Symptoms food sensitive people may have

We know what symptoms food sensitive people get from hearing about the symptoms that go away when they go on the low chemical diet, and, importantly, come back when they have foods that cause their reactions. Many food sensitive people have more than one symptom, and their immediate family may have the same or other symptoms. Following is a list of the many symptoms grouped in different ways of thinking about them:-

Food sensitivity symptoms may be two types of physical symptoms.

1. Allergy symptoms e.g.  Eczema    Hives   Rashes   Anaphylaxis   Dermatitis   Hay fever   Constantly running nose  Sinus  discomfort   Ear aches   Asthma    Diarrhoea  Vomiting   Constipation
2. Symptoms usually not produced with allergy e.g.:   Headaches   Migraine  IBS: irritable bowel syndrome   Excess wind, may be odourless or malodourous    Reflux    Colic, tummy aches, abdominal migraine, spastic colon   Mouth ulcers    Limb pains   Lethargy/ feeling  ‘hung over’   ‘Fuzzy thinking’  Bad breath / body odour   Car sickness   Bedwetting   Supersensitivity to pain   Supersensitivity to temperature change   Constant coughing   Nausea   Poor weight gain   Food refusal   Poor sense of direction   Hot cheeks, chest  or feet

As well symptoms may also include attention, social and sleep problems

• Attention, impulsivity, distractibility ADHD [Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]
• Social problems, over-reactivity, rigidity in routines ASD [Autism spectrum disorder]
• Activity: restlessness, hyperactivity, or hypoactivity and chronic fatigue
• Sleep : difficulty settling, restless, nightmares, not sleeping much, sleeplessness
• Developmental: fine or gross coordination, speech, acting their age

And symptoms may also produce mood problems –

• Irritable, touchy,  frequent mood changes,  depression,  feeling happy-high,  frequent crying,  over-worrying, anxiety attacks,  panic attacks,  mental fatigue,  temporary loss of self confidence

Of course all symptoms need to be checked with your doctor in case there is another medical reason for them.

Food sensitivity is amazing as it is a multisystem disorder whereby you can have symptoms on your skin such as eczema, in your lungs such as asthma, and in your brain such as headaches. It is also interesting in that you can have had reflux in infancy, ADHD problems mostly in school-age, migraine in teenage, hay fever in adulthood, and IBS in mid or later life. Some families have many members who all have the same symptom, maybe asthma, and are surprised when someone has no asthma but has eczema. It would be easier to understand if every family was the same but food sensitivity does not happen that way.

You can read articles on the Evidence Base section of my site [Articles] for more information, my Thesis for the attention and mood symptoms, and Tolerating Troublesome Food for detail on ‘what to expect when you are reacting’ with many of these symptoms.