5 ms·

I have a food intolerance based allergy/autoimmune issue which is under a broad headline of "Non IgE mediated autoimmune disorder".. manifestations are depressi

I have a food intolerance based allergy/autoimmune issue which is under a broad headline of "Non IgE mediated autoimmune disorder".. manifestations are depression, fatigue, chronic skin issues (on my face :-(). I've been told the only "cure" is to abstain from eating about ~160 staple foods that contain proteins that my autoimmune system incorrectly recognises as something to attack, the problem is however you can barely get through a day without eating one of those staples unless you cook all your own food, and don't mind eating tuna, rice, chicken and (some) beans all the time. I have a lot to look forward to from these treatments. I've had very good experiences with General Biotics' (SFO) product which claims to try and get the gut bacteria back in balance, I have no affiliation with them other than a dependence on their product if I want to be sane, happy and healthy in the short term..

e40 10y ago
I have a friend with a similar problem, and she eats a lot of fish as a result. She recently found out she has a very high mercury level. Be careful if you eat a lot of tuna. She switched to chicken. I wish more research was being done on problems like you and my friend have.
- nibs 10y ago
  Is she eating only huge fish? Small fish selenium > mercury, which bind to each other and are not absorbed.
  - e40 10y ago
    Actually, she was high on more than just mercury, so probably she was high on selenium, too. She had to go through some expensive treatment with many side effects. Nasty stuff.
- Kenji 10y ago
  That's very interesting. What kinds of time periods and amounts of fish do we speak of here? Years and eating a fish meal every couple of days? Because I love fish (also a lean source of protein) so I better be careful with that. How did she find out? Was she unwell and went to a doctor to get blood work done?
Redoubts 10y ago
I remember the last General Biotics submission here on HN, and I though their product sounded interesting. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8456128 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8456128) But I was waiting for their results on their large randomized trial to be published, which have since been delayed by quite a bit ...
- seanp2k2 10y ago
  I've been taking them for a few months with good personal results in terms of digestive function and minor weight loss.
douche 10y ago
> don't mind eating tuna, rice, chicken and (some) beans all the time Is this some kind of allergy to red meat? I'm curious if it is bovine, porcine, or oviod related?
- dreamsofdragons 10y ago
  Isn't it ovis or ovum?
  - douche 10y ago
    Think I meant ovine, i.e. sheepish
willempienaar 10y ago
How do they diagnose this condition?
cptskippy 10y ago
I had a friend with similar issues, I think she called it a hyperpermeable colon. She tried all sorts of diets and after a couple years she slowly regained the ability to eat more and more foods.
- markdown 10y ago
  > hyperpermeable colon Sounds like a fancy word for the fanciful "leaky gut syndrome".
  - cpncrunch 10y ago
    Leaky gut is not a real diagnosis, and is mixed up with a lot of quackery and pseudoscience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut_syndrome Not sure why you were downvoted.
    - Vomzor 10y ago
      So-called “leaky gut syndrome” is legit, and likely plays a role in food allergies, type-1 diabetes, Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other digestion-related maladies, Fasano says. But at the same time, he says the term “leaky gut” has for decades been “used and abused” by some alternative medicine practitioners who—without scientific evidence—cited it as the cause of everything from autism to cancer. As a result, “the scientific community vilified the idea of leaky gut,” Fasano says. Despite the growing body of evidence, many medical practitioners are still coming to grips with the fact that leaky gut is a legitimate contributor to some ailments. The science is constantly evolving: http://time.com/4178015/leaky-gut-syndrome-probiotics/ http://time.com/4178015/leaky-gut-syndrome-probiotics/
      - cpncrunch 10y ago
        That's a Time article...the scientific consensus says otherwise. Also notice how he says "likely". I think that is perhaps being over optimistic.
daegloe 10y ago
I have a related issue with similar manifestations that also affects my eyes and joints. For anyone interested, Cyrex Labs[0] offers several immunology tests relevant to this discussion. [0] https://www.cyrexlabs.com/CyrexTestsArrays/tabid/136/Default.aspx https://www.cyrexlabs.com/CyrexTestsArrays/tabid/136/Default...
Mz 10y ago
Celtic sea salt and coconut oil also do good things for the gut. Your gut is about 70 percent of your immune system. So, getting it more functional can do good things for all kinds of problems.
cpncrunch 10y ago
Just be careful you haven't been scammed. I did an ALCAT test quite a few years ago, and they told me I was intolerant to a bunch of different foods. More research showed that the test is a load of bunk. Most of these "Non IgE mediated autoimmune disorder" tests are scammy pseudoscience. From what I can tell, the most likely cause of depression and fatigue is stress/burnout.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- raelshark 10y ago
  I did an IgG food allergy test recently that I was extremely skeptical about in advance, but the results were consistent with my own observations over the past few years - namely that I was having severe reactions to some dairy. The tests showed exactly that as my issue. So I've eliminated dairy from my diet and I'm seeing what effect it has. The general impression I got from my research is that some of these tests can be useful, but only when used in conjunction with other observations and case history. I do agree that some can be pretty scammy though - especially in their claims of the things they can fix. So like the parent poster, I'm really eager to see how these actual science-backed and FDA-approved solutions do for people too. Also, stress and burnout are certainly a big factor in depression and fatigue, but these autoimmune problems are very real and can also have similar effects. I personally have a diagnosed autonomic nervous system disorder that apparently contributes to both the autoimmune and gut issues I deal with, as well as my severe fatigue and impaired mental state. I don't know that those areas - the gut, energy, and brain - are directly related on their own (the doctor I'm working with thinks they are), but I'm happy to try anything that might help any of them, and see what happens.
  - cpncrunch 10y ago
    Just bear in mind that autonomic dysfunction happens in everyone after acute stress, and it is common in chronic fatigue syndrome [1]. It looks like autonomic dysfunction is perhaps just a symptom of fatigue (or, it is caused by the same part of the brain that generates the sensation of fatigue). I'm not aware of any research showing that dairy intolerance can cause fatigue and depression. There is some stuff about casein acting like dopamine, but it seems to be pseudoscience. We do know that stress definitely causes gut issues (changes in motility, absorption, and bacteria). Whether there is any causality in the other direction (apart from when you have an active infection), however, isn't really clear. It can be difficult to definitively figure out whether or not you are actually intolerant to something. I thought for a while that I was intolerant to potatoes, but further research shows that I'm not. (Right now I eat them regularly and have zero problems). If you're interested in really figuring out whether dairy is causing you problems, try introducing small amounts of dairy when you're feeling great and see if anything changes. (Just make sure you're not lactose intolerant before doing that!) [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26420687 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26420687
beagle3 10y ago
You are probably being bombarded with suggestions, and am overwhelmed, so it's probably not very useful to add yet another one, but .... Reducing carbohydrates significantly (as happens in keto and even paleo diets) anecdotally seems to make autoimmune disease and allergy quiet down significantly. I am not aware of any studies confirming this, but the anecdotal evidence in /r/keto and people I know seem to be overwhelming. It's also "cheap" to try in money terms (although the commitment and change are sometimes emotionally expensive). If you go keto, be sure to read about changes to electrolyte needs and how to avoid feeling bad (short story: you need more salt in your diet in the first few days of keto, or you'll get something called "keto flu").
NamTaf 10y ago
There's been a lot of hugely promising work in the field of using symbotic bacteria to regulate gut immune responses. In one case [1,2], a strain of hookworm were used to treat coeliacs for their gluten intolerance with incredible effectiveness. The theory is that hookwrom have developed a protein that they secrete to suppress the intestinal immune response so that they can inhabit the intestinal tract without being attacked. This same protein also happens to treat the overreaction that causes gluten intolerance. Present work is aiming to isolate the protein and produce it in pill form. The tip-off to this was that instances of dietary intolerance and immune response issues (asthma, allergies, etc.) are dramatically lower in the developing world, and that maybe some aspect of their relatively unclean environment plays a role in regulating the body from overreacting. It's being increasingly shown that the intestinal system as a dynamic and complex system of bateria plays a significant role in many aspects of human health, not just the digestion of food. We're only just starting to scratch the surface of this. Expect massive development in the coming couple of decades. [1]: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/hookworm-larvae-injected-into-coeliacs-gluten-intolerance/6926286 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/hookworm-larvae-inject... [2]: https://research.jcu.edu.au/bmdt/publications/publications-1/giacomin-australian-science-april-2015 https://research.jcu.edu.au/bmdt/publications/publications-1...
godzillabrennus 10y ago
I have a condition called GERD and it was recently discovered that it's caused by the bodies reaction to a protein: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=2521970 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=25... This research will likely change my life for the better.

e40 10y ago

I have a friend with a similar problem, and she eats a lot of fish as a result. She recently found out she has a very high mercury level. Be careful if you eat a lot of tuna. She switched to chicken. I wish more research was being done on problems like you and my friend have.

nibs 10y ago
Is she eating only huge fish? Small fish selenium > mercury, which bind to each other and are not absorbed.
- e40 10y ago
  Actually, she was high on more than just mercury, so probably she was high on selenium, too. She had to go through some expensive treatment with many side effects. Nasty stuff.
Kenji 10y ago
That's very interesting. What kinds of time periods and amounts of fish do we speak of here? Years and eating a fish meal every couple of days? Because I love fish (also a lean source of protein) so I better be careful with that. How did she find out? Was she unwell and went to a doctor to get blood work done?

Redoubts 10y ago

I remember the last General Biotics submission here on HN, and I though their product sounded interesting. (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8456128 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8456128) But I was waiting for their results on their large randomized trial to be published, which have since been delayed by quite a bit ...

seanp2k2 10y ago
I've been taking them for a few months with good personal results in terms of digestive function and minor weight loss.

douche 10y ago

> don't mind eating tuna, rice, chicken and (some) beans all the time Is this some kind of allergy to red meat? I'm curious if it is bovine, porcine, or oviod related?

dreamsofdragons 10y ago
Isn't it ovis or ovum?
- douche 10y ago
  Think I meant ovine, i.e. sheepish

willempienaar 10y ago

How do they diagnose this condition?

cptskippy 10y ago

I had a friend with similar issues, I think she called it a hyperpermeable colon. She tried all sorts of diets and after a couple years she slowly regained the ability to eat more and more foods.

markdown 10y ago
> hyperpermeable colon Sounds like a fancy word for the fanciful "leaky gut syndrome".
- cpncrunch 10y ago
  Leaky gut is not a real diagnosis, and is mixed up with a lot of quackery and pseudoscience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut_syndrome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut_syndrome Not sure why you were downvoted.
  - Vomzor 10y ago
    So-called “leaky gut syndrome” is legit, and likely plays a role in food allergies, type-1 diabetes, Celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other digestion-related maladies, Fasano says. But at the same time, he says the term “leaky gut” has for decades been “used and abused” by some alternative medicine practitioners who—without scientific evidence—cited it as the cause of everything from autism to cancer. As a result, “the scientific community vilified the idea of leaky gut,” Fasano says. Despite the growing body of evidence, many medical practitioners are still coming to grips with the fact that leaky gut is a legitimate contributor to some ailments. The science is constantly evolving: http://time.com/4178015/leaky-gut-syndrome-probiotics/ http://time.com/4178015/leaky-gut-syndrome-probiotics/
    - cpncrunch 10y ago
      That's a Time article...the scientific consensus says otherwise. Also notice how he says "likely". I think that is perhaps being over optimistic.

daegloe 10y ago

I have a related issue with similar manifestations that also affects my eyes and joints. For anyone interested, Cyrex Labs[0] offers several immunology tests relevant to this discussion. [0] https://www.cyrexlabs.com/CyrexTestsArrays/tabid/136/Default.aspx https://www.cyrexlabs.com/CyrexTestsArrays/tabid/136/Default...

Mz 10y ago

Celtic sea salt and coconut oil also do good things for the gut. Your gut is about 70 percent of your immune system. So, getting it more functional can do good things for all kinds of problems.

cpncrunch 10y ago

Just be careful you haven't been scammed. I did an ALCAT test quite a few years ago, and they told me I was intolerant to a bunch of different foods. More research showed that the test is a load of bunk. Most of these "Non IgE mediated autoimmune disorder" tests are scammy pseudoscience. From what I can tell, the most likely cause of depression and fatigue is stress/burnout.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
raelshark 10y ago
I did an IgG food allergy test recently that I was extremely skeptical about in advance, but the results were consistent with my own observations over the past few years - namely that I was having severe reactions to some dairy. The tests showed exactly that as my issue. So I've eliminated dairy from my diet and I'm seeing what effect it has. The general impression I got from my research is that some of these tests can be useful, but only when used in conjunction with other observations and case history. I do agree that some can be pretty scammy though - especially in their claims of the things they can fix. So like the parent poster, I'm really eager to see how these actual science-backed and FDA-approved solutions do for people too. Also, stress and burnout are certainly a big factor in depression and fatigue, but these autoimmune problems are very real and can also have similar effects. I personally have a diagnosed autonomic nervous system disorder that apparently contributes to both the autoimmune and gut issues I deal with, as well as my severe fatigue and impaired mental state. I don't know that those areas - the gut, energy, and brain - are directly related on their own (the doctor I'm working with thinks they are), but I'm happy to try anything that might help any of them, and see what happens.
- cpncrunch 10y ago
  Just bear in mind that autonomic dysfunction happens in everyone after acute stress, and it is common in chronic fatigue syndrome [1]. It looks like autonomic dysfunction is perhaps just a symptom of fatigue (or, it is caused by the same part of the brain that generates the sensation of fatigue). I'm not aware of any research showing that dairy intolerance can cause fatigue and depression. There is some stuff about casein acting like dopamine, but it seems to be pseudoscience. We do know that stress definitely causes gut issues (changes in motility, absorption, and bacteria). Whether there is any causality in the other direction (apart from when you have an active infection), however, isn't really clear. It can be difficult to definitively figure out whether or not you are actually intolerant to something. I thought for a while that I was intolerant to potatoes, but further research shows that I'm not. (Right now I eat them regularly and have zero problems). If you're interested in really figuring out whether dairy is causing you problems, try introducing small amounts of dairy when you're feeling great and see if anything changes. (Just make sure you're not lactose intolerant before doing that!) [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26420687 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26420687

beagle3 10y ago

You are probably being bombarded with suggestions, and am overwhelmed, so it's probably not very useful to add yet another one, but .... Reducing carbohydrates significantly (as happens in keto and even paleo diets) anecdotally seems to make autoimmune disease and allergy quiet down significantly. I am not aware of any studies confirming this, but the anecdotal evidence in /r/keto and people I know seem to be overwhelming. It's also "cheap" to try in money terms (although the commitment and change are sometimes emotionally expensive). If you go keto, be sure to read about changes to electrolyte needs and how to avoid feeling bad (short story: you need more salt in your diet in the first few days of keto, or you'll get something called "keto flu").

NamTaf 10y ago

There's been a lot of hugely promising work in the field of using symbotic bacteria to regulate gut immune responses. In one case [1,2], a strain of hookworm were used to treat coeliacs for their gluten intolerance with incredible effectiveness. The theory is that hookwrom have developed a protein that they secrete to suppress the intestinal immune response so that they can inhabit the intestinal tract without being attacked. This same protein also happens to treat the overreaction that causes gluten intolerance. Present work is aiming to isolate the protein and produce it in pill form. The tip-off to this was that instances of dietary intolerance and immune response issues (asthma, allergies, etc.) are dramatically lower in the developing world, and that maybe some aspect of their relatively unclean environment plays a role in regulating the body from overreacting. It's being increasingly shown that the intestinal system as a dynamic and complex system of bateria plays a significant role in many aspects of human health, not just the digestion of food. We're only just starting to scratch the surface of this. Expect massive development in the coming couple of decades. [1]: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/hookworm-larvae-injected-into-coeliacs-gluten-intolerance/6926286 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-10/hookworm-larvae-inject... [2]: https://research.jcu.edu.au/bmdt/publications/publications-1/giacomin-australian-science-april-2015 https://research.jcu.edu.au/bmdt/publications/publications-1...

godzillabrennus 10y ago

I have a condition called GERD and it was recently discovered that it's caused by the bodies reaction to a protein: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=2521970 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/mobile/article.aspx?articleid=25... This research will likely change my life for the better.