How accurate are Skin Prick allergy tests?

[sunny]

I just found the results of an extensive skin prick allergen test done at kaiser in 2003 which showed moderate reaction to carrots, celery, onions, & barley and am wondering how reliable these tests are for foods... the trees, grasses etc. were labeled "extreme." and I do react to certain trees & grasses so know that part to be accurate. But not sure about the foods part... wondering if Entero Lab would be more accurate?

I have been trying to find answers to why I react when I add veggie broth to the chicken or beef broth made at home.
This has been my diet since June and diagnosis of Cdiff .... breakfast is meat broth with yolks of eggs (ala Egg drop soup) and lunch and dinner the same broth with added meat or chicken. and that is all... sometimes dehydrated banana slices from Trader Joes with nothing but the banana....

I tried making the veggie broth & used immersion blender but even that was too much fiber.... so put the veggie broth thru a sieve & still reacting...
My PC doc said i will have "IBS" for some time due to the effects of antibiotics on my gut... uh... how long is "some time?"

Monday of this week, Norman came to visit and stayed for 2 days... but he left abruptly yesterday! Is it something i said?.... or ate?
Wanting him to come back real soon! NORMAN!!

[Zizzle]

My daughter's skin prick tests for food confirmed her RAST blood tests. If you reacted to carrots, celery and onions, I'm guessing you have the equivalent of oral allergy syndrome, which is caused by birch pollen cross-reactivity. My daughter's legume allergy is caused by cross-reactivity to a different protein in birch pollen. In theory, people with OAS can tolerate the food once it's cooked, so maybe avoid all uncooked carrots, celery and onions?? Or avoid altogether assuming you truly are mildly allergic to them? Not sure what the barley allergy might be tied to, other than gluten.

[tex]

Sunny,

I have a hunch that anyone who is sensitive to tree and/or grass pollen will tend to test positive to those tests, because those are classic allergy issues (rather than food sensitivities in the gut). The barley connection would be with grass allergies. Barley (and all grains, for that matter) is a grass. But those reactions are really a separate issue from MC symptoms.

Those tests are appropriate for detecting classic allergies, but for detecting food sensitivities in the gut, nothing comes close to the accuracy and reliability of the EnteroLab tests. The type of immune system response that causes the primary inflammation in the intestines that leads to the development of MC, is an IgA reaction, and the EnteroLab tests look for IgA antibodies in stool.

Skin tests, by contrast, are based on IgE antibodies (IOW, the antibodies that cause the classic allergy and/or anaphylactic symptoms) associated with common allergies.

To further complicate the issue, many of us have mast cell problems that result in an IgE reaction in the intestines. However, these are caused by mast cells in the gut, and this issue cannot be accurately detected on the skin.

That said, if you show allergic symptoms to certain foods (as indicated by the test results you mentioned), then it's certainly possible that you might also experience mast cell reactions in your gut, in response to those same foods. That's not chiseled in stone, however. IOW, those skin results do not always apply to the gut. As always, the EnteroLab test results trump all other test results, when considering MC symptoms.

Tex