Looking for Alternatives

I found that the Naturopaths at Berkeley Naturopathic were extremely knowledgeable about a similar issue.

Hi, I highly recommend Eva Whitmore at Balance Chiropractics in Oakland. She does applied kinesiology energy & nutrition testing. She is amazing, will have your body answering the question of "what is wrong" with pure undeniable physical proof. She has helped me immensely over the past 3 years where western med failed. 

I’m definitely not a doctor, but your symptoms sound familiar. You might want to look into autoimmune disorders, specifically about mast cells. There’s a Facebook group on histamine and salicylate reactions. Rather than food allergies, it’s the histamines and salicylates in foods that can cause the immune system to react with hives, airway constriction, fatigue, etc.

Hi, I am in a very similar boat and have a whole lot of feelings and thoughts and hopefully helpful referrals. First off, I know how incredibly tough this situation is, and scary - especially on top of a pandemic!

The most helpful person I can recommend in alternative medicine in the area is Rachel Alkire at Grow Acupuncture. I cannot say enough positive things about her. She won't be able to figure out everything that ails you but her acupuncture treatments have offered me a lot of pain relief and improvement in symptoms. She also has a great network of referrals and folks she can recommend, as well as supplements and tinctures.

I have heard great things about the folks at California Functional Medicine up in Kensington. My cousin saw them for similar symptoms and they really took her on as a case and worked with her to do the sleuthing that modern medicine didn't do/wasn't able to do. I am currently working on becoming a patient. I would strongly recommend getting a Functional MD like one of them, as that has been a major gap for me.

I have also been working with two nutritionists - one specializes more in some of the things I have going on but is great overall (Stacy Roy); the other offers meal plans and recipes based on the recommended protocol (Jessie Black). They have both been very helpful.

I also have been seeing a physical therapist, which has helped me feel empowered and have exercises I can do to help. I can't speak highly enough of her. She was actually the person who first noticed my joints were swollen. Her name is Romy Havard at Peregrine PT. She was a referral from Rachel as a matter of fact. Like I said, Rachel's referrals are golden.

I would guess you have a lot of leads and tricks, but I'm currently doing a SIBO and low-histamine protocol combined. It essentially boils down to about 20 foods and is incredibly restrictive but I am starting to feel better. The benefit of doing it with a nutritionist (or MD) is they can run tests to actually figure out the underlying issue, treat it, and add foods back in (or so I hear...I'm looking forward to doing that at some point soon!) That way you're not on a restrictive diet with no end in sight - and you're less likely to grow additional intolerances.

I also started finding all the endless cooking to meet my calorie requirements exhausting (I also have an infant so lots going on), so we are looking into the Heirloom Chef, which provides cooked meals according to specific autoimmune protocol. Not financially accessible to all but may be worth considering for a short period as you figure everything out. This was actually a referral from Rachel as well :)

I've found that the MySymptoms app is hugely helpful for detailed tracking of foods and symptoms (including customizable symptoms)
It's the best app I've found, including by asking my nutritionists. It makes suggestions of what might be causing symptoms based on the data you provide (data they also are especially careful with, which I appreciate).

I'm running out of space but would be happy to keep the conversation going. My cousin when I spoke with her said the most helpful thing to me, along the lines of, I believe you. And it's really hard. And you will feel better one day!

Along those lines she shared a blog of recovery stories. https://autoimmunewellness.com/category/articles-2/stories-of-recovery/

In solidarity,
Helen