Allergy/intolerance - Help To Narrow The Causes Please

[joko]

i am going to describe the various symptoms and reactions to substances that i have, and ask that anyone who knows of anything similar etc can help me narrow it down and find how to deal with it.

I have managed to narrow down the cause of my pressure headaches to soya lecithin - i think...

the thing is, i am a veggie and eat a lot of soya products, and don't feel like i get any reaction from most of those ... just the ones with the lecithin in ...

so am i wrong? is it perhaps not soya lecithin, an that is just a coincidence?
can you have a reaction to soya lecithin, but not just normal soya?
or is it just dependent on the levels in the product and I probably just don't notice a mild reaction?


i also have another allergy/intolerance to 'something' that i haven't been able to figure out yet - but i don't think its connected to the headaches - it results in a strange well defined reddening across my cheeks and nose, but i don't notice any other negative reactions - (in fact i only notice this if i look in the mirror) ...

i am allergic to various things - dust, mould, feathers, cats, dogs, horse hair etc ... but they only result in itchy throat, sneezing, eye itch etc, and sometimes set off my asthma and eczema.

i cannot use certain lip balms - as they make my throat feel odd ... i suspect its the lanolin ... but dont really know

i also get a kind of weird hot/cold redness and itchy uncomfortable feeling in my hands when i touch soil, and when i used a tube of hand cream that contained wheat germ.

i used to have terrible IBS after pretty much every meal - but don't get diarrhoea any more, just wind and cramps sometimes.

i had one of those allergy/intolerance tests years ago, where they put a substance near you and measure the reaction - now I am somewhat sceptical of this test but it said to avoid dairy, yeast and formaldehyde...

To be honest, i tend to feel unwell a lot, so I am well used to feeling 'off', or have aches and pains, or tired, or have belly ache etc, for various other health issues, so perhaps i just haven't noticed the links as its just become normal for me.

does any of this sound familiar to anyone?

any ideas?

i am going to try taking an antihistamine every morning and see if it makes any difference in general during the day
and keep a symptoms diary, as i may just be ignoring reactions or so used to things that i am not associating them

i went to the allergy clinic at the hospital and they said my symptoms where not like a proper allergy so they didnt test me ...

thanks for any help

[237SJ]

Soya lecithin is in lots of products, not just soya ones as it's an emulsifier. It might be worth looking at the ingredients of everything to see if it's there. I would go back to the GP and ask for proper allergy tests and if you don't get any joy, go private. Have you ever been tested for lupus?

[Sqad]

I agree with the Allergy Clinic, your symptoms are not characteristic of allergy and hence blood tests and skin provocation tests would be useless, your symptoms IF due to any such thing MAY be due to intolerance rather than allergy and antihistamines will be of no value at all.

[joko]

thanks. yes i was wondering how i could be allergic to lecithin if i wasn't affected by normal soya products, as it is a byproduct of soya processing.

i do check the labels of everything, which is how i have managed to single out the lecithin - as you say its in a lot of things.

i was sent the the hospital for tests but they said i had no allergy symptoms (!) and sent me home as they didn't know what to test for ... very frustrating. I cannot afford private tests.

i am aware of the butterfly rash of lupus but have never been tested. mine is not really a rash as such, but more of a temporary reddening

[joko]

thanks sqad, so any idea what i can do then? is it just avoidance?
soya lecithin is in so many things i don't know how i could avoid it.

its very frustrating. I can put up with most of the symptoms, but the headache/foggy head one is extremely frustrating, especially if i am trying to work and have to concentrate etc - my job needs me to be totally on the ball, spinning plates and remembering everything etc... not easy when you just want to lie down.

i have painkillers, that rub-on forehead stuff and a cold compress, but it doesn't stop it.

[pixie373]

It sounds more like an intolerance than allergy, which perhaps is why the tests weren't helpful. I think they can be a bit hit-or-miss anyway. My son has seen GP recently for stomach cramps etc and he's been told to keep a detailed food/drink diary for 3 or 4 weeks, with details of any symptoms too. It may be worth doing that on a normal diet (you may be wrong about lecithin) and if the food diary helps you identify anything, eliminate it and see what happens. You can have a blood test for gluten intolerance but the others will be trial and error, i think.

[Sqad]

I have never been convinced that one can be "allergic" or "intolerant" to lecithin.....just my opinion.
I think that one ought to concentrate on the causes of your headaches, such as what part of the day do they come on, which part of the head, back, front, side and what brings them and possibly an ENT opinion.

If you have gone through this......please forgive me.

[joko]

thanks. i dont think its gluten as i have gluten powder and use it to make pancakes etc and have no symptoms

i will keep a diary and try to be rigid with it... so far i haven't been writing anything just reading labels etc.

sqad... there is no set time it happens, its usually just after eating something.

the headache is kind of an all over pressure one - i cant lie down properly as the pressure on the pillow can hurt my head.
but back of head and forehead are probably most annoying.
light and noise are annoying.
pulling my hair up helps to relieve it a bit for a short while.

i first noticed the soya lecithin thing when i ate some fudge ... within about 20 mins my head felt awful ...

next day i did a 'test' and ate some more - again 20 mins my head was hurting.

i have noticed it since every time i eat fudge now.

i read that a soya lecithin headache is actually quite well known and down to an allergy to it, so antihistamines might help.

though, i have had one today and my head is still hurting (i accidentally ate an almond biscuit with it in) - maybe it has to be a preventative thing rather than a cure once its happened.

[Sqad]

joko...yes, despite my comment, it is very suspicious.......I am out of my depth at this aspect of medical treatment....sorry joko.

[joko]

no worries, thanks for trying

[pixie373]

Joko, please let us know if you manage to work it out? It might help my son too. It's not easy to identify different effects in a varied diet!
best wishes x