feeling sorry for you!

I so appreciate all of your support during this! I honestly don't know what I would do without each of you and your support!

Thanks again!

[Harmony33]

Martha,
Great post! Thanks SO MUCH for sharing this! I’ve often thought about your son and what it must be like to deal with “our issues” at such a young age. I applaud you as a Mom, to help him navigate his diet, so he can feel as normal as possible with friends and teammates! Bravo!

Harmony

[crervin]

Thank you so Harmony! Don’t know what I would do without this group and everyone’s support!

[Erica P-G]

Great update Martha!

Pretty soon you'll both find things that will be second nature when he has outings with others and I don't think the others will think much of his 'different' eating situation. I think there are more kids out there with gluten and dairy issues that parents just don't understand yet until the symptoms get so severe they don't know what to do. But we all do!! So thankful to have learned as much as I have here...it's been an incredible journey indeed.
Hugs
Erica