Allergy Testing - Question

[cd6487]

Hello all.  I'm looking for a little insight.  To begin with, I am 23 years old and in pretty good health, if I do say so myself.  I have never been allergic to anything in my life, with the exception of Prozac (which gave me hives on my elbows/knees).  

Around February/April I ate (on seperate occasions, a couple weeks apart) a brownie with walnuts & a muffin with walnuts and experienced an itching in my throat and a tightness/discomfort in my throat - although I did not have trouble breathing.  I was perscribed an epipen during my initial consultation (prior to any testing) & told to avoid eating all treenuts and peanuts until the testing.  After this, I was tested for food allergies (blood testing for tree nuts, peanuts and sesame, about 36 skin p r i c k tests for a whole slew of other foods (including nuts, I believe) & 24 intradermal tests for other allergies mostly seasonal & animal - it was a painful 2 hours).  All tests came back completely negative for allergies (except for the intradermal test for Candida which I was told was an allergy to mold & is generally used as the control for intradermal testing).  After the testing I was told I showed no allergies, but to still use caution.  As a result, I haven't eaten any nuts & am pretty much petrified that they could appear in any foods I eat.

This morning I went in for a food challenge w/ walnuts, since that seems to be what caused the initial reaction. They did this by first having me eat a small piece of walnut (about 1/4 of a walnut).   15 minutes later, they had me eat a slightly larger amount.  As I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder, this was obviously a very trying experience for me, and although I did not exhibit any allergy symptoms (no itchiness of the lips/tounge/throat, tightness, nada), they had me stop because I was clearly nervous/anxious & they were afraid I would have a full blown anxiety attack.  The clinician (it wasnt a doctor that performed the food challenge, although it was performed in a doctors office [an allergy specialists office @ that]- I believe the person who performed the challenge is a medical student or physician's assistant) said that since all my blood work & p r i c k tests came back negative, and the ingested amounts did not illicite any sort of reaction, that I was free to go and was not allergic to walnuts.

For some reason (and this is where the GAD) comes in, I am still fearful that I am allergic.  I have read studies where people will have negative results in these tests (blood, skin and/or food challenge) but are still allergic.  What is the likelihood, however, that I would have negative results with ALL of these tests and still be allergic?  The doctor/clinician follows everything about testing negative with "but still be careful" which alway leaves me with doubt.   I know they are probably just trying to cover themselves in the event of a lawsuit, but it is still worrisome to someone who has never dealt with any type of allergy before.

Sorry for the rambling & thanks in advance for any insight.

[bavariangirl]

There is such a thing as combination allergies. For instance, you could be not allergic to walnuts or sugar by themselves, but you could be allergic to the combination of the two. Or maybe you are o.k. with walnuts, but baked walnuts give you trouble. Allergies seem to be treated more successfully by alternative practitioners, but I would stick with licensed chiropractors, or an N.D.. Also, check out a method called NAET (Nampudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique), again, an alternative treatment, but well worth considering. Another plus, no painful tests, as they use muscle testing. Good luck finding a solution.

[adkalanna]

there is almost no chance u r allergic to the nuts.  since you reacted to the mold, did u discuss the possibility of the nuts u ate being contaminated with mold if they were not stored properly?  did the nuts come from the same source?  even as remote as the same producer?
good luck

[wishforanswers]

I'm sorry this has been causing you anxiety. I know how worrisome it can be to not know something for sure. Allergies are very tricky - there are people who develop them to something they have had contact with for years, and others who can become "unallergic" to something they were previously allergic to. I would avoid the nuts to be on the safe side, but try not to stress about it. If the brownie and muffin were processed foods, it's even possible that you are allergic to some artificial ingredient in these products, instead of the food item itself.