What To Do For Allergies When Nothing Else Is Working?

[oxidation_is_normal]

Don't really want to read the whole thread first... Did you have a food allergy test?

 

[ilovethesea]

Don't really want to read the whole thread first... Did you have a food allergy test?

I had an allergy test years ago, they're not accurate. I thought I had environmental allergies, emailed Ray and he pinpointed some foods... long story short, it took me like a year to figure them all out through elimination diet. Biggest problems are gelatin (red and green can), all commercial fruit juices, honey, all starches, certain supplements. I'm usually ok if I take 1mg of cyproheptadine every night, it really helps. Also, I used to have a terrible aspirin allergy but I forced myself to increase the dose nightly and now it's fine.

 

[Stuart]

Also, I used to have a terrible aspirin allergy but I forced myself to increase the dose nightly and now it's fine.

How long did it take you to work up to a normal dose? Speaking of which, how much do you tolerate/benefit from now?
Isn't gradually ramping up the exposure/ consumption one of the best ways to overcome allergies?
Starting with an almost homeopathic dose if necessary mind you, and increasing it however infinitesimally slowly you need to go, one day at a time?

 

[oxidation_is_normal]

The allergy tests aren't accurate, but you can at least get another one and cut out those. They're more false negative than false positive. For example, if something in your diet is triggering a zonulin release - which modulates the permeability of the gut - then you could be getting reactions to things that you should not be without that original dietary factor.

 

[thebigpeatowski]

Gut dysbiosis can cause a leaky gut and food allergies, for instance an overgrowth of candida will trigger zonulin release. I've read anecdotal stories where healing the gut also made pollen and dander allergies disappear.

 

[Theo]

I was looking for raw honey and the instead found raw honey with pollen in it.
My sinuses cleared up overnight. I have been diagnosed with allergies to certain trees and tree nuts..certain plants as well. As long as I am consuming the honey and pollen my sinuses remain normal regardless if I'm exposed to my known allergens.

Nature has its own laws and remedies. Sometimes we can be surprised .

 

[ilovethesea]

I forgot to mention eggs. Took me the longest time to figure that one out because it's more of a post nasal drip type allergy rather than immediate sneezing like some of the other things. My breathing definitely improved when I stopped eating eggs.

I'm going to give gelatin another go soon and see if I can do even 1 tsp a day. Hoping I can do it if I keep taking 1mg cypro a night.

 

[ilovethesea]

How long did it take you to work up to a normal dose? Speaking of which, how much do you tolerate/benefit from now?
Isn't gradually ramping up the exposure/ consumption one of the best ways to overcome allergies?
Starting with an almost homeopathic dose if necessary mind you, and increasing it however infinitesimally slowly you need to go, one day at a time?

What is a normal dose of aspirin? I have no idea. I started at 1 smidgen of the pure powder (I think that's equivalent to 1 aspirin). It took about a week to work up to about 4-6 smidgen spoons every night.

I'm going to try this method next with gelatin.

 

[ilovethesea]

The allergy tests aren't accurate, but you can at least get another one and cut out those. They're more false negative than false positive. For example, if something in your diet is triggering a zonulin release - which modulates the permeability of the gut - then you could be getting reactions to things that you should not be without that original dietary factor.

The only things that ever showed up on an allergy test for me were some kinds of tree pollen. Wouldn't just hypothyroidism be the cause of gut permeability changes? I'm not going to get allergy shots now so I guess I don't see the point of testing. My diet is already pretty restricted since I try to avoid starches, so I don't know what could even be cut at this point.

If I avoid starches and the other problem foods, I just have some minor "morningitis" when I don't take cypro - the allergies aren't too bad, nothing compared to how I suffered at the beginning. But I feel better on cypro, and it helps with sleep, so I prefer to just take it regardless.

Someone had a theory that as you lower cortisol quickly with this diet, it uncovers symptoms like allergies that were being masked before by the stress hormones. That makes sense for me, as I got severe allergy problems very quickly after I started the Ray Peat ways. 2 years later, I think I made lots of improvements.

 

[ilovethesea]

I was looking for raw honey and the instead found raw honey with pollen in it.
My sinuses cleared up overnight. I have been diagnosed with allergies to certain trees and tree nuts..certain plants as well. As long as I am consuming the honey and pollen my sinuses remain normal regardless if I'm exposed to my known allergens.

Nature has its own laws and remedies. Sometimes we can be surprised .

Ha! That is surprising! I wish I could eat honey.

When I emailed Ray he really seemed not to think there was such thing as environmental allergies - he just dismissed that part of my email and focused on what I was eating. I still don't know what to think about that. I used to react badly to dust and cat dander. I don't know if I do anymore (our cat died )

 

[Stuart]

How long did it take you to work up to a normal dose? Speaking of which, how much do you tolerate/benefit from now?
Isn't gradually ramping up the exposure/ consumption one of the best ways to overcome allergies?
Starting with an almost homeopathic dose if necessary mind you, and increasing it however infinitesimally slowly you need to go, one day at a time?

What is a normal dose of aspirin? I have no idea. I started at 1 smidgen of the pure powder (I think that's equivalent to 1 aspirin). It took about a week to work up to about 4-6 smidgen spoons every night.

I'm going to try this method next with gelatin.

Sounds great. Actually I was hoping that you'd give some indication of what is consididered a recommended aspirin intake. Isn't the Peat wisdom that caffeine intake prevents the aspirin causing stomach ulcers?
The smidgeon theory of allergy treatment :)

 

[ilovethesea]

I don't know if Ray has ever said what the recommended dose is. I really don't know.

I thought it was K2 that prevents bleeding? I take 45 drops of Thorne K2 a day.

 

[LUH 3417]

Hi all,
I'm seeking some more help with my allergies - 12 months since going on a Ray Peat inspired diet, I am still struggling with an almost constantly stuffed up/runny nose. I don't think I have breathed through my nose properly for over a year now, which is very distressing. :?

(This was a previous post I wrote about my issues: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1887)

Since that post I feel like I have tried virtually everything to figure out the cause...

- I eliminated all starch after figuring out it made symptoms worse... even well cooked potato
- I discovered I can only handle cooked (boiled) gelatin, so I can't just stir it into hot liquids
- I found I have an allergy to mango
- I get a severe allergic reaction from all commercial juices including orange juice
- I discovered I'm allergic to the excipients in Erfa thyroid

I switched to Cynoplus and am on almost double the dose now that I was taking last summer, although my temperatures are still in the low 36 degrees and pulse in the 70s - low 80s. (Note: I only have half my thyroid gland after thyroid cancer 5 yrs ago and all that time undertreated with Synthroid.) I still have other hypo symptoms including occasional cold hands and feet (although not as bad as they were), occasional acne spots, weight gain and very week/peeling nails. These all seemed to get a bit worse during winter.

Currently my diet consists of milk, parmiggiano reggiano cheese, Greek yogurt, Haagen Daz chocolate or vanilla ice cream, grapes (scrubbed with baking soda & salt first), berries, freshly squeezed orange juice, boiled gelatin, coffee, sugar, beef, carrot, coconut oil, chicken liver, oysters, Coca cola.

I have changed brands of milks, had weeks where I only had one type of dairy (eg. only cheese or only milk), and I don't eat the grapes, berries or beef daily. I don't have liver or the oysters every single week.

I take anywhere from 4-8 Aspirin daily as well as 4mg cyproheptadine every night, along with tons of Progest-E (maybe go through a bottle every 1.5 months). The cyproheptadine has helped eliminate the sneezing and constant dripping but not the congestion. I often have "air hunger" where I feel like I can't get enough air.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what to do next? I've emailed Ray Peat last year but he only mentioned to find a food source of the allergy. At this point I'm wondering if this is all due to my hypothyroidism and not a specific food. I don't know if I could restrict my diet any further - I already find it very difficult with my limited list of foods, and yet the allergies still persist day in, day out. Any thoughts on what to do, or do you think I should contact Dr. Peat again to ask for more help?

Thank you in advance! :)

i have been severely allergic to cats since i was a child. i once did LSD and by chance there were several cats in the room. Since then I am no longer allergic to cats.

 

[LUH 3417]

Hi all,
I'm seeking some more help with my allergies - 12 months since going on a Ray Peat inspired diet, I am still struggling with an almost constantly stuffed up/runny nose. I don't think I have breathed through my nose properly for over a year now, which is very distressing. :?

(This was a previous post I wrote about my issues: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=1887)

Since that post I feel like I have tried virtually everything to figure out the cause...

- I eliminated all starch after figuring out it made symptoms worse... even well cooked potato
- I discovered I can only handle cooked (boiled) gelatin, so I can't just stir it into hot liquids
- I found I have an allergy to mango
- I get a severe allergic reaction from all commercial juices including orange juice
- I discovered I'm allergic to the excipients in Erfa thyroid

I switched to Cynoplus and am on almost double the dose now that I was taking last summer, although my temperatures are still in the low 36 degrees and pulse in the 70s - low 80s. (Note: I only have half my thyroid gland after thyroid cancer 5 yrs ago and all that time undertreated with Synthroid.) I still have other hypo symptoms including occasional cold hands and feet (although not as bad as they were), occasional acne spots, weight gain and very week/peeling nails. These all seemed to get a bit worse during winter.

Currently my diet consists of milk, parmiggiano reggiano cheese, Greek yogurt, Haagen Daz chocolate or vanilla ice cream, grapes (scrubbed with baking soda & salt first), berries, freshly squeezed orange juice, boiled gelatin, coffee, sugar, beef, carrot, coconut oil, chicken liver, oysters, Coca cola.

I have changed brands of milks, had weeks where I only had one type of dairy (eg. only cheese or only milk), and I don't eat the grapes, berries or beef daily. I don't have liver or the oysters every single week.

I take anywhere from 4-8 Aspirin daily as well as 4mg cyproheptadine every night, along with tons of Progest-E (maybe go through a bottle every 1.5 months). The cyproheptadine has helped eliminate the sneezing and constant dripping but not the congestion. I often have "air hunger" where I feel like I can't get enough air.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what to do next? I've emailed Ray Peat last year but he only mentioned to find a food source of the allergy. At this point I'm wondering if this is all due to my hypothyroidism and not a specific food. I don't know if I could restrict my diet any further - I already find it very difficult with my limited list of foods, and yet the allergies still persist day in, day out. Any thoughts on what to do, or do you think I should contact Dr. Peat again to ask for more help?

Thank you in advance! :)

additionally, i've found that taking aspirin really helps my allergies. (perhaps because it is an anti-inflammatory?) i can say that i have noticed marked improvement by taking a 325 dose of aspirin 2x a week. i use veterinarian grade aspirin in water to avoid the fillers & colors in store bought brands.

 

[DaveFoster]

I take 45 drops of Thorne K2 a day.

Trying to grow a new leg, I see.

 

[Capt Nirvana]

Commercial OJ is convenient but I find that freshly squeezed daily is better. I find it worth it to spend 30 mins daily to squeeze a few liters for the next day, I wouldn't go back to store orange juice.

You could try upping the cypro. A higher dose at night (8, 12 ,16) and 1 mg every few hours during the day. Note that if you take a high dose, it's a lot of excipients but you can dissolve in water and filter. 4-8 mg daily of cypro corresponds to most of the benefits in studies (growth hormone, prolactin...) but higher doses might address additional problems.

Have you tested every ingredients in your diet for allergy, starting with just 2-3 ingredients (milk, filtered and fresh OJ...) and adding? I used to have chronic nose congestion before Peating, and it can still happen when I eat something relatively safe but not 100% safe, so for me the relationship digestion/congestion is very clear. What I consider 100% safe are meat/dairy/eggs/filtered orange, basically 0 fiber whatsoever except carrot. I do ok with hydrolyzed gelatin too. Things like dates, grapes, chocolate, commercial ice cream...might be safe, but warrants an investigation to see if they cause problems and I don't really need them if I made enough orange juice.

If I were you I'd consider adding some cascara to carrot salad. I think its really useful even when there is no obvious signs of constipation and would apply to you since you have digestion related symptoms. Try it for 1 week, a generous dose with the carrot in the afternoon, enough so that the next day you need to go to restroom in the morning possibly more than once. That's the protocol I followed.

Commercial OJ is contaminated with allergy-provoking GMO enzymes to dissolve the pulp. Why throw away a waste product to lose money when it can be sold to get money?