Nightshade allergy???

[tropicalsoul]

Anyone ever heard of this?  Over the past two years I have gone through 3 major diet changes to try and determine what is causing me so much pain.  Severe stomach cramps, joint/muscle pain and muscle weakness, severe dizzyness, chest pain, lightheaded, migraine headaches, hands and feet sting/burn and vision problems.  I have been fighting everyone of these on a daily basis.

These symptoms seemed to come on almost overnight but as I look back they have just been getting worse as time goes by.  After several ER visits and doctors telling me I was fine I started this journey of trying to find out what was wrong with me.

Without knowing anyting about food allergies I was scared because I did not know what else to do and doctors were absolutely useless so I wound up at a pain management doctor for relief.  At first I eliminated dairy and found little to no relief.  I did not know what else to do as I' ve always been able to eat whatever I wanted.  After searching my symptoms on the internet I thought that maybe I had Celiac Disease or gluten intollerance so  I eliminated all wheat foods.  Bread, croutons, ketchup, cake, all fried foods and cereal were no longer my friend.  This did seem to lessen my symptoms somewhat but not completely.  Now I was really angry.  I still hurt all over and my mind seemed to be slipping.  

Two years ago I was in an airport and ate a grilled chicken Chef salad and squeezed lemons on it as a dressing.  The most nutritous meal a person could have.    An hour later all the joints in my body hurt like mad, it became difficult to walk, muscles hurt all over, I was dizzy and lightheaded and very scared.  I first wrote it off as food poisioning and suffered through the next day and a half.  The salad has all the typical ingrediants like, lettuce, spinich, tomatoes, cheese, egg, ham, turkey..etc.  I  was so frustrated becuase I was careful not to ingest any gluten yet still felt bad.

So for the past two years I have been in constant pain and unable to find out what is wrong with me and had come to grips with the fact that I may always hurt and be on pain meds.  Two weeks ago I ran across a website that listed Nightshade allergy symptoms which are pretty typical of any food allergy symptoms but these seem to be different and focus mainly on neurological problmes such as muscle pain, joint pain, headaches..etc.  Other food allergy symptoms are typically face & throat swelling, hives..etc.

Could I have found my culprit?  ANyone else ever gone through this?  

[SedonaT]

I'm so glad to find this thread. I've been suffering with skin rashes on my legs and random itchiness all over for at least 2 years, but not knowing why. I've known about the tomato allergy because the second a fresh tomato goes into my mouth, my lips would split and then swell for days. I started avoiding fresh ones on my food, but it's hard to stay away from salsa, tomato sauce etc. It wasn't until last week when my sister mentioned that her lips have started burning after eating tomatoes  (I was about to serve eggplant parmesean) :( that I started to research more. We both suffered from that meal. That's when I found the nightshade allergy links popping up in my Google search. It is heartbreaking to me to think of all these foods I can't eat anymore.  I'm a vegetarian & I eat all of these foods regularly  except for potatoes. But...the good news is, after being nightshade free for only 5 days, my lips are normal and I'm not constantly using chapstick, and as of yesterday I have not had to use corizone in my legs! They almost look normal for the first time in 2 years.  So, as hard as this is I now have hope that no doctor has been able to give me. It's also interesting to see the latex allergy part of this article since I have developed an allergy to bandaids so awful that it causes problems far worse than what you are trying to cover with the bandaid. I would be interested to know if anyone else has this issue. I covered 2 small rashes on my legs last year (caused by nightshades ) & almost ended up in the hospital with cellulitis from a worse rash from the bandaids.
Originally I was only going to go nightshade free for 30 days and then reintroduce so I could see how I was affected,  but now I would be too afraid of my reaction.  Does anyone have to carry an epipen just in case??

[IrisSurvives]

I carry an EpiPen. I'm also allergic to the alkaloids in coffee, ibuprofen, nsaids, mushrooms... paprika is in mustard and mayo...I have to make my own now. It was hard as heck to give up so many foods, but having done so, I feel so good I don't miss them at all.
I hope you have been feeling better since your discovery.

[djtsurfer]

I have been down a 5 year, long road of borderline madness due to undiagnosed health issues that were rendering me unable to function on a daily basis due to facial swelling, digestive swelling, flu like symptoms, sinus infections (so I thought), constricted respiratory, and oh so much more.......and the mystery has been solved.
Due to the extensive research that I have done online over the years, backed by consultation with a Oriental Nutritional Therapist, we have discovered that I am one of the dammed that has developed gluten insensitivity backed by nightshade fruits & vegetables.
I am grateful that my health issues have been identified and the remedy is as easy as a change in diet with fairly immediate results.
For 3 years I relied upon Western Medical practitioners whom never even got close to diagnosing the root cause for all my health issues.  Every single time some other nurse practitioner would tell me with a smile, well according to your blood tests you are perfectly healthy (one look at me would negate that statement), and send me home with yet another destructive prescription combination of Azithramiacin backed by prednisone.  I consumed 3 rounds of this antibiotic combination within the first 3 years.  
The nightshade allergens is just recent to my diagnosis although became very obvious after I consumed a sausage & pepper brown rice penne one night,  followed by a dinner of grilled chicken tacos topped with chopped organic tomatoes and jalapeno peppers not to mention the chile pepper powder used in the chicken rub the following night.  Woke up the next morning to the worst facial swelling yet.
Five years of suffering are coming to an end.
If it wasn't for my extensive research online, the vast experiences and testimonials posted online, I would have just accepted that what will be will be and I will just have to deal with the symptoms on a daily basis although my life had become unmanageable due to my deteriorating health conditions.
Today there is a end in sight to my 5 years of suffering.  I look forward to tomorrow.

[msgaen]

I have just been diagnosed with gluten and nightshade plant allergy.  I have been getting sick off and on since October of last year, and I thought I was dying, to tell you the truth.  I was getting weaker and weaker it seemed like.  I have sworn off processed foods, and only eating beans, fresh vegetables, fruits, and drinking lots of water.  I also eat some eggs, about once or twice a week.  I also eat unprocessed nuts.  I was eating chicken, turkey, etc.; but not so much.  I have been seeing an excellent dietician, and also have gotten information from nutritionfacts.org.  My body is really sensitive, and so since eating fresh veggies, and a lot of beans, has really been helping me in only a week, my strength has come back, and my skin has quit itching.  I am so glad that these web sites are here, it is helping me quite a bit.  I also have been drinking a detox tea, a medicinal type of tea, and it has really helped too.

[detoxmama]

Could be nightshades, could be eggs, chicken, soy, etc. Could be a lot of things. Do a 30 day elimination detox where you remove all of these things and then slowly add them back carefully to  monitor the effects. Whatever it is, to me it does sound autoimmine in nature. Check out books by Dr. Wahls, google AIP paleo, Dr. K and Paleo Mom. I also have a blog too about my journey but I am no doctor or expert!  www.detoxmama.wordpress.com

[bugsy537]

Im nightshade intolerant as well, and have all your symptoms, the chickens are sprinkled with PAPRIKA as seasoning to give it a crispy brown skin and nice taste (My sister owned a BBQ chicken place) and i would be in bed for 4 days in pain after eating one, from the paprika. Yes you got nightshade intolerance its like poison to us.

[howe2knit]

I am definitely allergic to nightshades.  I've been suffering from migraines, fatigue and digestive issues for years and recently started having tongue and throat swelling from eating them.  Since I've cut them from my diet, the symptoms have all gone away.  It's worth trying an elimination of them for a couple weeks and see.  I have seen an allergist about it and she said it's uncommon, but not rare.  If you aren't having any of the swelling in the throat, they'll probably just tell you to avoid them.  Since I do, I also have to carry an epipen.  

[CandiceS]

Definitely check out the food allergy idea with a certified allergist who specializes in adult food allergies.  I had similar symptons about 8 years ago and have had found that I'm allergic to many food items that no one ever thinks abouts.  Your allergist may have to create custom extracts to use in testing.  Of course, it could be something different, but at least you'll have ruled one thing out.

[nikkie1580]

I would also go see a G.I doctor the symptoms are close to crohn's

[myenzoorka]

You may have found your problem.  A tomato allergy (but not the rest of the nightshade family) runs in my family - but their symptoms are usually different, though the headaches are common for them.  Another thought, since you mentioned the chicken salad, which included chicken, egg and turkey... could you be allergic to poultry (another allergy that runs in my family)?  When I eat poultry, I get a full set of severe flu-like symptoms - all the pains, headaches, diarrhea, nausea, sometimes vomiting, and even on rare occasion, a fever.  It looks like you've done a good job at narrowing it down, now would be a good time to see a doctor for an allergy test.  There could always be a different problem going on and an allergy test, at this point, will help you get to the bottom of things.