Can adult food allergies come on suddenly and go away?

[StephanieAc]

Hi!

I was just diagnosed with a bunch of food allergies I hadn't ever had before. I'm wondering if they can ever go away? There are so many, I'm feeling quite sad and overwhelmed.

[Macabre]

Welcome!

What was used to make your diagnosis?  Was it only a skin prick test?  Was a blood test also used or used instead? Was it reaction history?

If you only had a skin price test (SPT) you are very likely NOT allergic to all those foods. SPTs have a high false positives.  They simply should not be used as much as they are and not for foods that haven't been a problem for you.

I would make a list of the foods that have specifically been giving you reactions. The look at the SPT results of those foods. If you see a positive result, then you've got something. If your blood test results correlate with your experience of these foods, that's also something to start with.

But in many cases it's simply not necessary to remove so many foods from your diet. 

[Macabre]

Btw I have adult onset food allergies (and a child with a peanut allergy) and I have experienced ebbing and flowing of them I reacted to peanuts before, tested postive but don't now.

[StephanieAc]

Hi! Thank you for replying.

Well, I had some skin prick tests for only environmental allergies done by someone who I THOUGHT was an allergist, she was just a tech, as it turns out. I came up positive for a lot of molds, pecan trees (and thus fresh pecans) and trees. Molds that grow on veggies and fruits, as well. Then I had the RAST test done by my GP. They told me they didn't know how to interpret the numbers, so they weren't sure just how severe my allergies were. They just saw that it came up as abnormal.

The reason I went for testing is because I started to feel odd after eating certain foods. Sushi (even just avocado rolls with no fish) started to make my heart race. I thought it could be a soy allergy (someone also told me that wheat allergies make you very sensitive to soy...) or it could be the high amount of salt. Benedryl wouldn't even really work, which was scary,so I cut out the sushi all together and much chinese food, although I recently had some with oyster sauce and I was fine...weird.

I also started to break out randomly. I broke out twice when I had some coconut milk ice cream... half of my face broke out...and once when I had some mayo and organic chicken with a little bit of vinegar and oregano. That's something I eat all the time, so it struck me as odd. The hives on my face actually occurred after I took benedryl because my tongue felt strange, so I took it. I was told that this was REALLY BAD by my GP, which scared me even more. So he took the test.

I'm going to a specialist today for skin prick tests (I'm guessing because they told me not to take any benedryl, etc. for 24 hours...) and I'm going to see if he can either give me another blood test or get the results from my GP so that I can have him interpret the numbers.

I'm hoping that gives me some more answers. I haven't ever had an issue with peanuts, other than a mild stomach ache with them and most nuts, and wheat I've been totally fine with. Corn...pretty okay, but milk was no surprise. I thought I was lactose intolerant because the side effects were awful, so I cut that out a while ago.

[Macabre]

Allergists don't often technically do the SPTs. A nurse wil do them, note the results, and a doctor may come in to look at the results. Mine doesn't. The nurse enters each score into the computer and the doctor sees that.  It's fine.

About the sushi thing--I am wondering about MSG. I don't eat sushi, so I don't know if that is a concern, but MSG for that symptom came to mind.

About Benadryl not helping, two things:  Benadryl won't help anaphylaxis, but short of that, if it's an allergic response it should. What that makes me wonder if what you experienced was an allergic response.

The soy/wheat thing: being sensitive to one member of a food family can result in being sensitive to another member of that food family becaue they are cross reactive. For instance, peoplebwhobare allergic to latex often have allergic responses to avocado and mango. I don't know of a food family relationship tonwheat and soy. Maybe I'm just not aware of it, but I am thinking there is not one and that being allergic to one gives you a greater likelihood of being allergic to the other.

So the hives and the funny tonighy--thise are symptoms to be concerned about when thinking about allergy. And the tongur symptom is very concerning. Anytime your throat and anything connected to it starts to swell, it's time to act--and our plan calls for Epi at tongue/throat swelling.

Based off what you've written, I would be wondering about egg or dairy. Depending on how/where the ice cream was made, it could still have traces of either one.

Again, if after going to a specialist (I'm hoping that means board certified allergist) maybe you have some answers, although as I mentiornd SPT results are not very trustworthy. Also, most allergists want you off of antigistamines far more than 24 hours in advance. 

You do really want your allergisy interpreting the RAST test.

What did it indicate you were allergic to?  Owhat number and class values did it give to the foods tested?  And what foods were tested? 

[StephanieAc]

Sorry! So I got the results back. Highest was wheat at .77. Moderate. I always eat wheat, so does this mean I can continue to do so? It's such a low number. Everything else was .15-.33... All low and then the rest were negative or under .10 which was I think called equivocal/low. So I'm wondering... Can I eat wheat? It was smack dab in the middle of moderate. The first specialist I went to said I can't have allergies that I didn't have as a kid and sent me home lol so I'm going to another specialist Tuesday.

[PurpleCat]

I posted a response in your same question above.  I wish you would not double post as some of us will comment here and others in the other thread so the discussion becomes disjointed and the information is not together for future reference.

[Macabre]

Well, this member is new and may not know how things are done.  And goodness knows even long time members double post.

We can always combine threads.

[StephanieAc]

Thank you so much, macabre!

[SilverLining]

Allergists don't often technically do the SPTs. A nurse wil do them, note the results, and a doctor may come in to look at the results. Mine doesn't. The nurse enters each score into the computer and the doctor sees that.  It's fine.

That is so different from my experience.

At least four different allergists (myself and two of my kids) and SPTs were always done and read by the allergist.

~~~~

As for your original question Stephanie, both my sister and I had adult onset food allergies.

Over time mine got worse and worse.

She outgrew hers.  (Well, they went away.)

So....it is possible for them to go away.

[Macabre]

In the US, people should expect a nurse to perform the SPT and a doctor to read the results--well, come in and look at them.

It was even (or especially) this way with Dr. Burks.

Our current allergist has quite a different set up and practice. Because it's SLIT for FAs and environmentals, we do a blood test every every visit--every six months and SPTs every six months.  However the SPTs do not test for food. It's quite down to a science there. It doesn't bother me that my doctor doesn't physically see my arm in my test. She looks at the results before I meet with her a second time (each visit) and spends quite a bit of time with me. It's amazing really.

But that's a different practice. In every other practice, the doctor has come in to look.

IMHO the allergist doesn't need to perform the test. It's a good use of resources to have a person doing that who fICUs on that so the doctor can focus on interpretation and explanation.

[SilverLining]

IMHO the allergist doesn't need to perform the test. It's a good use of resources to have a person doing that who fICUs on that so the doctor can focus on interpretation and explanation.

Oh I agree.  I don't think it requires a medical degree to be taught how to do the test and even how to interpret the results. (Read the results? I'm not sure what term to use.)

My comment was not intended as a criticism.

[Macabre]

Okay. I have no earthly idea what FICUs is supposed to mean. That is really funny. Or horribly annoying, I know. But today I will choose to chuckle.

[SilverLining]

Reading your posts is interesting sometimes.

Focus?

[Macabre]

Oh--that's right.  Better than ficus tree, lol.