Multiple Food Allergies and Gastrointestinal Problems

[jazoon]

I'm 25 years old and overweight, have a history of stomach problems in my family. I've been through a nice round of tests since I've had all my troubles (EKG, 24-Hour Holter Monitor, EGD, colonoscopy, various blood tests) and had my gallbladder removed as it was thought to be the cause of my problems. Finally getting somewhere, just a couple days ago I received results back from a food allergy blood test that shows that I'm allergic to corn, wheat, soybeans, and peanuts.

My question is can these allergies cause severe gas (lasting a few hours sometimes), bloating, heartburn, abdominal pain, chest discomfort, inconsistent bowel movements (loose, color usually off, like a yellow or sometimes green), palpitations, shoulder pains, feeling of my neck being swollen and trouble breathing? Not all of this happens in the same episodes but I do have some kind of episodes on a daily basis. Right now as I'm typing this I'm having some troubles breathing. It's hard to describe, like I take a full breath but I don't get the feeling at the end of the breath like it was complete. Also at the moment I have some really bad gas, both belching and flatulence.

I'm set to see my G.I. doctor on April 20th to further discuss my problems and on May 10th I'm going to see an allergy specialist to find out the severity of my allergies and get a needle test done. I am on Protonix and take ranitidine to try and relieve some of these problems but they usually give me little to no relief. I also take antacids basically on a daily basis. I've been taking Acidophilus also but I'm about to stop it because it doesn't seem to help either. My G.P. started me on a high fiber diet.

Along with this I have acute anxiety disorder (taking Wellbutrin 150mg/Zoloft 150mg, 0.5mg Xanax when needed), and high blood pressure (50mg HCTZ/50mg Metoprolol). I AM A MESS! I could use some advice...

[anderson8505]

Absolutely food allergies can cause these symptoms. Even the mental issues can be partially caused by food allergies! I would see an ENT/Allergy specialist if I were you. It sounds like you may have asthma as well. If you did not get the full spectrum allergy testing done please do so. Avoiding your allergens can change how you feel physically and mentally. Good luck.

[motherhen491]

Absolutely your allergies can cause numerous problems, especially the gas, bloating, and heartburn. My daughter has multiple food allergies (milk, soy, wheat, fish, shellfish, apples) and we have to stick to an extremely controlled diet with her. I am gluten intolerant also, and I had the same type of symptoms from eating anything with gluten in it. We also have intolerances to some food additives such as MSG, sulfites, nitrites. The best advice I can give you is to listen to your allergist and g.i. dr. and really watch what you eat. If you go off all the things that you are allergic to and mainly eat a diet of fruit, veggies and meat, then you should start feeling better in about two weeks. I know this sounds hard, especially if you like to eat out often (we do not, because she is anaphalactic allergic to dairy and gluten makes us vomit) but hang in there, and you really will start to feel better. I lost 10 lbs and never ever get bloated any more since I went off wheat. Hope this helps.

[mykidsaremyheart]

Hello, My son is allergic to milk. He has many symptoms, not always together at the same time. The most obvious reaction to any dairy, happens 4 hours later. He starts screaming in pain, it's hard to talk to him, to find out exactly where he hurts. But mainly it's his joints, back, and head. He can't walk, stretch out his legs, or barley sit up. Tylenol helps ease the pain. He is so sensitive, he can not even have 1 mcDonald's french fry, because it turns out they have milk. Which we found out the hard way. He was constipated a lot (Dairy causes my other daughter who is allergic to milk, have severe gas and diarreha). Since haveing to go dairy free as a family,(it's been almost a year) my 3 kids haven't had a single ear infection, sinus infection. They had a "cold" once this year, which unbeilivably for us, was just a few runny noses for a couple of days, and was gone. We went through the flu, and it went by like a breeze, not severe and didn't last long. My daughter who had suffered migrains since she was 2, no longer has migrains. I no longer get stuffed up sinuses, or headaches. My husband who was VERY dependent on perscription strength omeprozol 2X a day, no longer needs them. All coincidently going dairy free (and flouride free water).  Which totally surprises me. I read into "allergy testing" and to me, it sounds inconclusive. On that, I would look into the pros and cons, because I've read a lot of false positives, and negatives, and have friends tested, and turned out not benifiting them. We do have to read all ingredients and are very strict, and it does take time, and is kind of a pain, but worth all the effort. When things were at their worst for my son, and we didn't know milk was causing all his problems, he did have lots of abdominal and back pain too. He was diagnosed with HSP. We were told his immune system was attacking itself, and his kidneys and intestines, that's why he was in so much pain, and it was to go away on it's own. Which it "eased up", but didn't go away, until we tried going dairy free.
So out of our experience, I think if you do have allergies to something, it can cause a number of problems. Hope things get better for you!