Knowing 'No' is Knowing No More?

[drwex]

More un-wellness stuff. We cut because we care.


The blood test for celiac came back negative. That's totally unsurprising, and something of a relief as I've watched the sucktasticness of this disease in several of my friends. However, my doc doesn't have any other explanation for the oddities seen in my small intestine on the last round of X rays.


Sorry for the nasty mental image, but giardiasis has a symptomatology that matches to a good degree and the doc agreed that some people do have histamine reactions to this kind of infestation. Anyway, it's not a parasite.


The next step is definitely a GI specialist, which is currently scheduled for June something. Neither my doc nor I like that answer so we're going to try to get them to make it sooner. I give them until Friday to improve the situation, then I unleash Pygment on them.


Meanwhile I'm thinking a couple steps ahead. My current theory is a food allergy, possibly nightshades. Two questions for the assembled knowledge base. Google isn't giving me clear answers.
1. Is it possible to be allergic to wheat or gluten without having celiac disease?
2. Are some nightshades worse than others? Like, could I be allergic to eggplant but not tomatoes? Or might one nightshade provoke a worse reaction than others?

Comments

[sykotropic.livejournal.com]

The answer as previous people have said about wheat is yes. A resounding yes. That is exactly my situation. I am allergic to (as I think I've previously mentioned) to wheat, egg whites, dairy, and mold(and hazelnuts and cashews too). My diagnosis found by using three methods. First, I did the traditional scratch tests. The scratch tests identified a low level dairy allergy and a high level mold allergy (as well as high level ragweed, which meant that any echinacea products are out cuz they are relatives) . This helped, but didn't "cure" me. So I went to my GP (because my allergist didn't believe that the RAST test was at all useful) for a blood draw. The blood test identified wheat, egg whites, dairy and the nuts. I confirmed the blood test diagnosis through an elimination diet. I highly recommend the elimination diet.

In terms of wheat allergy and eating other glutinous products. You might find that some are more ok than others. I, for one, can not eat oatmeal, but can eat oatmeal raisin cookies (go figure).

Good luck as you go through this process of diagnosis.

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

high level ragweed, which meant that any echinacea products are out cuz they are relatives

You know, I've heard other people assert this...but I have an absolutely horrific ragweed allergy, and never any problems whatsoever with echinacea (not in consuming it, not in growing it in my garden).

[drwex]

My experience matches that of lindalee - I have a high level of ragweed allergy, particularly during pollen season, but echinacea has never provoked a reaction in me.

Thanks for the good wishes.