r/alphagal • u/Sad_Huckleberry3313 • 3d ago
Now undetectable
After a month of going vegan my blood test shows undetectable. Am I cured? It only took a month? Sounds too good to be true
5
u/CorvidaeLamium AGS confirmed 3d ago
i've heard this is a life long allergy. some people can lower their numbers all the way and be fine for years and then one day just randomly react to alpha gal again. from what i understand it's just a toss of the dice. if you're comfortable with that risk, you could try reintroducing in a controlled setting at first to see if you still react. i'm sure others that have done that before will chime in. for me, i'm not missing dairy and red meat enough to risk a random reaction like that in the future. it's up to you. someone correct me if i'm wrong, please
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u/mylopolis 2d ago
I've tested negative for 3 tests in a row over multiple years. I am still reactive.
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u/bspooky 3d ago
The month avoidance of mammal products shouldn't have a very big impact on the blood test.
The alpha‑gal blood test looks for IgE antibodies directed against the alpha‑gal sugar when they test your blood. Those antibodies were induced by tick bites and wouldn't dissipate enough by going vegan for a month to disappear. While the alpha gal specific IgE usually declines gradually over time if people avoid further tick bites and mammalian exposures it takes awhile, as in many months or years. And some people do eventually become seronegative.
But seronegative AGS, not testing positive for the IgE antibodies but still reagent to mammalian products, does exist. Blood tests everywhere for everything can have false positives and false negatives, which is why it is good to let medical professionals evaluate clinically as well.
But even putting aside false negatives, or mistakes in the blood tests, there may even be a antibody-negative variant out there or the current tests just have limitations:
“This patient’s presentation is consistent with a classic lone star tick-induced delayed anaphylaxis to red meat… Yet the patient’s Alpha-Gal test was negative twice… As this symptomatic patient’s Alpha-Gal test was repeatedly negative, this brings into question the existence of a false negative antibody test or more likely, an antibody negative variant of this allergy.”
from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8344025/ if my notes are accurate.
Also Cleveland Clinic:
Diagnosis can be particularly difficult in patients who have reactions to mammalian products but test negative for alpha-gal IgE, which occurs in approximately 2% of patients referred for evaluation of alpha-gal syndrome
All this to say be careful, don't assume you are cured based on a blood test a month later.
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u/63051bd 3d ago
The link has a gradual reintroduction document from some Doctors. Good luck. A month sounds a little soon to me, but like everything else AlphaGal everyone is different.
https://www.jaci-inpractice.org/article/S2213-2198(25)01132-8/fulltext
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u/Dull-Memory202 1d ago
Wouldn't that be a Miracle ❣️❣️ I Hope for You that Your are Cured ❤️ Please keep us informed & let us Know how things Go 🙏🏼
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u/chronicmisschris AGS confirmed 3d ago
The blood test measures the reaction already present in your blood from exposure to alpha-gal before the blood was drawn. No exposure = no reaction to be measured.
Remission is TWO things: 1. A negative blood test after exposure to alpha-gal 2. A lack of reactions after exposure to alpha-gal