One Man’s Food is another Man’s Poison

A 42 year old man presented to the office with symptoms of abdominal pain and frequent, almost daily headaches. He was happily married, successful and happy with his occupation. He was the father of two children. His wife was very well versed in healthy whole food nutrition and did all the cooking for the family. He had no known allergies to foods or drugs and had taken minimal prescriptions over the course of his lifetime. He did notice that the headaches were unpredictable in nature and he did not feel they were triggered by stress. He did seem to have less frequent and different headaches when he traveled. There was no family history of migraines. He admitted to the fact that he should be exercising more, but seemed to have a well balanced lifestyle. He did not smoke and drank very infrequently. Seasonal/weather changes did not affect his headache pattern. He drank plenty of water daily. He was evaluated for thyroid and adrenal symptoms and those were not evident. An IGG Food test was done for delayed food allergies.
The test came back positive for several foods being positive to include milk (moderate) and eggs (severe). He had been eating eggs every day for breakfast. When he traveled, he would eat a continental breakfast that was served…no eggs.

Treatment Plan:
Avoid eggs for 3-6 months. Reduce Dairy intake to 2 times per week or less.
Drink more water when traveling by plane. Use sea salt to taste daily.
Specifically avoid flu vaccines as they contain egg product.
Discussion of egg substitutes for cooking.

Follow-up visit 1 month later:
Headaches almost 100% resolved. Abdominal pain improved.
Check all prepared foods for hidden sources of dairy and egg.

Plan: Retest food allergies in 4-6 months.

Center for Preventive Medicine
603-673-7910
3 Overlook Drive, Suite 1
Amherst, NH 03031