Is this leaky gut?

[staceyshoe]

Just got back from the allergist, and I'm SO CONFUSED!!! I'll try to be quick with the background info on this.

Ds2's skin prick test came back hugely positive for peanut, egg yolk, egg white, and was moderate for milk. Just got the RAST blood test results which showed significant peanut allergy. Apparently his #s for milk, egg, oats, wheat, and pecan fall within a "gray area". The allergist said that he may or may not react to those foods. I think the highest #s in this gray area was .4-something.

He mentioned that ds's body seems to be sensitized to almost any food--meaning that to some degree there were antibodies in his blood that showed up in the RAST. He has antibodies but very little. The dr said it's not truly positive, but not truly negative.

What does this mean? Is it leaky gut?? Since antibodies are present, it's an immune reaction instead of a digestive problem, right? I'm trying to figure out if probiotics or enzymes might be helpful (they were very helpful for ds1's food intolerance which was not an allergy).

[Chinese Pistache]

Leaky gut is related to IgE allergies in that undigested proteins floating around in the blood (after they've leaked out of the gut) can be seen as foreign invaders and attacked (that's when the body releases IgE antibodies). At that point, though, curing/healing the leaky gut doesn't necessarily mean the allergy goes away. Supporting the immune system overall, healing the gut, and imo, allowing time to pass for the immune system to "unlearn" the reaction is necessary.

Now that you have a positive IgE result, you'll need to avoid those foods completely to allow for healing and reduce inflammation. Probiotics and enzymes can both help with that process, but not really to make the IgE allergic foods more tolerable (at this point anyway).

[kjbrown92]

I thought leaky gut was more intolerances than IgE allergies, no?

[Chinese Pistache]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

I thought leaky gut was more intolerances than IgE allergies, no?

Well, leaky gut can lead to intolerances, too, but with infants, it's the mom's leaky gut that leads to the baby developing IgE allergies.

ETA: I think it can go for adults, too. When their gut is not digesting properly and allowing those undigested foods out, the body can become sensitized that way, too. In fact, I really wonder if it's a crapshoot (or genetics or somethign else) that determines whether the body releases IgG (intolerance) or IgE (histamine) in response to a particular food.

[staceyshoe]

Thank you for that explanation! I've been reading about leaky gut, and it makes so much sense. This is exactly what is wrong with ds! I have a lot more to learn, but I'm developing our plan for healing his gut.

[estrillus]

I know this is a really old post, but I think I'm dealing with the same thing with my son and would love to know if/how you solved it.  Or what helped?  Thank you!

[heatherdeg]

This IS an old post.  I don't know how old the OPs child was when tested, so I can't comment on that.  Leaky gut is just a matter of openings in the intestines that allow undigested proteins to pass through (as explained above) such that the body's immune system kind of goes into hyperdrive attacking it.  Sometimes they're not cleared and those partially digested proteins land in places in the body they don't belong.  In my practice, I see this with kids that have behavior and development problems because the proteins land on nerve endings and throw a wrench in the works of input/output.

But lots of things can lead to a leaky gut.  Candida gets most of the press, but man--the list is long.  Stress is a HUGE one.  So are medications.  It can be healed, but it's not a quick process.

What exactly are you seeing in your son?  That would help to better figure out how to handle it.  Usually increasing probiotic intake and reducing the things he has trouble digesting would be the first step.  Depending on how bad things are, that could be a number of things.  And if you're nursing, that goes for you, too.