My high functioning son has been gfcf since Sept of last year. At the time that we started we didn't have any food allergy testing done. I just slowly started to eliminate casein dairy foods and then worked on with the gluten and limited his soy intake. Now I make almost all his foods from scratch. This is still new to me so I do find that I sometimes still make mistakes after the fact.
My problem is that I finally got my son tested for food allergies and I'm told that he has none. He was just given the scratch test at his allergist. This doctor has a son with autism but I could tell from the start that he doesn't believe in the gfcf diet. So I don't know if this is a factor. He keeps telling me not to deprive my son if he don't need to be. The problem is that since my son has been on the diet his eating habits have improved so much. Before I couldn't get him to eat much now he still eats his junk food like chicken nuggets, pizza, corn dogs and sweets. But the fact is that he is eating, and the quantity of the food that he eats has also improved. I mean before he only ate like two small bites of pizza now he can eat a whole slice and he will try almost anything. And if he don't like it he will tell me, whereas before he would just say no I don't like it without even trying. Also his expressive language has exploded on this diet. Since he is high functioning I always thought he was very verbal. Alot of people told me that also, but now I see what he was missing now that he has it. His stimming has slowed down with the diet. Now this could all just be coincidence or timing, but I don't know if I should continue the diet or start to reintroduce foods. Are there any other testing that can be done to make sure he is allergy free before I start to give him regular foods? I know this is a good thing and I'm happy that he doesn't have any allergies but I just don't want to see him regress in any way so I am scared to give him the BAD foods again. I just need advise on what I should do. Thanks and sorry so long.
P.S. He was tested for milk, egg yolk, egg white, corn, wheat, soy, mixed nuts, peanuts, strawberries, oats. All came back negative.
Something you have to remember is that because he was on the gfcf diet during the allergy tests, the tests won't pick up an allergy (not the scratch test, but peptide test) because it hasn't been in his system for a while. We started teh gfcf diet w/ my dd before testing and were told that the test would not be accurate because she had not been consuming wheat or dairy for weeks before the test was given.
I think if the diet works for you, then stick with it. You might also want to jsut try and reintroduce some gluten foods or dairy foods gradually just to see how he does.
Have you tried testing through Great Plains Lab...they have a website with all the tests listed...
Thanks for the advice & links. I know I need to get some blood work done, right now I'm just on an overload. I seem to be going to the doctors everyweek either for me or my son. I just need a moment to think. I hate when these things happen. I plan to get the blood work for him. I think I will cancel my son's next apt. with the allergist. He just seems more intersted in me coming back for other things rather than trying to help me along with my son's food allergies. I'm still doing the research on futher testing. Thanks again.
Sarah wasnt allergic to foods either but her blood, stool and urine showed the high protien peptides so we did diet for a year solid before weaning her off it. If you are seeing results then keep doing it:)
Thanks, I want to continue the diet since I actually enjoy making the food and love the fact that I know exactally what is in the food he eats. I just would like to reintroduce other foods for when we go on vacation or are on car trips and we need a quick bite to eat. Or for the times that I just have such a crazy schedule that I barly have time to make one dinner let alone two. Also for the special occasional treat once in awhile. Like pizza with real cheese. Yum! I think you get the point. Thanks again.