Is there an illness or something that would cause someone to be allergic to EVERYTHING??

[crunchy_mommy]

My sister just got the results of her allergy tests and she is literally allergic to every single thing they tested her for. (OK, there were 2 non-allergic items, but they were things she was never even really exposed to). There were about 100 things that they tested!!!

And I seem to be allergic to everything as well, I can't afford to get tested but I seem to react to sooo many things (things I previously didn't have any/much problem with)... I definitely have environmental allergies plus there are dozens & dozens of foods I can't eat (and I suspect more that I have yet to identify).

So it got me to wondering, is there some kind of illness/disorder/genetic condition that could cause someone to react to everything???

It's hard for me to accept that someone could just be allergic to everything, not without an underlying cause...

Forgive me if this is a stupid question... It's just impossible to eliminate everything without going into a bubble. The allergy clinic did offer to give my sis shots.... for over $300 a month for the next 3-5 years!!!! I'm convinced the allergies are a manifestation of something else, but maybe I'm way off-base...

[scsigrl]

What kind of test was it?  There are no allergy tests that are 100% accurate.  There is a 50/50 chance of a skin test + being correct.  Blood testing can be about the same.

If you are speaking of stool testing, the accuracy of that is very hotly debated.

If it was a stool test I would:

1) Not take out a food unless there has been a known reaction.  Restricting a diet that much for an extended period of time would be hard and most likely overkill.

2) Have your sister go to an allergist.  The testing they do is still not very accurate, an in office food trial is the best test (IOFC), but it would give a better idea what are actually allergies.

3)  If your sister suspects intolerances over allergies, there really is nothing better that a really good food log to figure that out.

4) Yes, there are conditions that would show someone reacting to everything.  Histamine issues I believe but I am not sure those would cause +'s in a stool test as I am really not that well versed in them.

[mbravebird]

For me, a situation like that ended up being intestinal parasites, which increases your histamine load to the point where you react to everything you put in your mouth. I started a thread about it in the general health & healing forum. I'll let you look there, because it's a long story. I began by reacting to milk and eggs, and after several years and re-introducing adrenal exhaustion, I had an awful bout of hives and eczema and allergic reactions to almost everything I ate.  I strongly believe now that everyone should do a parasite cleanse regularly. 85% of folks will test positive for parasites at any given time according to the CDC, so it's not all that unusual, and you don't have to have been in a foreign country. My symptoms started after we moved into a house and rehabbed a shut-down well. I also had my first bout with adrenal exhaustion then, which can make the body less able to shed parasites on its own.

My 2 cents!! Hope you figure it out, whatever it may be. Here's the thread I started:

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1297839/parasites-and-allergic-reactions

ETA: I can eat eggs again now, and just yesterday I ate dairy kefir without reacting. Crossing my fingers...

[crunchy_mommy]

She had a skin test with an allergist.

She is going to keep a food log, but she is also reacting to pretty much everything in her environment as well, which makes it tricky.

Would parasites affect environmental allergies as well, or only food allergies?

Unfortunately she is not really into alternative medicine so I'd need to find some more research or evidence of the parasite thing for her to even consider it, but most of what I've been reading shows parasites have a protective effect, if anything! Very weird. I am interested in doing a parasite cleanse myself though.

[True Blue]

My guess would be leaky gut.  I'm guessing this was an IgG test?  It sounds like she is hypersensitive, and her gut needs some major healing.

[scsigrl]

So what did her allergist tell her? If they tested on skin for 100 things and they ALL came back +, I would think (as the allergist) that there is an issue beyond allergies.  As I said, those tests are actually only 50/50 on accuracy.  Did she get blood testing as well?  There is more info needed to properly dx.  
 

I agree that there is something else going on.  Leaky gut. Parasites. Test inaccuracy.  Something.

:(  Immunology is a really tough field.  Not a lot of 100% concrete answers :(

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by scsigrl 

So what did her allergist tell her? If they tested on skin for 100 things and they ALL came back +, I would think (as the allergist) that there is an issue beyond allergies.

EXACTLY!

The allergist told her she should really start getting the shots. The $300/month x 5 years shots. Which may or may not lead to significant improvement. I think that's ridiculous. I'm convinced there's something more going on and I'm kind of shocked that they'd just offer her shots & medication.

I mentioned leaky gut to her & she looked at me like I had 10 heads. I'm going to look into that more though. And she is way more at risk for parasites too (due to lots of international travel as well as working with exotic animals -- assuming those are kind of big risk factors for something beyond the 'normal' parasites).

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy 

She had a skin test with an allergist.

She is going to keep a food log, but she is also reacting to pretty much everything in her environment as well, which makes it tricky.

Would parasites affect environmental allergies as well, or only food allergies?

Unfortunately she is not really into alternative medicine so I'd need to find some more research or evidence of the parasite thing for her to even consider it, but most of what I've been reading shows parasites have a protective effect, if anything! Very weird. I am interested in doing a parasite cleanse myself though.
 

Yes, parasites can affect environmental allergies, as well. When I had them I would swell after putting lip balm on, or sometimes for no known reason.

The research you're finding about parasites inhibiting the auto-immune reaction is not referring to huge infestations. In fact, a lot of the people in those studies actually had to re-ingest parasites, because their bodies kept shedding them on their own. A real infestation is very different. The excrement of the parasite builds up in the intestines, and the body has a histamine reaction to it. It builds and builds, until the histamine load is so high that foods and other things that would normally just cause a small histamine reaction will instead throw the body into complete allergic response.

There are studies from pub med documenting the parasite-allergy connection listed on the first page of my site: http://www.howigotmyhealthback.com . In one study, 61% of people with severe or chronic hives tested positive for the B. hominus intestinal parasite. After being treated, 100% of them stopped having hives. Roundworms are particularly associated with skin rashes and eye swelling, both of which I had -- there's a study verifying that too. Once you get on Pub Med, you'll discover lots more documentation.

Adrenal and thyroid issues can create a situation where the body cannot shed parasites as naturally as it normally would. Parasites certainly are a normal part of our world, and they have their place, but when our bodies are out of balance enough to allow them to overwhelm the body, that's when problems occur.
 

Leaky gut is certainly one of the side-effects of parasites -- if you have a parasitic infection that is significant, then you will have a leaky gut. Since I have treated for parasites, I've suddenly had success in gut healing, whereas all the great gut stuff I was doing for gut healing never made a dent before. You can't heal a leaky gut if the parasites are attached to your gut walls. It's been three and a half months since I treated for parasites, and suddenly I can eat eggs and maybe dairy again, after three years -- the gut healing was swift once they were gone. I had been doing wonderful gut healing for years prior, trying to get dairy and eggs back. Nothing made an impact -- in fact, the reactions to dairy and eggs had just gotten worse.

Hope this helps some.

[sapphire_chan]

Could she be allergic to the testing equipment? I know surgical stainless steel (for a blood draw, skin test) is supposed to be really really hypoallergenic, but maybe she can't handle the cleaning solution they use in their autoclave or there's latex involved or something like that.

My other thought is that sometimes lots of exposure to one thing can make other stuff cause reactions. Like, cat dander doesn't bother me too much, unless I've been dealing with a lot of other dust--in which case petting my cat will give me hives.

Some people get bad reactions to their fabric softener if they are around too much perfume. That kind of thing. Sort of the body going into hyper fighting mode.

[crunchy_mommy]

Sapphire_chan, yes that's what I was talking about with her, and maybe if she's able to cut down on the allergens that she CAN control, the others will be less severe...

I don't think she's allergic to the equipment but it's possible! Many of the reactions she tested + for are things she KNOWS she reacts to in real life. For example, she stopped eating meat because it seemed to make her sick, and she tested positive for beef & chicken allergies. (I never thought my sis, who's always made fun of me for being vegan, would become a pescatarian!!)

Mbravebird, that is really encouraging and I will look on PubMed etc. and pass that info on to her. So basically you are saying that normal amounts of normal parasites can help with allergies, but when you get too many or the wrong kinds of parasites, they can cause these horrible reactions?

I'm going to look into your parasite cleanse methods further for myself, especially since they are BF'ing-friendly!

[sbgrace]

Hmmm...her control was negative, right?

Sometimes a person can be hyperreactive and allergists won't test in those circumstances. I'm wondering about your sister. Allergy tests are false positives 50% of the time so that the allergist told her she was allergic to 100 things based on skin prick and offered allergy shots (for the foods...???????) seems really suspect to me honestly. Something doesn't seem right.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by sbgrace 

Hmmm...her control was negative, right?

Sometimes a person can be hyperreactive and allergists won't test in those circumstances. I'm wondering about your sister. Allergy tests are false positives 50% of the time so that the allergist told her she was allergic to 100 things based on skin prick and offered allergy shots (for the foods...???????) seems really suspect to me honestly. Something doesn't seem right.

this.  and, once they saw reaction after reaction, IMHO testing should have been stopped long before 100 things.  That's pretty outlandish.

and if there's something I could pass on to everyone, please don't write it off as "leaky gut."  It's a pet peeve of mine, I know.  But that's not a diagnosis.  It's a symptom.  Even if the gut is leaky, the question is WHY?

With that degree of reactivity there are several things that pop into my head that aren't "alternative" at all, so I'm curious about this allergist to say the least.

[crunchy_mommy]

OK so at least I'm not totally off-base here about something more being 'wrong'... Panserbjorne, if you don't mind me asking, what things would you suspect?

So at the very least, she should perhaps get a 'second opinion' or something?

[teachma]

I thought of dermatographia when I read that this was a skin test. I, too, tested positive for 27 of the 32 tested allergens on my skin test, and this was suspected even in my case...until the blood tests matched those same 27.

[Koalamom]

Why did your sister get the tests in he first place? Is she reacting to the actual foods?

You asked what could cause someone to be reactive to most foods and I know first hand that lyme can do it.