Remember that our immune systems are extra sensitive to everything.  This includes food.  We know there are foods that cause more allergies than others, the ususal suspects being gluten, sugar, lactose, chocolate, eggs, starwberries.  However, any substance can cause an allergic reaction, and in people with lupus, a flare up.  All allergic reactions are attacks of the immune system and we should keep ours as quiet as possible.  If in your list of possible triggers you got a specific food, great! You have a guilty party and you only have to elliminate it from your diet.  If you did not identify any culprits, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have an allergy or intolerance, for the symptoms can be difficult to recognize.  There are different detection methods for allergies, depending on your preference:

1. Specific medical tests.  They involve pricking you with different substances and observing your reaction to them.  If you are very allergic to something, it will be evident in this test, but you can also give false positives if that day your immune system is especially irritated or if they prick you with too many substances and your immune system decides to attack everything.
2. Muscle testing.  This test is applied in various holistic methods and you can use any muscle in the body.  What it measures is your body’s intuitive reaction to the substance.
3. Tests with energetic means, like the pendulum, that measure your reactionto the substance at an energetic level .

It doesn’t matter what test you choose, it is important to know if any food or substance in your environment is causing you to react and possibly flare up.  Remember to test foods, detergents, perfumes, creams, textiles, rugs, cleaners, soaps, plants, animals, etc.  Once you do the tests and identiy the allergens, you can:

1. Elliminate the substance from your enviornment or diet.  Find more natural alternatives for your pantry and cleaning.  Especially those things that you are in constant contact with.
2. Vaccines for the substance.  This is a somewhat controversial method, but it does sometimes work.  You have to find someone that makes them though, and it’s not easy.
3. Ask your doctor for an antiallergy medication.  I don’t like this method for it is yet another medication and it only controls the symptoms for a time, even if the immune system continues to be irritated by the substance.
4. Do an alternative treatmentto elliminate the allergic reaction to that which you can’t elliminate, like a local pollen or a favourite pet.  A very effective option for this is N.A.E.T. (look it up online for more information).  In this technique, allergens are identified through muscle checking and treated one by one.  I very much recommend this method, it is the most effective I have found.