I considered calling this post “Do IgG tests really work?” However, I am not a scientist or a doctor (naturopath or medical). Although I will be exploring that question with you, this is really just our story – our journey for answers. You may have recently read my post, “How One Parenting Decision Changed my Life.” If not, I would encourage you to read it to get the background on the discussion today.
The short of the story is that we struggled with behavior and health issues with my daughter. After visiting a naturopath and following the treatments she suggested, my girl started feeling better within a week. She is a different child.
Our first consultation caused us to make a change in her diet as a trial until the IgG 95 food panel sensitivity testing results came back. We felt certain that we had pinpointed the answer before the lab tests were received, but the results came back with different conclusions. We had eliminated diary, but the tests came back revealing that she has a sensitivity to wheat, gluten and eggs. Our naturopath said we should now remove these items from her diet, but we had our doubts.
Initially, I was determined to follow the doctor’s advice since our first treatments were so effective. The day the results were received, I headed to the grocery story and bought up a number of gluten free options. I reached out to my friend who suffers from Celiac disease to ask for advice on how to live a gluten free life. After talking to her, however, I began to question this step for my daughter. It wasn’t just that this lifestyle was going to be hard. It wasn’t just that this was going to be expensive. My friend wasn’t convinced that tests were correct. After all, we had done our own experimentation with dairy and my daughter was a new child. She wasn’t sick anymore. Further, my friend’s experience was that those tests came back for her with no reaction to gluten, when the truth was that gluten was making her incredibly sick. My sister had mentioned that she had a similar mis-diagnosis with the IgG food panel tests. I then began to question the validity of the tests.
My husband and I read a few articles, and this article from Science Based Medicine stood out to us as one that might provide some answers. I would in no way make the claim that IgG food intolerance tests have no validity. After following up with our naturopath, she said she has 10 years of clinical experience with these tests. She receives the results. Her patients make the changes and they experience relief from their ailments. She said that our daughter’s situation is a complete anomaly to her. She has never had a patient experience healing like our daughter did and then get the tests back to reveal no sensitivity to that food item. She was perplexed.
I have wanted to share our journey exploring both sides and tell you our conclusion. After all, I have had readers already make naturopath appointments because they could relate so much to the symptoms and behavioral issues my daughter was having. We talked to our naturopath and have made a plan. We have decided to not remove eggs and gluten. The thought is, if our daughter is experiencing no symptoms after the removal of dairy, why make changes? If she is feeling well, how do we even gauge if the removal of gluten and eggs makes a difference. Rather, we will be continuing on with her gut treatment plan and current diet. We are to pay close attention to her health and behavior after meals high in gluten or eggs. If she seems to have a reaction, then we will pursue another course of action, but if not, we will continue our course.
The take away for all moms is to seek out wise counsel and then make decisions based upon thorough research, weighing opinions and your own intuition as a mom. I cannot conclude decisively that IgG Good Intolerance tests do not work, but at this time, I’m not staking our child’s health on the results we received. I am using our personal experience to move forward with treatment.
