Stomach Discomfort & Food Sensitivity Testing

[Maggie]

If you had told me 2 years ago that food sensitivities were 100% real, I might have laughed at you. Sadly, I think they are becoming more and more common as we consume more processed foods.

Everyone’s experience of foods is so different, but I wanted to share my experience as I found more support from friends during this process than our health care system / doctors. I’ve also come to learn that our friend and culture’s definition of “what’s healthy for you” may not be the case. Tumeric and broccoli are necessary for some and gas/pain-inducing for others so quite literally, trust your gut!

After almost a year of increasingly frequent and paralyzing stomach aches and vomiting, I decided to see a Gastroenterologist because I couldn’t stand the pain or the days I was missing from work anymore. I had an endoscopy right away as that is the best way to learn more about the stomach – mine came back showing very bad inflammation but the doctor’s next steps were inconclusive and was brushed off as “acid reflux” and a possible gluten allergy (that was unable to be confirmed by a celiac blood test).

After my first GI doctor told me to eat more gluten to see if my stomach got worse (yes what!? you read that right), I new it was time to find a new GI doctor. After doing a stool sample, ultrasound and more blood work with a new doctor, I still didn’t have an answer, my stomach was hurting all the time and I had spent $$$ and 6+ months on all these frustrating visits.

I then spoke with a friend and learned about the LEAP – MRT food sensitivity test which is done by a blood draw.
It gives you a line by line of 250+ foods and how your body responds to them. If your doctor is familiar with it, they can prescribe it for you at a lower cost. Even as these symptoms become more prevalent, research has not caught up with food sensitivities so most doctors and insurance are not aware of them.

So I went through my friend’s contact <anton@nowleap.com>. For me it was totally worth it – I now do not have constant stomach upset/pain/gas/discomfort since I know what foods, oils and spices, etc. to avoid and that has helped the initial inflammation go away completely!

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[health journal]

The only explanations I was given for my persistent stomachaches in the summertime were related to acidity. I appreciate you sharing your story because I now know what to do next. We need to understand what is good for our body in the first place

[Sarah]

WOW.

I struggle really badly with IBS and this story is far to close to home for me. I’ve spent so many days in apts. and everyone says it’s something different.

How much did you test cost? I’d love to look into this asap.

Thanks- Sarah!

[Maggie]

Hi Sarah – I know exactly how you feel and wish you the best of luck, I hope it gets better! The test is pricey because insurance does not recognize it right now (unless you can find a doctor who knows about it and will prescribe it so it costs less).

I negotiated him down to $495 for the MRT 170 test/LEAP diet but it didn’t include dietary care (but you do still receive a diet plan which is all you need + the results themselves).
<div>It’s free to receive the blood draw kit – they just need your address and date of birth – and then you take that little box with you to get your blood drawn outside of NY state – I went to Hoboken (and then the nurse handles mailing it back in).</div>

[Author]

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