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What is the best way to test for allergies? My allergist did blood testing for over 300 things (many environmental triggers, and some general foods) and she said my IgG and IgE were high and thus reactive, but they couldn't figure out WHAT it was reacting to. This is frustrating. Now she is sending me to a specialist for more specific testing, and they will also do skin tests to try and figure it out. I'm worried it might be something obscure like a food preservative/ coloring, a spice, a cosmetic ingredient, or a fabric and they won't be able to find it. If it was a cosmetic allergy or an external/ environmental factor, wouldn't be getting breakouts all over my face? I only get pimples in the lower half of my face.
Any suggestions on things to ask to get tested for specifically? I follow a vegetarian diet with minimum fish, and they haven't tested for everything in my diet yet.
Elimination diet. And I would suggest that you limit your diet to hypoallergenic foods and see if you get better, then methodically add things back in. Although that isn't fool proof. We just had someone post that grapes, something I'm pretty sure is included in lists as hypoallergenic, gave him cysts.
Hypoallergenic foods:
You'll also find a list of plant families so you can avoid or add in groups of related foods.
Elimination diet. And I would suggest that you limit your diet to hypoallergenic foods and see if you get better, then methodically add things back in. Although that isn't fool proof. We just had someone post that grapes, something I'm pretty sure is included in lists as hypoallergenic, gave him cysts.
Hypoallergenic foods:
You'll also find a list of plant families so you can avoid or add in groups of related foods.
Yes, I will get back on a hypoallergenic diet and try to follow it more strictly this time. What about the anti-candida diet? I saw some minor results from it but I didn't follow it as strictly as I should have.
Right now, I'm trying to strengthen my immune system using enzymes, probiotics, vitamin C, zinc, and magnesium. Getting more tests done next week, but I'm not too optimistic about it. The allergist said they only test for things that I have recently digested/ been exposed to, and since I cut out gluten and dairy a long time ago, the test didn't show sensitivity to those.
Would supplementing with HCI also help, in case I have leaky gut or candida? I did a 2 month course of l-glutathione and my inflammation decreased a lot, but I was getting stomach cramps and headaches and I stopped for a while.
Elimination diet. And I would suggest that you limit your diet to hypoallergenic foods and see if you get better, then methodically add things back in. Although that isn't fool proof. We just had someone post that grapes, something I'm pretty sure is included in lists as hypoallergenic, gave him cysts.
Hypoallergenic foods:
You'll also find a list of plant families so you can avoid or add in groups of related foods.
Ok, I read through the list of hypoallergenic foods, and I also research antihistamine foods. What's the verdict on cinnamon? I thought it was good to fight inflammation and control insulin levels (which I need to do with PCOS).
And what about tea? It's on the list of high histamine drinks according to several websites, but it's not specified what kind of tea. I drink ginger and roiboos almost every day. I also have oolong when I need a bit of caffeine in my system. Are all of these to be avoided? What's left???
Fish is also on the list to avoid for histamines, but where am I going to get my protein from? I am vegetarian and sometimes eat a bit of fish (tuna or salmon) for variety. Egg whites are also listed on the online search I did. Those are the foods that keep me going in the morning and keep me full, in addition to a few nuts here and there (almonds, walnuts) and brown rice. If grains are also out, what am I supposed to eat? Help, I'm hungry! 
PS. I confirmed my histamine reaction yesterday. I had a salad with sundried tomatoes, artichokes, olives, mushrooms, and a bunch of other things from a restaurant (dressing not included), and a few hours later I discovered small red blemishes on my face, along with inflammation. I stupidly included in my salad all the histamine triggers to see what would happen. Definitely regretting it now, but at the time I enjoyed eating it and felt full for hours.
Elimination diet. And I would suggest that you limit your diet to hypoallergenic foods and see if you get better, then methodically add things back in. Although that isn't fool proof. We just had someone post that grapes, something I'm pretty sure is included in lists as hypoallergenic, gave him cysts.
Hypoallergenic foods:
You'll also find a list of plant families so you can avoid or add in groups of related foods.
Ok, I read through the list of hypoallergenic foods, and I also research antihistamine foods. What's the verdict on cinnamon? I thought it was good to fight inflammation and control insulin levels (which I need to do with PCOS).
And what about tea? It's on the list of high histamine drinks according to several websites, but it's not specified what kind of tea. I drink ginger and roiboos almost every day. I also have oolong when I need a bit of caffeine in my system. Are all of these to be avoided? What's left???
Fish is also on the list to avoid for histamines, but where am I going to get my protein from? I am vegetarian and sometimes eat a bit of fish (tuna or salmon) for variety. Egg whites are also listed on the online search I did. Those are the foods that keep me going in the morning and keep me full, in addition to a few nuts here and there (almonds, walnuts) and brown rice. If grains are also out, what am I supposed to eat? Help, I'm hungry! :
If they just said tea, I'm sure they mean black tea. Camellia sinensis or whatever it's Latin name is. I really should learn that.
Do they recommend avoiding histamine containing or stimulating foods completely, or limiting?
If they just said tea, I'm sure they mean black tea. Camellia sinensis or whatever it's Latin name is. I really should learn that.
Do they recommend avoiding histamine containing or stimulating foods completely, or limiting?
Camellia sinesis is also an ingredient in many cosmetics, I think it's in my cleanser. I wonder if I should avoid that too.
They recommend completely avoiding histamine stimulating foods in order to see a clear improvement. I guess the more I can avoid them the better. The salad I had yesterday couldn't have been healthier, but it ironically contained histamine triggers like tomatoes, artichokes, olives, and vinegar. Even fish should be avoided initially just to see if it's the high histamines that are causing all my acne. I was also recommended to follow a low GI diet (which I was anyway) for my insulin relate to PCOS. So now there's not much to eat.... today I got sweet potatoes and some veggies, and I am low on energy because I didn't have much protein.
Did you read this thread, especially this post: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/259004-virastop-by-enzymedica/page-18#entry2816469
Yes! I read it a while ago when I was first prescribed antihistamines, and then forgot about it. When I was researching Allerase by the same company Virastop also came up but I went with Allerase which is more for environmental allergies and insulin control. But then I realized that enzymedica uses some of the same strands of enzymes in all of their products, and the Digest Spectrum had all the enzymes Allerase has plus more (minus a type for mucous control which actually gave me more mucous so I switched to digest spectrum). I now take digest spectrum with every meal and try to stick to a low histamine diet...the allergist gave me a huge list of possible histamine triggers which include nail polish, body lotions, exercise...so many things! I look at it as a point system, for instance I am allowed to have 100 points of histamines per day, and when I go over that my body reacts. I won't know my limit unless I do trial and error unfortunately, but the key to building up tolerance is by strengthening the digestive tract and repairing the gut lining. I was suspecting leaky gut/ candida for so long, but I was still eating my triggers (tomatoes in particular) on the candida diet which might be why I only had short term results with it.
By the way, the only anti-histamine site I was able to find was this one: http://thelowhistaminechef.com/
The mailing list recipes are free, but the cook books are not. Plus, she has a higher histamine tolerance than me and can incorporate more variety into her diet at her stage. Any other ideas for low/anti histamine meals?
PS. alternativista, take a look at my last log entry and side by side photos. I hadn't realized how much progress I was making with diet and supplements until I made this comparison. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/326479-diet-and-supplements-log/page-3