Was IgG testing accurate for you?

[DevaMajka]

Just trying to get a feel for how much hope I should put into this test.
Dp is less than hopeful. I think that if we just have a couple false negs, that I'll be able to figure out the rest with food journaling.

multiple choice is enabled.

[changingseasons]

lol- my votes are probably not very helpful... I voted "good starting point" AND "waste of money."

We've done 2 Sage ELISAs for DD, and multiple rounds of IgE testing as well. NONE of the tests were completely accurate- some less accurate than others. I forget how old your LO is, but the IgE's didn't start even showing up on DD's tests until around 2yo, even though we already knew she was allergic.

The IgG tests showed about 30 positives... we tested again a year later, and got just as many (maybe even a few more). Some of the positives were the same, some were completely opposite of the year before, which was suspicious. For us, because DD is allergic/intolerant to so many foods, I knew most of the positives were true because we had already trialed them. But we definitely got some false negatives. (Some of those negatives did finally test positive as IgE, but I still think it's strange that she wouldn't get any IgG reaction from the foods- like dairy, and corn.) And the positives that we hadn't previously trialed- most still haven't been trialed because I'm too paranoid to try them now.

That said- it was a good starting point for me just because it gave me something tangible to look at, to start planning a diet around (and they send you a sample rotation diet based on your results). And it made me feel like I was doing something, kwim?

So we continue to do test after test... even though honestly, I'm not sure any of it was/is worth the money. Had these tests not been covered by our insurance, I probably wouldn't have done any past the first test. I guess I just keep hoping that one of these days a test will come back with less positives than the one before...

OH- and it really depends on which lab you use. Somewhere I read (or it might have been an audio conference) that Liz Lipski (author of Digestive Wellness- great book if you haven't read it) used to use US Biotek until every single patient came back positive to like bananas and sesame, or something like that. Now she uses ELISA/ACT and someone else(?). And prices vary a LOT too- Sage is craaaaaaaaaaaaaazy expensive (like almost $3K), some are much cheaper- like I used Meridian Valley for my own ELISA (they do a combo IgG/IgE) and it was about $125 for a basic food panel, or $250 for a full panel.

Sorry I'm kind of rambly tonight.... I hope this helps a little.

[DevaMajka]

That is helpful- thanks
Did you find that by avoiding all the positives, that it was pretty easy to find the remaining triggers?

It's too bad insurance doesn't cover it for us! The test we're looking at is $270, for 95 foods + candida. Ds is almost 1yo. I guess for now, we're oing to wait another week. If we haven't found a magical soution by then, we'll do the test.

[changingseasons]

We were already on basically a TED when we had the test done, so there wasn't much else to take out. But what did help was to start rotating (grouping food families) what we were eating at that time, and that made it a little easier to spot a few reactions. So yes- I think taking everything out and then doing a rotation could definitely help you spot some things.

Have you checked around with different labs to see if there are any that your insurance will cover? I didn't think ours was going to be covered, but called ahead with the billing codes and was surprised when they said it was. (Of course to get it covered, you have to usually have it ordered by a doctor, and that can sometimes be a problem.)

[DevaMajka]

That's a good idea- thanks! I'll call them and see. They are here in Canada, so they would know about the ins, I'd think.
Our ins will cover $20 of a naturopath visit, but I don't know about testing. It would be so awesome if they cover even part! Getting it ordered by a doc could be a pain. His regular doc doesn't think it's food related at all. There's a doc at the walk in clinic that probably would, but you never know which doc you'll get there. hmmm...

[an_aurora]

We did the patch testing for DD2 and DS. For both, it worked. DD was positive for dairy, potatoes, and peas, and outgrew the dairy allergy after about a year (at around age 3). After eliminating all 3 positives, we were able to "test" with potatoes & peas and she didn't seem to be bothered. I'm not sure if they were false positives, or what.

DS tested postive to I think 9 different things, and we're only on week 2 of eliminating those from his diet. He had his first solid poo yesterday : and thus it seems to be working. We'll give him a few more weeks and then 'test' the weaker positives, one at a time, to figure out any false positives.

[DevaMajka]

I just looked on the website to find their number, and it says this:

• Why doesn’t health care cover the cost of testing?

Rocky Mountain Analytical is a private laboratory operating outside the publicly funded system. Provincial initiatives to reduce health care costs mean it is unlikely that private tests, like salivary hormones, will be added to the list of publicly funded laboratory tests. However, some private insurers may cover the cost of private tests.

so poo. lol.

I'm now leaning toward doing it. I should probably do it just so I don't have to think about it anymore.

[KimPM]

Had two IgG tests done within a couple months of each other.

The first one from Genova Diagnostics was very accurate, though at the time I wish I had more stuff tested - but it was a good starting point. I had already removed the biggest offenders by the time I got the second test.

The second one was from Immunolabs and was a complete waste of money. Lots of false pos/negs. So my poll answers were all over the place.

After the second test I slowly removed more and more offenders (found by the first test) in decreasing order of sensitivitity as noted on the test. That took mostly a year to do. I noticed improvement after removing each offender. After that, I noticed I was still taking in minute quantities of some food offenders due to excipients in supplements and other similar hidden things. Removed those, and then slowly figured out other foods, lower-level offenders, without having a test done (just by trial and error).

Given the sheer number (and odd nature) of my particular food offenders, it would have been pretty impossible for me to figure out any of this without having that first good IgG test.

[lastrid]

Kim, did you remove even all of the Very Low foods from the Genova test? I'm still psyching myself up to removing all of them (because they include eggs and cheese...). Did you try the rotation diet or did you just stay off of everything for a bit?

[KimPM]

Originally Posted by lastrid

Kim, did you remove even all of the Very Low foods from the Genova test? I'm still psyching myself up to removing all of them (because they include eggs and cheese...). Did you try the rotation diet or did you just stay off of everything for a bit?

Well, I started with all the large offenders and worked my way down the list. I got to see the extent to which the remaining offenders bothered me, so it was helpful doing it this way. Yes, I ended up removing all my very low offenders. But now occasionally, I have some oatmeal, which is a very low offender. I just don't have it often. One of the things with the Genova test was that, while the results were accurate (every food they listed was definitely a problem for me), the exact severity level of just a few of the items, I thought, should have been just one higher or one lower. This I figured out by removing them worst to least as I described. When I got to the lower level offenders, I typically removed them one at a time. This is why removing them all took me so long.

ETA: The other benefit of removing foods a little at a time is that it's easier, at least it was for me. I didn't have to psych myself up to remove everything all at once. I learned to eat other things a little at a time.

No, I haven't done the rotation diet, because these items still bother me. And I've been off them for something like 3 years. If I have just a little of any of the listed foods, it still bothers me. So I don't see how a rotation diet would help, I'd still be eating foods that bother me. And I enjoy that free and clear feeling of not eating my offenders, it's just not worth it for me.

[Mommy2Haley]

My IgG test hit most of the big offenders but not everything. It came back with positives for things like cilantro but nothing for eggs (which makes me feel queasy). At any rate, I learned a lot about my body from the results.

We just did the same test with my 3 year old and it yielded NO surprises at all. Everything we though she was affected by were listed and then some that we know she reacts to (corn, dairy, eggs) were not. These were also not positive for the IgE panel either.

I found muscle testing to be much more accurate, even though my family is calling it the "voo doo test".

[Irishmommy]

Well both my kids showed reactions to foods they have never eaten, and that I have never eaten (so not exposed in utero). I'm not convinced, but I do know from experience that the big ones are right in one kid. Jury's out on the other one.

[Shanny2032]

I didn't even answer the poll because I really have no idea. I think one of the 2 very strong responses was right on - eggs, but the other was way off - grapefruit which neither of us has ever eaten. Some of the very low things I think were very wrong but I have taken most out anyway for a short time to get some sort of baseline and allow her gut to heal. It did say wheat was on there and I am pretty certain that isn't a problem for her. There were so many at all different levels I am having a hard time wrapping my head around it. We are staying away fron dairy and eggs 100% and other than that I am trying not to starve us both or make myself crazy. Not sure I would do it again though.

[KimPM]

Originally Posted by Mommy2Haley

My IgG test hit most of the big offenders but not everything. It came back with positives for things like cilantro but nothing for eggs (which makes me feel queasy). At any rate, I learned a lot about my body from the results.

We just did the same test with my 3 year old and it yielded NO surprises at all. Everything we though she was affected by were listed and then some that we know she reacts to (corn, dairy, eggs) were not. These were also not positive for the IgE panel either.

I found muscle testing to be much more accurate, even though my family is calling it the "voo doo test".

What lab did your IgG test?

Re: the "voo doo test" - yeah, recently I've been able to feel the energy in foods, so I can tell just by picking up a food if it bothers me - that's much better than getting a test. But I think I had to be free from my food offenders first, in order to be able to feel this subtle food energy.