Could my daughter be suffering from food intolerances/allergies?

[sarahea4]

My 15 year old daughter has been suffering from weight gain and bloating for the past few months. At the beginning of the year she weighed 85-86 pounds in the morning. She started gaining weight at the beginning of February, and never stopped. She now weighs 99 pounds in the morning. We decided that, since her thyroid tests came back normal, we would take the situation into our own hands. She is already on a dairy free diet(2 years; we switched to almond milk) because every time she consumes milk, she gets severe stomach pain and she feels dizzy. So, we were  thinking what we changed in her diet at the time if weight gain. She started consuming excessive amounts of soy: soy milk (for protein), soy yogurt, soy butter, soy based protein bars, soy based cereal, etc. Well, she had been off of soy for a few weeks, and she got down to 93 pounds. Well, just recently started taking her vitamins that her doctor suggested due to abnornal blood work. Last week is when she lost the weight, and this past week, she has gained 6 pounds. Low and behold, the CoQ10 has soy in it! She also has very coarse hair and acne on her forehead which she never had before. Could this be causing her symptoms: weight gain, bloating, constipation, acne, coarse hair, severe headaches, poor concentration, shortness of breath, swelling of the ankles and legs, irregular period(she hasn't had a period in a year and she hasn't grown taller since she was 12). She is also on a gluten free diet to try and help her headaches. Our family doctor reffered her to an endocrinologist to check her hormone levels as well.

[mom21boy1girl]

My 16 y/o old daughter was just diagnosed with an allergy to wheat, cow's milk, egg whites and peanuts.  She has had thyroid disease since  12 yrs. I sure wish someone had suggested to me that she get food allergy tested that long ago. Our family doctor did the food allergy testing with a blood draw.  It is expensive ($1000) I think, but well worth knowing what she is allergic too.  You could call your insurance company to see if they will cover the test.  I think mine covered 80%. Her allergic reaction is severe stomach pains and vomiting.  usually just once so i know it is not a virus. My daughter was gaining weight unusually when diagnosed with the thyroid,.  There are 3 different markers that they look at.  When she was originally tested one marker was normal so they started to brush it off but I insisted because she had the other symptoms of hypothyroidism. The other markers were very abnormal   My 10 yr old son is also allergic to chocolate and bananas.  He would be very mucousy and was having asthma. Both my children get pains in there stomach from mucous., Good luck. I have learned that I need to be a strong advocate for my children's health.,  

[SassyLassie]

I get tummy aches, etc from Soy. I would be willing to be that Soy is one of the underlying causes of her troubles.

I do not think that Soy is even that good for folks. It is a phyto-estrogen, and, if your daughter is estrogen dominant, this could be causing her to bloat and all the other problems she is having. I would ask her doctor to do a saliva hormone test to see what is going on and also avoid all soy.

[FurballsMom]

Soy has phyto estrogens in it and isn't really good for anyone.  It is also a very common allergen that is removed from the diet in an elimination diet when people are finding out what they're intolerant to.

It sounds like your daughter does have food sensitivities, but I think she also should have her thyroid tested.  She sounds like she might have PCOS and the soy is exasperating the problem.

[ChitChatNine]

Hi,  Welcome!

This may really be way out there .. does she have any gallbladder symptoms at all?

My daughter had awful headaches from the tyramine in chocolate.  Also severe joint pain from it.

Amazing what things can do to us!

C~

[sarahea4]

Yes, she has been tested for celiac numerous times--negative every time. However, we have not seen an allergist. Unfortunately our insurance does not cover allergists or allergy testing.

[richyg]

Have you had your daughter tested for Celiac?  Have you seen an Allergist?  Might help a ton.