Today I was reminded about the potential connection between having a chronic cough and having it be triggered by a food allergy.
This can happen at any age, but patients often are middle aged or older. The patient that I heard back from today came in for a chronic cough. She had also been previously diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD), though this need not be associated with a cough to be triggered by a food allergy.
Food allergy testing demonstrated that she was allergic to baker's and brewer's yeast (IgG antibodies elevated). After taking these two foods out of her diet, her cough resolved. She was also able to discontinue her nebulizer treatments. Upon ingesting these foods again the cough returned. Needless to say, her family has been very happy with the results.
I have seen several patients now that have been experiencing a long-term chronic cough for seemingly no known reason. They don't have pneumonia, their lung x-ray is clear, and they don't have a cold or the flu. These patients lungs are often otherwise healthy, although as we saw in this case, even COPD can be present.
The trigger need not be baker's or brewer's yeast. They just happened to be the culprit in this case. But each case is unique and the proper testing is required to determine which foods may be involved.
If you are not familiar with the intricacies and challenges of food allergy testing, then I encourage you to visit www.CenterforFoodAllergies.com for much more information. And by all means, if you have a cough that is bugging you and never seems to go away, consider that it could be caused by a hidden food allergy.
3 comments:
I find this very interesting. My daughter, 8 years old, has had a chronic throat clearing for almost two years. We've tried all the logical tests and taken countless medicines and nothing fixes this. She recently had the second ENT test for food allergies using the IgG and it showed very high numbers for wheat, peanuts, eggs, soy, and milk. We eliminated all of those ingredients and the cough went away. Then we had her allergist perform skin tests to confirm allergy findings and he said she was not allergic to any of those. We started her again on a regular diet with cheese and milk that same day and the cough returned with a vengence. We are currently working our way through an elimination diet to see if she has the same reaction to the other items. Thanks for your article. I keep researching hoping I'm not missing anything.
A friend of mine pointed me to this page. Very interesting. I have had 'non-specific interstitial pneumonia' since May 1998. In 2003 I was then diagnosed with non-specific Vasculitis. On top of all that, I have this chronic cough. I've had it for years now. I used to get a bit of a cough after a cold or infection (which, with a lung disease is normal) and then one time, it just didn't go away. Sometimes I'll get a productive cough, which I can live with but I've coughed so much that I feel my throat is hyper-sensitive. Right now I'm in my first 'non cough' period. I've been able to function (i.e. sleep, talk on the phone, etc.) for about a month and it's been great. I did however, have to increase my prednisone to 25mg/day (normally I'm on 7.5) and stopped an allergy medication (Singulair). But, I am wondering if I too have a sensitivity or allergy to gluten or wheat or something. I was tested for allergies probably about 13-14 years ago and was told I was allergic to dandelions. I'm not sure if I was tested for any food items. This has given me a new spark; something to investigate further. Am going to slowly cut down on wheat/gluten and see what happens. Will also be 'demanding' some food allergy tests from my family doctor as well. Looking forward to more information from your blog!!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your great comments!
It can be very difficult to identify your own food allergies without the right testing. Few doctors are keeping up with this research or have a relationship with a lab that can produce reliable, reproducible results.
If you don't get what you need from your family doc, check out our Center for Food Allergies website at http://www.CenterForFoodAllergies.com
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