There are several lines of evidence suggesting that food and/or environmental allergies can play a pivotal role in the development or exacerbation of fibromyalgia-related symptoms.

Rhinitis (i.e. "runny nose"), an extremely common symptom of environmental allergy, has been reported in as many as 70% of subjects with fibromyalgia.1 Studies have also estimated that up to half of all fibromyalgia patients may exhibit specific immunological evidence of allergy, such as higher levels of IgE, the immunoglobulin associated with immediate allergic reactions. 2,3

Immune sensitivity to heavy metals such as mercury has been shown to occur more frequently in patients with chronic fatigue.3 This sensitivity could trigger inflammation that ultimately disrupts the body's stress response system (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis), triggering "psychosomatic multisymptoms characterizing fibromyalgia, and other diseases of unknown etiology."4

Indeed, one researcher has proposed that substance P, a neuropeptide that is associated with fibromyalgia-related inflammation, pain, and tender points, may initially be activated by allergic stimuli that first occur in other parts of the body. This concept, called "neurogenic switching," means that an allergic reaction to food that takes place in the gut, for example, may trigger the release of immune reactions that are subsequently rerouted through the central nervous system. After re-routing, a diverse range of seemingly unrelated symptoms could occur at other sites in the body, including the joints, the nasal passages, and the brain.5

This concept helps explain why food allergy symptoms are so diverse, affecting almost every organ and tissue in the body, and why they can mimic a wide range of clinical conditions, including fibromyalgia and arthritis. Beside food allergy, the original stimulus triggering the neurogenic inflammation associated with fibromyalgia could be a chemical irritant, an infectious agent, or emotional stress.5

Detecting and treating the triggers that provoke the initial immune response is one way to prevent the neuroinflammatory cascade that may underlie symptoms of fibromyalgia in some patients. The Comprehensive Antibody Assessment identifies both immediate (IgE) and delayed (IgG) sensitivities to over 120 food and environmental substances. This allows the practitioner to quickly hone in on the potential cause of both immediate and delayed chronic immune responses to a wide variety of agents.

References:
1 Baraniuk JN, Clauw D, Yuta A, Ali M, Gaumond E, Upadhyayula N, Fujita K, Shimizu T. Nasal secretion analysis in allergic rhinitis, cystic fibrosis, and nonallergic fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome subjects. Am J Rhinol 1998 Nov;12(6):435-440.

2 Samborski W, Lacki JK, Wiktorowicz KE. The lymphocyte phenotype in patients with primary fibromyalgia. Ups J Med Sci 1996;101(3):251-256.

3 Tuncer T, Butun B, Arman M, Akyokus A, Doseyen A. Primary fibromyalgia and allergy. Clin Rheumatol 1997 Jan;16(1):9-12

4 Sterzl I, Prochazkova J, Hrda P, Bartova J, Matucha P, Stejskal VD. Mercury and nickel allergy: risk factors in fatigue and autoimmunity. Neuroendocrinol Lett 1999;20(3-4):221-228.

5 Meggs WJ. Neurogenic switching: a hypothesis for a mechanism for shifting the site of inflammation in allergy and chemical sensitivity. Environ Health Perspect 1995 Jan;103(1):54-56.

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