Mystery Solved: Beef Allergy

 

If you do not like to read or hear about stomach related issues- here's your chance to walk away. I do not share this to be crude, but because I hope to help someone else who may be suffering and not finding answers.

Several months ago, as my digestive health hit rock bottom, and tests came back negative for everything (not counting the removal of some precancerous polyps), I found myself desperate to find what was making me miserable.

I was afraid to eat.  I feared eating out.  I feared cooking.  While the Kiddo and the Hubby enjoyed everything I put before them, I would find myself staring at the mixture of dairy, wheat, and meat products on our plates and worry over which one was the enemy.  I would eat only the tiniest of portions in hopes I would not, in the middle of a movie, cuddle time, or some other event, have to rush home or to the bathroom to spend hours of agonizing pain as my body repulsed it.  In anticipation of utter agony, I avoided friend's gatherings, canceled dinner dates, and even canceled date nights with my DH terrified of the excruciating bubbling and rumbling that occurred in my intestinal tract that made it feel like something was in it eating from the inside out.  (I do NOT exaggerate... DH has witnessed my tears and moans and watched helplessly as I doubled over putting pressure on my gut to just get a second's worth of relief.)

I thought I was allergic to dairy (the intestinal changes occurred almost immediately after my Kiddo was born- all my Dr. friends blamed it on a lactose intolerance, and eating yogurt on a daily basis DID seem to affect the occurrence of the symptoms- until it didn't), or gluten, as those are staples in my family's diet.  We love dairy- cheese, ice cream, butter, yogurt, milk, etc.   We love bread, crackers, tortillas, crusts, cookies, etc.  While I knew I could cut them down, I was not sure I could cut them out.   For several years, I have avoided dairy as much as I could (cept for cheese and ice cream, as a few of my friends can attest as they would witness me chowing down on cheese or ice cream and comment on my supposed lactose allergy.)  The symptoms I had were not consistent with my dairy intake, or my gluten intake,and the symptoms were getting worse, so I decided to finally go and really be seen for what might be the culprit.

Symptoms included:
SEVERE and sudden abdominal cramps, within 30 minutes of eating.
Shaking, cold sweats, chills
Extremely soft stool that ultimately turned to liquid.  (sometimes using the bathroom alleviated the abdominal pain, sometimes it did not)

Occasionally, symptoms also included:
nausea
headaches
dizziness

Because I have Fibromyalgia, I did not go to be seen for these symptoms because I thought the fibro was just making me more sensitive to "normal" issues.  However, after speaking with some nurses and my then current provider, I finally decided to go see a GI doctor.  Because of family history with colon cancer, that doc decided I needed a colonoscopy and an endoscopy.  During the colonoscopy, they found some polyps that had to be removed, but nothing else.  Same for the endoscopy.  That, in conjunction with a series of blood panels, ruled out my feared gluten allergy as well as a dairy allergy.  So then I was sent to the lab for tests to see gall bladder, kidney, and liver function among other things that I do not recall right now.  Everything came back negative.

While that was all awesome news, it was also extremely frustrating.  My provider and my GI doc were both at a loss as to what was causing my severe and increasing symptoms.

Then, I had a conversation with a friend who told me her hubby had some sort of beef allergy.  He also could not seem to find answers to his own discomfort, and at the suggestion of someone, cut out all beef for a while.  Completely befuddled, because I had never considered I might have a meat allergy!  I mean, seriously, how many people do you know that are allergic to juicy hamburgers or prime ribs?  Its nonsense!  However, I had nothing to lose so I discussed it with DH and we decided to live beef-free for a while.

The first two weeks, I noticed a difference immediately.  Then I had a McDonald's Big Mac (I KNOW... not the greatest samples of beef, so sue me...)  Immediately, I got sick.  Two more weeks of no beef, and I realized I might finally be on to something.  So, DH and I were out for dinner, and I decided to order a steak, my favorite cut, medium well.  Sure enough, we barely got home in time for me to run in agony to spend the next two hours writhing in pain on the toilet.

Since then, I have been completely beef-free.  I still eat red meat.  I eat venison, elk, and bison.  I would like to try organic, grass-fed beef, but am frankly afraid to.  I am eating a ton more pork, chicken, and fish, though I lean more toward the fish because, unless it is farm raised, it is tons less likely to be hormone injected.  (I am seriously skeptical of my new-found relationship with chicken and pork...) 

I still have intestinal issues from time to time- as we all do, and all will.  However, there is a marked difference in the severity and consistency in those episodes.  Since I stopped eating all beef products, I have not had a single instance of those gut-ripping cramps.

Anyway, this is not Doctor confirmed.  This is confirmed through my own experience.  I would like to see a Doc to get the allergy confirmed, but I think I have been poked and prodded enough this year.  I have met my quota!  LOL

Anyway, if you suffer from severe abdominal issues and tests show nothing- maybe try taking two weeks off of beef.  Who knows?  It might help. 

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Removing the Artificial

One of my resolutions, not just for 2013 but for my life- for the benefit of my own health as well as the health of my family, is to move to a more natural diet; to cut out as much as possible prepackaged and artificial foods that we have come to rely on so much over time.

In my pantry, there is hardly any space at all.  We have food enough to feed a small army, and yet I have been struggling for over a year on what to make for dinner!  With my own health issues really coming to a head over the past year, and many more questions than answers from the slew of Doctors I have seen, I am putting a long-standing theory of mine to a test.

A little bit of background...

I have never had any food allergies, until my child was born, at which, it seems overnight, I suddenly became lactose intolerant.  Granted, this was not officially diagnosed, simply assumed based on symptoms I was experiencing and a conversation I had with a friend who is also a Physician's Assistant. 

Not long after that unofficial diagnosis, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Hemiplegic migraines.

Then little over a year ago, I began having urinary trouble and severe intestinal issues.

In the past six months, everything has gotten worse by leaps and bounds, which has forced me to take seriously my symptoms.  ((Since my Fibro diagnosis, I paid little attention to symptoms relating in pain, as I just assumed they were all Fibro related, and therefore not serious enough to see a Dr for.))

Since seeing a Rheumatologist for one thing, a Neurologist for another thing, and now a Gastroenterologist for yet another thing, I have zero answers as to how to stop the symptoms and only a lot of medication to control pain, and more tests to look forward to.

The Dr's have ruled out stroke, mini-stroke, Celiac's, ulcers, lactose intolerance, and gluten/wheat allergy.  Yet the symptoms overlap and persist.

My theory...

I have long suspected, well, since my supposed lactose intolerance was so random- acutely severe one day, and then days at a time with no traces  (I never did stop eating dairy... ask my friends, they thought I was crazy!) that any allergy I might have to food products might not be to the food itself, but rather to the preservatives within those foods.

I have wanted to test that theory, but procrastinated for a while, then got busy with school and family, and then went to work again.

However, now that I am not working again, with my DH's approval and desire to see me pain free, or at least in less pain, we have decided to test this theory.

The plan...

Like I said, our pantry is full to the brim.  Unfortunately, very little in it is not pre-packed and full of artificial ingredients.  We do not have the money or the heart to just get rid of it, not even to a food pantry.  That would be foolish now that we are on a tight budget again.  So, for now we are going to reduce our meals to only one prepackaged, boxed, canned, etc item.  All else will be made by scratch, so that I know exactly what is going into our meals.

Granted, this will prolong my experiment, but I am hoping to use the transition period to get used to cooking from scratch, to making foods that I can freeze or can, and to baking from fresh ingredients.

My goal...

We will be moving shortly.  We do not have an exact time frame yet, but it is coming just the same.  My goal is to have emptied our pantry of the prepackaged items by then.  Ideally, I hope to have it restocked with true, old-fashioned staples for cooking from scratch, or canned items with ingredients I can be sure of.

My ultimate goal is to be able to be used to cooking and baking in this manner in such a way so that when we get to our next home, I can return to the work force without having to sacrifice truly healthy eating, while also being able to present my new family Dr. with my theory and results up to that point.

That's the plan at any rate.  LOL  I hope He will guide me along this new path for our family!

If you have any hints or pointers, please share them with me!  I would appreciate any and all advice as we make this transition!

God bless you!