Follow up questions from past testing

[kat5860]

Hello!
I was tested almost two years ago, and for ease pasted my results below.

I have not, to my knowledge, had gluten, dairy, soy, or chicken eggs since I got these results back. I was reading through old posts and Tex was helping someone interpret their Mean Value numbers, and that got me wondering (thus my first question).

I'm wondering if I have more wiggle room with my +1 foods then I thought given my number is 10 units? I currently have them no more than every three days.

Also, I understand from numerous posts that we with MC tend to react to oats as we would gluten. Is that potential effect reflected in the Mean Value? So, still steer way clear of Oats, or I might be ok with it like my other +1's?


Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score Less than 300 Units (Normal Range is less than 300 Units)

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 16 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-casein (cow’s milk) IgA 13 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-ovalbumin (chicken egg) IgA 13 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

Fecal Anti-soy IgA 11 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)

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

Mean Value 11 Antigenic Foods 10 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:
Rice
Chicken
Tuna
Cashew
White potato
Food to which there was some immunological reactivity (1+):
Oat
Corn
Pork
Beef
Almond
Walnut
Food to which there was moderate immunological reactivity (2+): None
Food to which there was significant and/or the most immunological reactivity (3+): None


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: Pork
Meat toward which you were next most immunologically reactive: Beef

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

I have recently started on Cholestyramine (Sandoz) and am having luck with it, does that mean I have BAM?

Thank you

[tex]

Hi Karen,

I'll attempt to answer your questions. In general, yes, an overall score of 10 on those 11 foods, should give you a fair amount of wiggle room, but there might be individual exceptions, especially after two years post-test, because our sensitivities can sometimes change over time. Personally, I would give oats a wide berth for this reason:

Years ago, I also thought that I was safe eating pure oats. But I hadn't eaten any oats for at least five years. So as a test, I ate a breakfast cereal made of oats that was certified gluten-free, twice each week (in other words, I skipped three days, then four days between test meals). My theory was that by eating it on a rotation schedule, even if I were somewhat sensitive to oats, I shouldn't provoke a reaction. So much for that theory, because after six weeks, the diarrhea started, and even though I stopped eating oats immediately, it continued for about six more weeks, before resolving.

After the diarrhea stopped, I decided to test oats once again, to confirm my sensitivity, so once more I ate a bowl of that oat cereal. Very similar to my normal reaction to gluten, about three hours later, urgent diarrhea prompted me to empty my guts. Since then, reading others' posts, it has become rather clear that virtually all of us are sensitive to oats. So based on this, I would suggest that you do a careful oat challenge, before adding oats to your diet, especially if you haven't eaten oats in several years. After a few years, our immune system tends to forget old sensitivities, and it has to relearn them. That's why we have to get occasional booster shots for certain vaccination programs.

Regarding your question about BAM, if the Sandoz cholestyramine helps, that certainly suggests that you might have an issue with BAM, but a bile acid sequestrant sometimes helps even when BAM is not the main problem. On the other hand, if you've been following a safe diet for more than six months, without success, and the cholestyramine immediately brought benefits, then BAM probably was the most significant issue that was preventing you from reaching remission.

I hope this helps.

Tex

[kat5860]

Good morning Tex!

I need to check my profile information as I didn't receive an notification of a reply. Thank you for your answers. After I posted the question I spent several *more* hours pursing the boards and came to the same conclusion about oats. And, as much as I like oats I think I'll like remission more.

I recently joined a facebook group about MC, which recommends your forum and Foundation, run by Teri McHugh. I try sending people your way whenever I can. The information here is much less random than on facebook.

I hope spring is more kind to Texas than the winter was!

[tex]

Thanks. Yes, spring has been a lot kinder here in Central Texas. We seem to be having a drought, but at least it's a lot warmer. We appreciate your help.

And yes, oats is kind of a sneaky food sensitivity. At least it snuck up on me.

In order to get modifications about replies, select the "notify me when a reply is posted" option from the list of options below the message box when you write the original post.

Tex

[kat5860]

Ah yes, I forgot about that button, thanks for the reminder Tex!