Food allergies or anxiety?

[JJ1717]

I am 26 and have never had any serious health problems. When I was 18 I started getting hives after eating shellfish so I  stopped eating shellfish. Few months after I had my son when I was 19, started getting hives again, very bad episodes, no obvious reason. Took Zyrtec a few months, hives stopped. Besides not eating shellfish, I did not change my diet at that point. Fast forward to now, started getting hives again 4 months ago. Since hives started, I have also been experiencing what I think are panic attacks: fast heart beat, palpatations, feeling of doom, feeling like my throat may be constricted. Symptoms last from a few minutes to an hour and sometimes happen shortly after I have eaten or middle of the night. I have also had a hoarse throat on and off. I started eliminating foods that I thought might be causing the hives or the attacks but nothing worked. I went to an allergist who did scratch test for foods, blood test, 24 hour urine sample, and found no allergies. Diagnosed me with idiopathic hives/angioedema.  Prescribed Zyrtec and Axid, suggested anxiety. I am only taking Zyrtec, hives stopped. Now I am having alternating constipation/sometimes diarhea immediately after I start eating. Happened twice after eating tomatoes. Is it possible to have anxiety about eating? Or is this an overlooked allergy. I am afraid to eat. I have been under alot of stress due to marital problems. I want to mention that when I don't eat alot of bread, cereal, pastas, I don't have as many anxiety attacks, bowel movements are somewhat normal, and I overall feel better. Any suggestions?

[gmagam]

I wished this was more recent you are describing my symptops exactly and im going crazy trying to figure  out a solution so if you found one and you see this please tell me!

[Katie35801]

I'm glad I found this post because I've JUST started researching this. I have had severe Eczema since I was a child. No doctor ever mentioned a food allergy connected, they just handed me creams. I started having anxiety and depression (from the anxiety) 10 years ago, Prozac never helped. And yet again, no doctor ever has mentioned food allergies related to Eczema or anxiety. They just wanted to "band-aid" the anxiety. Also no therapy has ever helped the anxiety. Only on my own research have I read about anxiety and allergies related....and have started really watching the dairy and wheat I consume, it's in EVERYTHING! I've always watched my sugar and caffiene intake, but it never really helped. I also tend to have "candida" under my breasts and the eczema is mainly on my scalp and ears. But I think I may go wheat free for 2 weeks and see if it helps at all, can't hurt. And then try dairy free for 2 weeks. Thanks for posting this!

[AMA17]

Any results for us? How did the test go? Celiac or no??

[JJ1717]

Thank you for the post about celiac. Since I posted my original entry, I have stopped eating dairy......weird, but my hives have stopped. I am still experiencing the anxiety and bowel symptoms though. I started eating wheat again so that I can go get tested for celiac disease. It is definitely something I have to rule out.

[AMA17]

hey -- I have celiac -- one side affect i had on occasion and I know many others suffer from is anxiety, and especially the bowel troubles... Gluten is in everything! It's a tough diet, but since doing it i've felt much better... my biggest symptom was anemia. Ignoring this can lead to other intolerances too, like lactose.. The tomatoes make me think you may have an issue with "nightshades"....

Look it up online, do some research - docs don't seem to know much about this, it's one of the most mis-diagnosed things out there.  Then you can call your doc for a simple blood test to find out - OR, just try cutting out all gluten (bread, pasta, beer, and look out for things like modified food starch) and do that for at least a month and see how it goes.

Keep in mind, if you get tested, eat normally! Not eating wheat/gluten will throw off the testing. I had positive blood  tests & then had an endoscopy where they confirmed that I had it.

Good luck!!!

[JJ1717]

Thanks for the info. What made your doctor suggest a wheat-free diet? What problems were you having before you stopped eating wheat? Did you have an allergy or do you have celiac disease or are you gluten intolerant? Do you think it works if you only eat a little wheat? I am having a hard time cutting out ALL wheat products because I am not sure if that is what the problem is for sure. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[PlateletGal]

It sounds like you may have an allergy to wheat (hives can be a symptom... link below). The symptoms of food allergies are worse than environmental allergies. Since you feel better when you avoid breads, you may want to try a wheat (gluten) free diet. I know you can buy rice, potato or soy flour at a health food store and these flours taste just as good as regular flour. I also cannot eat wheat and remember how great I felt after my physician suggested going without wheat for 2 weeks. I haven't eaten any wheat in 2 years.



http://www.allergyescape.com/wheat-allergy.html

http://www.wheat-free.org/