I can not even tell you how many times I have altered my diet since I became sick, because I lost count. Everybody has a different theory on why what I'm eating is the root of my issues. My mother swears that Candida is the cause, a visit with a different naturopath has had me gluten-free for the last 2 years, I didn't eat dairy at all during my teens because I self-diagnosed lactose intolerance, a recent blood test identified eggs and yeast as big allergens for me.... The list goes on even past this.
Since I've recently decided that I am GOING to get better now, that means trusting the doctor I'm working with. (If you had been told by doctors as many times as I have that they don't know what's wrong with you and that the only answer is to take a bunch of medicine that makes you feel like you're just barely suppressing a severe allergy attack at all times, you'd have trust issues too.) So I started my treatment by embarking on a 10-day cleanse, followed by a strict regimen of avoiding all foods known to be common allergens.
An aside: I'm going to take a moment to have a little self-righteous soap-box moment. The cleanse I just finished, and that I have done before in previous years, is prescribed by a doctor. It includes taking a fixed amount of medical-grade allergen-free protein powder. There is a several day period in which more and more foods are eliminated, so the body isn't shocked when all you're eating is broccoli and pears. I can not support cleanses like the Master Cleanse, or the Cranberry Juice Cleanse. I am not a doctor, but long periods of time ingesting nothing but sugar just does not strike me as scientifically sound.
Ok, sorry, had to get that out. So, the point of bringing up this cleanse is that it worked really well. I have dealt with bloating and constipation since all these health issues started, and in the course of just 10 days, those symptoms were pretty much alleviated. My friends also noticed that my face looked thinner, which I think must have been visible inflammation. I highly recommend talking to your doctor about trying a cleanse like this. The best part, besides feeling better, was that when I started reintroducing foods, instead of just feeling a constant level of discomfort, my responses to foods had become much more acute. Which means I'm one step closer to figuring out which foods make me sick in the first place.
Unfortunately, its hard to say exactly how long it takes for foods to affect me. (I wasn't kidding, this detective business is exhausting.) I was trying really hard to only introduce one food at a time, but after a while that proved to be ridiculous. (I'm in school full time, work, and bike everywhere. I'm hungry.) I did glean a bit of information though, which is that apparently I have a significant reaction to apples and almonds.
The apples, I discovered, grow yeast on their peels, which I am allergic to. I began by peeling apples, and pears too, but it seems the apples still affect me negatively. So, one food down, who even knows how many to go?
I started thinking about apples and what might component besides the yeast might make me allergic to them. Then I remembered that they had been listed on a chart I dug up out of the internet once, about salicylic acid intolerance. Aspirin is a big fat dose of salicylic acid, and if you have Samters, you know how well that affects you! Here's the list:
http://salicylatesensitivity.com/about/food-guide/
The idea that I've seen floating about (on other people's blogs, on some allergy clinic websites from New Zealand, and in ONE peer-reviewed article I managed to find,) was that if you have a bad reaction to aspirin, it would follow that you would have a bad reaction to the salicylic acid found naturally in a lot of foods. (I mean A LOT of foods.)
Thinking I had found the holy grail of my health issues, I emailed all the research I had found to my doctor. He said, unfortunately, that he doesn't actually think this is the issue. I, of course, proceeded to feel disheartened for the rest of the day.
HOWEVER. I know that there isn't a whole lot of research pertaining to how the salicylic acid in food affect those with sensitivity, but then there isn't a whole lot of research on Samter's in general. After the cleanse I spent a few weeks eating whatever I wanted besides the common allergens, (SEE BELOW) and ya know what? I feel like crap again. So, I'm going to continue working with my doctor, and take everything he prescribes for allergies and asthma, but I'm also going to stop eating anything with high salicylic acid content. Because being sick for 15 years will inspire you to try just about anything.
I'll let you know how it goes.
COMMON ALLERGENS (A list for those of you trying to quell inflammation)
Dairy
Eggs
Red Meat
Sugar (Any, in any form. Agave, honey, etc.)
Oranges (i know, right?)
Gluten
Peanuts
Corn
Yes, this list sucks. Yes, avoiding these foods is worth it.
Monday, November 11, 2013
A Naturopath's Input
I recently began working with a Naturopathic Doctor that came highly recommended to me from a friend. (If you live in Portland, OR and would like his name, just send me an email!) He has not worked with anyone who has had (or at least been diagnosed with) Samter's Triad, but he assures me that he has cured many people with food allergies and intolerances, digestive issues, asthma, and chronic sinus inflammation.
This would be a good time to mention that I suffer from food allergies and intolerances, digestive issues, asthma, and chronic sinus inflammation.
A few years ago I had a blood test done which diagnosed me with allergies to eggs and yeast. I certainly have seen a decrease in acute asthma and allergy attacks since I started avoiding those foods about 2 years ago, but my baseline status is still way too inflamed for my liking. My doctor calls it the drop in the bucket effect: clearly there are things that I'm eating/breathing that I am sensitive too, which act like water drops in a bucket. When I am exposed to enough of these things, the bucket overflows, and I end up with an asthma/allergy attack.
In another simple-to-understand analogy, the Doctor explained how foods end up triggering inflamitory responses in my respitory system:
1) I eat something that I am allergic/sensitive to. This causes inflammation in my gut.
2) Constant inflammation leads to Leaky Gut Syndrome (yuck) or tiny lacerations throughout my digestive tract.
3) Food proteins, which have not had a chance to fully break down, escape out of the lacerations and find their way into the bloodstream.
4) These proteins are not recognized by my body as happy, friendly molecules. My lungs and sinuses, which have a long history of exploding with inflammation. send out the signal to my immune system that there are foreign bodies present. The the immune system does what it does best, which is try to expel these proteins from the body by inflaming everything.
To address these issues, I am working with my doctor to:
1) Heal my digestive tract
2) Calm inflammation
3) Figure out what foods I am allergic to
**BUT**
A blood test will not clearly identify my food allergies, because all the steroids I take (Singulair, Flovent, Albuterol) suppress the immune system too much. So for now we are working on addressing my asthma in alternative ways, which I will write about in another post. I should have my first treatment this Thursday, so I'll keep you posted.
This would be a good time to mention that I suffer from food allergies and intolerances, digestive issues, asthma, and chronic sinus inflammation.
A few years ago I had a blood test done which diagnosed me with allergies to eggs and yeast. I certainly have seen a decrease in acute asthma and allergy attacks since I started avoiding those foods about 2 years ago, but my baseline status is still way too inflamed for my liking. My doctor calls it the drop in the bucket effect: clearly there are things that I'm eating/breathing that I am sensitive too, which act like water drops in a bucket. When I am exposed to enough of these things, the bucket overflows, and I end up with an asthma/allergy attack.
In another simple-to-understand analogy, the Doctor explained how foods end up triggering inflamitory responses in my respitory system:
1) I eat something that I am allergic/sensitive to. This causes inflammation in my gut.
2) Constant inflammation leads to Leaky Gut Syndrome (yuck) or tiny lacerations throughout my digestive tract.
3) Food proteins, which have not had a chance to fully break down, escape out of the lacerations and find their way into the bloodstream.
4) These proteins are not recognized by my body as happy, friendly molecules. My lungs and sinuses, which have a long history of exploding with inflammation. send out the signal to my immune system that there are foreign bodies present. The the immune system does what it does best, which is try to expel these proteins from the body by inflaming everything.
To address these issues, I am working with my doctor to:
1) Heal my digestive tract
2) Calm inflammation
3) Figure out what foods I am allergic to
**BUT**
A blood test will not clearly identify my food allergies, because all the steroids I take (Singulair, Flovent, Albuterol) suppress the immune system too much. So for now we are working on addressing my asthma in alternative ways, which I will write about in another post. I should have my first treatment this Thursday, so I'll keep you posted.
The Background Story
Hi there! My name is Keera, I'm 29, and for the last 15 years I've been living with Samter's Triad. For those of you who don't already know the drill, this incurable (or so I've been told) syndrome brings with it:
1) Nasal Polyps - masses in your sinus cavities that sort of resemble unpeeled grapes. Luckily not as dangerous as colon polyps, which can develop into colorectal cancer, but still really awful. There are entire years of my life in which I haven't been able to smell anything. Like, at all. Furthermore, they lead to never-ending sinus infections, headaches, difficulty breathing and sleeping, and more sneezing than you can shake a stick at.
2) Adult-Onset Asthma - Like breathing through a straw.
3) Aspirin Sensitivity - Once I had a nurse who gave me a very thorough talking-to about the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity. (To which I said, "Thank you for defining the problem, but I'd rather you fixed it.) (Just kidding, I didn't say that.) Anyhow, a sensitivity is a response that builds up over time, instead of triggering the response of the antibody Immunoglobin-E. So for example, if I eat one almond, I probably won't notice any issues. If I eat 30 almonds, I definitely will.
The least fun thing about Samter's triad is that nobody knows how to cure it. There's not even a definitive answer as to what causes people to develop the disease. The most scientists have figured out is that there's a (complicated and probably boring to those of you who don't care about science) breakdown in a metabolic pathway within the body that results in an overabundance of the enzyme leukotriene, which causes a very uncomfortable level of inflammation.
Fortunately, I do like science. And not feeling like crap. Which leads me to this blog. I have decided that I am tired of constantly being on medicine, and still being afraid to exercise or eat anything, ever. So I am embarking on a journey of healing, and I aim to record almost everything, whether it works or not, in this blog. Part of why I have been so complacent in tackling my health issues is because there is just so little information available about Samters. To be sure, there is some research out there, but certainly nothing decisive or frankly, even anything that makes me feel hopeful about a cure.
So. We will find a cure. Me, both the scientist and the science experiment, and you, the reader who will hold me accountable. (Seriously. This task gets daunting. Knowing that there is even one other person with Samters that I might be helping is more helpful than I can even quantify.)
Here's to our health!
1) Nasal Polyps - masses in your sinus cavities that sort of resemble unpeeled grapes. Luckily not as dangerous as colon polyps, which can develop into colorectal cancer, but still really awful. There are entire years of my life in which I haven't been able to smell anything. Like, at all. Furthermore, they lead to never-ending sinus infections, headaches, difficulty breathing and sleeping, and more sneezing than you can shake a stick at.
2) Adult-Onset Asthma - Like breathing through a straw.
3) Aspirin Sensitivity - Once I had a nurse who gave me a very thorough talking-to about the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity. (To which I said, "Thank you for defining the problem, but I'd rather you fixed it.) (Just kidding, I didn't say that.) Anyhow, a sensitivity is a response that builds up over time, instead of triggering the response of the antibody Immunoglobin-E. So for example, if I eat one almond, I probably won't notice any issues. If I eat 30 almonds, I definitely will.
The least fun thing about Samter's triad is that nobody knows how to cure it. There's not even a definitive answer as to what causes people to develop the disease. The most scientists have figured out is that there's a (complicated and probably boring to those of you who don't care about science) breakdown in a metabolic pathway within the body that results in an overabundance of the enzyme leukotriene, which causes a very uncomfortable level of inflammation.
Fortunately, I do like science. And not feeling like crap. Which leads me to this blog. I have decided that I am tired of constantly being on medicine, and still being afraid to exercise or eat anything, ever. So I am embarking on a journey of healing, and I aim to record almost everything, whether it works or not, in this blog. Part of why I have been so complacent in tackling my health issues is because there is just so little information available about Samters. To be sure, there is some research out there, but certainly nothing decisive or frankly, even anything that makes me feel hopeful about a cure.
So. We will find a cure. Me, both the scientist and the science experiment, and you, the reader who will hold me accountable. (Seriously. This task gets daunting. Knowing that there is even one other person with Samters that I might be helping is more helpful than I can even quantify.)
Here's to our health!
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