Hi all, I am here because I have an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto's). I believe I have some food sensitivities but I don't eat a wide variety of foods so I'd like to get some tests done. I've I don't eat eggs, but I obviously eat foods with eggs in or on them, so I feel an elimination diet would be difficult for me. Last year I ate "clean" for awhile but food choices were too restricted and it was easy to fall off the bandwagon. I did lose weight and my antibodies dropped, but I attributed the weight loss to not being able to snack.
I didn't see a section here on testing. My doctor recommended Genova but in my searches I found Alletess may be the same tests but much less? I am not sure if my insurance covers this at all.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much
Symptoms of food allergies include vomiting, diarrhea, hives, swelling, respiratory distress, and rapid loss of blood pressure, among others, and happen within minutes and up to 2 hours after eating a food, though typically within 30 minutes. These symptoms are not just an inconvenience, they can quickly become life-threatening and require emergency medical attention. If you feel you have food allergies, please consult an allergist who is familiar with food allergies. Currently, testing for food allergy is done via skin prick test, IgE (only) blood test, and/or supervised food challenges - all done under the direction of a certified allergist, not your GP, naturopath, or other practitioner.
Allergy testing should only be done for foods which you suspect are causing the above allergy symptoms, as blindly testing random foods can produce false positives.
An elimination diet is the only way to prevent allergic reactions.
What symptoms are you having that make you think you are having reactions to foods? Any type of testing other than IgE food allergy testing is not valid or reliable and you would be wasting your money.
Even IgE testing is not all that accurate and has to be combined with reaction history to get a food allergy diagnosis.
There are some food-related conditions other than IgE food allergies but those are not things for which you can test. It is better to keep a food and symptom journal and see if you find any link.
But many people these days falsely think they have some type of food sensitivities but do not. It is kind of the thing de jur to avoid a food or think a food is a sensitivity. So, my advice will be different depending on what symptoms you are having.