Seeking allergist/functional medicine/naturopath referrals
My husband is frequently "sick." We don't know what to call it because it happens a few times a month where he gets a sore throat, sinus issue and generally feels run down. His sicknesses don't track with the kids or my colds so it seems more like an over active immune system than a true viral cold. They're more frequent when he's stressed, works out too hard or doesn't sleep well. He saw an allergist 5+ years ago, but nothing really stood out and he was told to take OTC allergy meds and flonase. The best cure is for him to sleep it off which is hard with two young kids! He eats healthy, exercises, doesn't drink and aims for 8 hours of sleep a night.
The "sicknesses" have gotten worse in the last year, but have been an issue for 20+ years. In general his body seems to over-react... he had shingles in his 30s and a few years ago developed an allergic rash around his eyes from drinking MCT (coconut) oil daily. We are planning to make an appointment with the allergy department at Kaiser to get the ball rolling, but are not confident they will do anything besides recommend OTC meds again. We are interested in trying a functional medicine doctor who can hopefully play detective and try to piece together the cause. Thanks for any recs you may have!
Parent Replies
I'm sorry your husband is going through this and I'm sorry you are handling this as a family member too!
I don't have similar symptoms as your husband but I have weird autoimmune deficiencies and compromises where my body attacks myself for various reasons. Most of them manifest in skin-related issues. I was able to test for various autoimmune diseases and deficiencies at Bay Area Allergy (linked). They have allergists, immunologists, dermatologists, and all sorts of other departments they can reference. They also use AI med to evaluate symptoms, which I thought was cool. I work with Dr. Karna Gendo and he's so gentle, understanding, invested and caring. Haven't worked with anyone else, so can't attest there.
They never recommended me OTC meds. They are really committed to finding the reason and then treating it (instead of subsiding the symptoms temporarily).
I hope you're able to track it down and get to the bottom of it. It can really be frustrating, for both your spouse and for you who has to be the witness of all this!
I suffered from fatigue and immune response for several years. To my surprise, it was an appointment with a new dentist that solved the problem. It turned out that I had a chronic infection and needed two root canals. Once the infected roots were removed, and after two rounds of antibiotics, the problem was solved. Although I am not a medical professional, but based on my experience, he should start with a blood test to see if he has a chronic infection somewhere that is presenting as an allergy. Maybe something like tonsillitis. Good luck.
Hello,
I'm sorry for your situation. We went though something similar, and after 5 years of getting bounced around to various allergists, we discovered there was 1 blood test. I'm not a doctor, but we felt like, why didn't someone run this before? The immune doctors said that most doctors are trained to think, if you hear hooves, think horses (common causes), but this is a zebra.
My son had low IgG. There is also a simple treatment for it. My son went from being sick every 10 days to .. almost never sick.
It's possible to get more complicated from here, but you might want to get this one test. Naturally, there can be a lot more to immune deficiencies, and immune dysregulation, but this could help. It's usually confirmed with a combination blood work and clinical - that is, you get sick all of the time.
I was very worried about it, but, it turns out knowing is better than not knowing. His father also had something similar where he was sick monthly, and it also seemed stress induced, as you mentioned, but there was a deficiency in the blood work. You may decide not to treat, but it can mean that you would be more aggressive with allergy meds (singulair etc). and taking antibiotics when sick vs. letting it play out.
A functional doctor will likely do a panel of blood work, we tried that too, but they never did run this one test. Again, I'm not a doctor, just a mom who has lived through something similar.
You can ask your doctor to order blood work
This one is just IGG level - which is the most basic antibody to fight illness
https://testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com/test/test-detail/543/igg?cc=MASTER
This one is the panel of 4 types
https://testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com/test/test-detail/7083/immunoglobulins-panel-serum?cc=MASTER
Information on background
https://info4pi.org/
https://primaryimmune.org/
https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/immunoglobulins-blood-test/
I'm so sorry your husband is experiencing this. As a person with a very sensitive immune system including life threatening allergies, I can empathize!
I recommend he read "Brave New Medicine" by Cynthia Li. She's a practitioner in Berkeley. Her personal story of heaing is inspiring. I read her book and have implemented many of her strategies (gettin my stress under control was particularly impactful). I have not met her in person.
I think you might be jumping to conclusions in believing this is an allergic or autoimmune issue. It is probably a good idea to discuss this in depth with your primary care physician. If you do want to go straight to a specialist, consider seeing an ENT who will help diagnose and treat the recurring sinus symptoms.
This sounds like it could be a food intolerance, not necessarily an allergy so I’m not sure how much help Kaiser will be. Dairy intolerances can present with sinus issues too. I would try an elimination diet and see if he can pinpoint anything.
I just read an article and thought about this post. A woman had recurring fevers and hives for 20 years, after years of medical consultations, the culprit was found to be reptile-related salmonella. Had your husband ever have been around reptiles or amphibians? I know this is not a recommendation or personal experience, but hopefully this information will be helpful.