Results from son's stool analysis and allergy testing.

Post Reply New Topic

The PA called me last Thursday to tell me that my sons' testing had came back and that he showed a high sensitivity to gluten and that we could go ahead and take him off it if we wanted prior to our appintment with the doctor, which is today at 10:30. I can't say that I am suprised since my several people in my DH's family has celiac, even though the gastro said last year my son didn't test positive for celiac. I have been preparing him all summer for this and he seems okay, at least in theory, with doing this. Thank goodness, he loves his oldest cousin, who has celiac. She didn't test for it until middle school, so she can remember how things with gluten tastes, so she is a great resource on what is good and what sucks in the gluten free world.

I just happened to ask before I got off the phone if his allergy testing showed anything else he was allergic to. The PA shuffled through some papers and said he shows being highly allegic to peanuts and wheat too. I can't understand how this is possible. My son's favorite breakfast is an eggo waffle with a 1/2 inch thick spread of peanut butter on it. For snacks, he will eat bread with only peanut butter on it. He has always loved PB and never has had so much as a red mark on his skin from it being on his hands or face. I am going to ask for more info on this today at our appointment, but I am going to have to get a good answer about this because my DH is calling BS about this result and if he is suspicious about this, he is dubious about the rest too. He wanted to come to the doctor today, but had a meeting he couldn't get out of. I am going to get grilled about this later though. Has anyone ever heard of that?

The lab also emailed us the results of his stool analysis last week. Much of it was confusing, but a few rare yeasts were found and when I googled one, there are abstracts wrote up about how it is found in high amounts in autistic children. It was Clostridium spp. Again, I will be asking more about it with the doctor, but found it interesting.

I also want to add, if you recall previsouly, I had reservations about trying this practice out, but it was very refreshing. They wanted every report, piece of information from all other doctors/specialists and you could tell they actually read it! There was no hurry either in this practice. I have had other doctors that I trusted and had nor problems with in general, but there was atill a feeling of them being rushed. Not the case here.

Sounds like you are making progress

When a child is "highly allergic" to something they cannot eat it without going into anaphylactic shock. If my son eats peanuts, his face explodes into hives and swells up, his blood pressure drops, his airways close -without immediate treatment, he would die. So it is not possible for a child to be "highly allergic" and consume an allergen without a reaction. Tests can give false positives, but the gold standard of allergy detection is what the body actually does when exposed to a potential allergen. So yes, I can understand your husband being dubious of the test results.

It is possible for someone to be able to consume a food with a mild allergy, and only have a mild reaction or to only react when the food is consumed in large quantities. It is also very possible for someone to have mild or severe food sensitivities, which are not immediately, dramatically recognizable like a "true" allergy (IgE-mediated reactions, which are true food allergies, where the immune system is directly involved vs non-IgE-mediated reactions, which are food intolerances or sensitivities, where the immune system is not directly involved).

I would definitely want a lot more info on what tests exactly were done (there are only 2 types of testing considered to be scientifically valid as far as detecting true allergy is concerned: Skin testing (prick/puncture and intradermal) and RAST (radioallergosorbent test), which are usually done in concert with each other, because a RAST alone can give false positives), and might want to follow up with a paediatric allergist, because a true peanut allergy is not something you want to muck about with.

Good luck! I have my fingers crossed for you that it isn't actually a peanut allergy.

We went in yesterday and I now understand what they mean. As far as the IgE testing, his levels are within normal ranges for most everything. It is with IgG testing, that peanuts, wheat, gluten and triticale show up with a high sensitivity. After researching, it sounds like many doctor's don't place a lot of value with IgG tests, but since this doctor's office is more open to alternative healing, (although they do perform regular vaccinations, flu shots, etc) they don't only look at traditional Western medicine and text book answers. This office looks at IgG testing high with certain foods as an indication that while he doesn't have an immediate, short term type of reaction to these foods (which would be the IgE test results), he might be experiencing a long term, whole body type of reaction when eating certain foods.

The doctor is suggesting is to eliminate gluten/wheat altogether, and for the time being peanuts. Then in 3-4 months, see how he is doing. If he is doing well, we can probably bring back in peanut products after his gut is healed, but he probably will never be able to eat the amounts he currently eats (which is at least 1-2 times a day) without causing him problems. He could also try to have the occasional treat with guten at say a b-day party or holiday gathering and just have very good quality enzymes prior to eating or take activated charcoal. Unless he notices it effects him later, which would be an indication of a little even being too much for him.

His stool analysis showed the has some of the beneficial flora he should have, but he has zero of 1 type nad almost none of another, so we are putting him on a probiotic for the next year. He said some kids that had a lot of antibiotics at a young age (which my son had in the NICU and then later during ear problems and several sets of tubes) have difficulty maintaining the good flora and if he falls into that category, he may have to stay on probiotics or he will notice a difference. I had put him on probiotics in my own in the past, but after seeing how much this doctor is recommending, I don't think I gave him nearly enough. Lastly, he has some type of parasite. I looked it up and I guess some gastros discount it and say many people get it and they get over it, but some people online have reported major issues with it. I have no idea how he got it or how long he has had it, but we are going to give him something for the next 4-6 weeks to try and get rid of it.

I have no idea if all this will be the answer. All I know is my son has always had stomach issues and traditional gastro doctors (which I found out this doctor actually did some training under the one we saw last year at the children's hospital) have pretty much said leave him on Miralax forever because it isn't going to hurt him. However, it just isn't normal for a child that eats fiber, fruits and veggies to have this many problems. Ever since my husband's brother and two of his children were diagnosed with celiac, I have wondered, but the gastro said my son didn't have it and wouldn't look further. I figure if we are lucky, these tests have shown us something and we can eliminate these foods and his bowels will become normal. If that happens, I will consider this a success. Or worst case, we do it for a few months, see nothing, call it a waste of time and let him go back to eating the way he was before. It helps that my son is old enough to understand all this and his level of discomfot is high enough he is willing to give this a try. When a 10 year old boy is saying bring it on, I'll try anything, you know he has to be ready for some relief.

I see no reason not to try dietary changes that could benefit him! Traditional medicine certainly doesn't have all the answers. My concern was from the POV of getting to the bottom of what the nurse meant by "highly allegic to peanuts and wheat", which would be a very serious thing. I'm glad that you're only dealing with intolerances vs allergies (although when I say "only" obviously any time your child is less than well it's a big deal! I just mean that having anaphylactic allergies is life altering and potentially life threatening, and impacts a child's day to day on a whole different level).

I agree Alice. I am very glad he doesn't have a "true allergy". He has been in the peanut free class 2 of the last 3 years and has had to be careful when bringing PB for lunch because of that and can never bring anything even made in the same factory for snacks. I have to make sure he cleans his messy self up after breakfast before he leaves for school because he eats it most mornings. I have been Room Mom for the PB free class for 2 years. They have to have different snacks for the class parties, etc. It can be stressful to figure out what is allowed in that classroom. I am very thankful that while I will cut it out of his diet, and he won't be eating it on purpos, everyday, I don't have to be so careful that I need worry about whether some product might be made in the same manufacturing plant as items with peanuts.

I think the nurse misspoke on the phone or wasn't clear enough, but the doctor made it all very clear and never tried to say he had a typical allergy to it, only intolerance/sensitivity. However, if this testing turn out to be correct and we see improvement, I would have never guessed in a million years that PB would be bothering him.

How's that for a career. Stool analyst.

From what I have read about autistic kids and food allergies, they tend to be allergic to the foods they crave, and eat, the most. While this might not produce a typical allergic reaction, it can cause behavioral problems and neurological problems that just might go away after being taken off the offending foods. Keep us posted, and I hope it works out.