Lab Work is critical before starting a special diet

[Guest guest]

Sorry this is a little long-

Maybe my story will help those who are new to the journey, and also get

some advice from seasoned experts about special diets.

My son was tested for food allergies at age 3, and he was only positive

at the time for rice, soy, tomatoes and peanuts. The allergist had us

do a challenge test for each food, and if he tolerated the foods then

she said they were safe to eat. We did not see any reactions when he

ate those foods so we kept them in his diet.

After doing my own research on leaky gut, I put him on GFCFSF diet and

Feingold. We saw immediate improvements in eye contact, speech and

less runny stools.

Fast forward to today (4 years later), and he has had recent regression

in stool problems and increased hyperactivity and stimming. It seems

to follow meals in general, and we could not pinpoint his behavior to

any specific foods.

My son's doctor just ordered a comprehensive food allergy panel and

casein and gluten antibodies. My son was negative on casein and gluten

antibodies, but tested positive for food allergies to over 50 foods.

Many of them are foods that we have as staples in the GFCFSF diet

(rice, corn, almonds, etc.) He is also very allergic to garlic, which

is in the oral chelation product.

Knowing that food allergies can develop at anytime, I wish I would have

done this testing every year or two. The doctor is requesting a

rotational diet of foods he is not allergic (it's a short list!) so

that he does not develop allergies to those foods as well.

My son has never had a rash or histamine-induced reaction to any of the

allergenic foods. The reactions are only behavioral.

We are moving to IV chelation (he is positive for 7 metals), and I know

that chelation will also help with allergies.

My son has been taking Zyrtec for 3 yrs, and I am also researching

biomedical allergy treatment if anyone has any advice on that.

In hindsight, I wish I would have done a better job monitoring his lab

work. Special diets require a lot of time and energy, and expense, and

it is better to be informed with the answers up front.

Thanks,