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Originally Posted by OnyxCougar
Clod, regarding the allergy tests, have all of you in your family gotten this testing? I am interested whether or not perhaps these sensitivities and allergies are present in sibling/parents.
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It's been shown that siblings and parents are more likely to have allergies (and other immune disorders) in general, as well as more likely to have digestive disorders. Colon cancer, specifically, runs very commonly in families with autism--I've had two direct relatives die of it--and they also think in a lot of cases that people who die of colon cancer may have actually been undiagnosed celiacs.
But as for whether we've been allergy tested, no, we haven't bothered with it. A doctor has to order the IgG test out of a specific lab, and most GPs and other family doctors would rather refer you to an allergist than commit to some lab they've never heard of. And allergists are always focused on IgE sensitivities, because digestion is simply not their expertise. The allergist we saw for my daughter at the beginning of the year told me, "Well, whatever you think she's reacting to, just take her off of it." He basically refused to do any significant testing on her. My kids' doctor isn't going to make non-autistic adults patients just to order some tests for us. Usually, to get an IgG test ordered, you have to go to an osteopath or a naturopath, because they're the ones who buy into the whole digestion-is-crucially-important concept of health. So we'd have to go find a whole new doctor to visit, and of course pay for the test out of pocket (insurance doesn't like this sort of broad shotgun testing without "reasonable" medical cause.) Not worth the effort, since we're obviously not having inexplicably recurring diarrhea, so whatever sensitivities we may have can't be that bad.