[Melissa V]

I have been tested for delayed food alleriges I have told you and came up reactive to several different things..dairy and soy being the "biggies". My stomach "problems" have been very mild since I stopped eating dairy for the most part..soy is terrible hard to avoid entirely but i am trying...anyway...since the stomach has gotten more controlled I have a new problem..I have had bronchitis 4 times in 9 months!! Can this be caused by a food intolerace?? Or should i go out and have the "old" envirometal allergy tests done....this is soo frustrating!! and the hubbie is not much help..and he should be..HE is diabetic!! and I have a sneaky suspicion that both my kids are reacting to food but he won't hear of it...anyway...I guess I am venting a little...sorrymelissa

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

Hi Melissa.It's 9 am and I just saw you and I have a darn meeting now, then one at 11 am then Dr. Pasula and I have to go alllll the way down to the Miami Dolphins facility for another meeting there. (they look so SMALL on the TV and so BIG up close LOL).IN BETWEEN IF I CAN I will reply.....will take a little time...IF NOT I DID NOT FORGET YOU AND I WILL COME BACK FIRST THING SATURDAY A.M. I promise cross my heart!MNL

 

[Melissa V]

thx Mike..I'll be patient

...

 

[ohnometo]

MelissaAs along time sufferer of IBS-D I have been able to find so much relief when I was able to start looking at my diet...I would try to log all of my foods but would give up..because I didnt understand they had a delayed reaction or maybe it was dose dependent...Good Luck in finding ways to make your IBS better

 

[Melissa V]

bump so you can find it Mike

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

MELISSA: ____________________________________"I have had bronchitis 4 times in 9 months!! Can this be caused by a food intolerace?? Or should i go out and have the "old" envirometal allergy tests done....this is soo frustrating!! " ______________________________________Okay now bear with me as you are talking to a retired Registered Respiratory Therapist (#2563! that is how long ago I passed my credentialling exams if there are any other RRT's on the BOARD, I am yer Grandada!)...cardiopulmonary phsyiology, diagostics, therapeutics, teaching and management WERE my primary career for many years.So I have to throttle myself with both hands to keep from flying off in wild directions like whirling dervish of medical mumbojumbo. Even though I probably forgot more than I remember since I stopped practicing and moved into another healthcare "association"."Bronchitis" in the simplest terms means inflammation of the bronchi, the larger conducting airways which move air from the upper airways which are reached via your mouth, pharynx and larynx. A maze of tubes, looks like tree branches upside down...down through an interesting network of branching airways which get smaller with each bifurcation, and whose structure slowly changes from "cartilaginous" (bronchi have cartilage around them to make them stiff) to the smaller bronchioles where cartilage disappears, until you get to the tiny gas-exchange airways and the final gas exchange unit (terminal respiratory unit or acinus).MINUTAE: Interestingly if you actaully took that surface area (gas exchange) and spread it out it would cover a tennis court!!So we are talking about the upper airways in the system. So when we get acute bronchitis this usually denotes some pathogen-infection-has set in and the immune system is doing battle with it in that location with the accompanying symptoms. (Chronic bronchitis is usally associated with smoking and such, cough cough.)Now, what you describe is the polar opposite of what one would expect if one ahs removed reactive foods from the diet. The bronchi would not get inflamed and swollen and mucousy, they should be more normal. (Food and chemical sesnsitivity in some people can manifest itself in the upper airways as well...more often in the nasal passages). The reaction is different than one sees in asthma, though they can be comorbid.So depending upon who made the diagnosis of "Bronchitis" and how it was made and what was checked, it is possible that there is for some reason recurrent exposure to pathogens that you did not have before (some lifestlye change like job home kid now goes to day care and comes home with a new cold evey week) is possible....and this can be really aggrvating since it takes the airways quite a long time to recover from an infection...if you get another dufring the recovery phase it makes it even harder to return to normal....and takes longer...ooops there comes another one....This is also not uncommon in inhalant sensitivity....sick house syndorm...whatever...BUT for that to happen IF you have been in the same dwelling and asymptomatic for a lonmg time and suddenly become symptomatic this is unlikley. UNLESS of course you recently had something change in the house or what's in it which introduces a new variable, something that was not there before....a busted pipe gets repaired but leaked water starts toxic mold growth in the walls and a mycotoxin is now in the air which was not before...the possibilities begin to grow.Oh gee there I go on down that dusty trail of figuring out what is causing some symptom when I do not have all the info.

So tell me more about this "bronchitis"...detail...symptoms (all) tests done and by whom...results...medications....What may be necessary if you are truly in a phase of recurrent bronchial inflammatory exacerbation that you may need to go see a pulmonary doc and be examined by him/her....Your sputum is their bread and butter, dontcha know.Be back tomorrow.Eat well. Think well. Breathe well. Be well.MNL

 

[Melissa V]

oh great..they are gonna want another if the body secretions hehehe...Anyways...nothing has realy changed in my life..doing the same job..been in teh same house...although we do have a dampness problem that has been getting worse recently...I do not smoke..never have. They have only taken x-rays of my chest the first time I came down with it..and then the did an "treatment" right in the office..I argued with the doc that i wasn't htat sick..didn't feel that sick..given an inhaler and antibiotics..and I fifnished them... the second and third time..same thing..given an inhaler and antibiotic although the third time I was knocked out with it for 2 days...could only sleep basically...This time I am fighting it on my own unless I get REAL sick like I did last time..but I have the same syptoms..feels as if my windpipe has been made smaller....constant "tickle" that is very low in my throat..where my neck meets my chest..in that little hollow..sorry can't remember all the correct terms..I have an appt with my reg doc next Fri as they won't refer me to an allergist until I see them first...If you need more let me know...will be back on later today..havve to go out with my mom and sis...shopping the gardening places

with NO KIDS

Thx Melissa

 

[Melissa V]

forgot to say that I have a nasty "junky" cough as well each time I have gotten it...very lovely stuff too blech!!!

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

Hi Melissa...Sorry did not come back yesterday. Had to work all day on a presentation I have to give today and babysit the The Demons, too.So no one has done a sputum culture at this time or did they/ (they would have had you cough up a sputum sample...totally non invasive if it was not done yet so don't worry). They may have done one and a culture and sensitivity already if they did ask you "cough in a cup" so to speak.If not, ever so gently, you might ask the doc when you see them "I read in a book that with stuff like this a culture of the mucous from my lungs might help figure out what is going on, and what drugs to use. Would that apply to me?". Also it would be wise, regardless of what happens, to ask about "Since this keeps going on and last time I felt really bad after the treatments, and we are at it again, could I please be referred to a PULMONARY doctor for a look see? Just in case he might see something".Since this is becoming "chronic" I would not think there would be much objection. My feeling is the pulmonologist, not the allergist, is the place to go with this.Keep in touch here...I would like to see you get to the bottom of this.Sometimes it can be helpful when you have that discomfort to be in a high-humidity environment for a while...breath real moist air so you can motivate whatever is in yuor lungs to come out easier, and it is soothing to the airways, tone old trick that requirs no equipment purchases is to get a big bowl, fill it with hot water, squeeze some lemon juice into it, then put it in front of you, forearms and hands on the table flat, with your face over the bowl and a towel over your head so as to cover everything completely. You then have a nice little steam room for you to breath in.This can be more efficient than just getting in a hot shower in a small bathroom with no exhaust fan...unless you also want to strip the wallpaper at the same time.

Let me know...MNL

 

[Melissa V]

thx Mike...I will bring it up with her when I see her Friday. No i ahve not gotten to spit ina cup yet..they jus prescribe antibiotics 9with mess up my insides!!) and a inhaler (with messes with my anxiety and makes my heart race worse than it normally does!) I do need to get to the bottom of this as it is very frustrating!!Thanks again..will keep you postedMelissa

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

Ah, you seem to be responding a bit too much to the bronchodilator too maybe...do you watch your pulse before and after?Please do let me know what hapens...being an old lunger it is like talking shop.MNL

 

[Melissa V]

I have never actually counted the bpm...but i know it is flying...I have a problem with a racing heart anyways so the inhaler does not help at all..makes it feel as if my heart is gonna jump right out of my chest!! needless to say I have to be feeling pretty awful to actually use it. I prob'ly should start keeping track of it and have something to actually show the doc next time so they don't thinki am making it up!!Melissa

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

yeah they would be interested to know what your pulse was just before you used the inhaler (baseline) and how high it goes afterwards checked every couple minutes until it slows down....also what you FEEL while it is happening. Regardless of anything else they may wish to change medications or alter your dose...also I do not know what other meds you are taking that could interract, either, potentiating the effects.It is agood diea to add this to the list of things to discuss with Herr Doktor Proctor.MNL

 

[Melissa V]

okay...You told me to keep you updated..soooo...I have a better than most persons lung function (at least something is

) so she feels there is no underlying asthma

Guess all that singing and playing of flute helped out hehe. I have been referred to a allergist since she feels that a pulmonary specialist won't be as much help since there seems to be nothing really wrong with my lung function. She wants to have the allerist follow up and see if the food allergies are true positives or not. Hopefully i can convince the allergist to order the LEAP test as it would complement the other nicely. I really don't want to do the old scatch tests but if i have to then i guess i will have too. Thaxmelissa

 

[ohnometo]

MelissaBefore I started working with Leap I had the skin prick testing for 100's a different things..and they all come back ok..Leap's testing was able to pick up the little demons that the allergy test could not...I have IBS-D and CVS ..I never had a respiratory problems exact for my nose always beign stopped up where I couldnt breath..i use to go through the vicks nose spray so much but I noticed the other day that I have had that problem any more..Good luck to you on the outcome of your sitution..

 

[Mike NoLomotil]

Hi Missie.... _______________________________________"I have been referred to a allergist since she feels that a pulmonary specialist won't be as much help since there seems to be nothing really wrong with my lung function." _______________________________________Yep, if the PFT's come back normal while off the bronchodilator then one does not need it nor a Pulmonary doc...the allergist is the next stop. _______________________________________"Hopefully i can convince the allergist to order the LEAP test as it would complement the other nicely." _______________________________________The odds of that happening go down if you see a Pharmacia CAP system in the allergists "office lab". You will more likely get an IgE/IgG mindset which is OK as far as that will take you. For some people it is far enough, and many allergists have not caught up on the relevance of cell-mediated food and chemical hypersensitivity. So do not be surprised if there is no interest in referring a sample out for testing from an American allergist. Also, the aodds go down even more if skin testing is proposed as the way to go. _________________________________"I really don't want to do the old scatch tests but if i have to then i guess i will have too." ___________________________________Why? I have no persoanl expertise in the subject but consider that JAMA has stated that skin prick testing is less than 50% reliable...that means that flipping a coin to determine food allergies or sensitivities produces higher probabilities of accuracy than skin prick testing does.I did not say it JAMA has stated that as does all the literature. A good history and a careful dietary intake analysis implemented with skill wil do a better job of uncovering real food allergies.This is probably one of the only subjects I will not equivocate about....not just because of the literature and other people by the thousands getting no where with that modality re: IBS symptoms...but my onw 30 years of IBS suffering being based on the absolute and final conclusions, based on all forms of fooda lelrgy testing, that food or additives had absolutely nothing to do with my problem as everything was negative...right upi to where the last solution offered was a bowel resection.....before I started waking up tothe fact that maybe somebody was missing something.Anyway...no rant just facts.Go and speak and listen and judge for yourself what makes sense and what does not and do as your heart tells you. It is more reliable than 40% thats for sure....Eat well. Think well. Be well.MNL

 

[Julia37]

Melissa,If as Mike suggests your allergist doesn't agree to the LEAP test, maybe your primary doctor will.