Hi Kate,
I have had the same reccuring rash for 13 years. (The first occurances were 1-2 months, ever other year, the last were 6-8 month every year.) I had a slew of other symptoms as well, including many stomach problems, irritable bowel, fatigue, joint pain, loss of concentration, and bad moods. After years of topical treatments for the rash, one Urgent Care doctor recommented a naturalpathic doctor. Through her, I took a delayed food sensitivity test called ELISA/ACT. Where regular alergists perform IgE tests, this is an IgG test. (Check out www.betterhealtusa.com for symtpms test. I believe ALCAT is another IgG food sensitivity test plus other chemicals like the other replyer had.)

I tested positive for specific foods, including wheat, milk, eggs, garlic and sugar. The explaination that I came to understand is that my body does not recognize these foods as healthy, so during the digestion cycle, the foods are protected (inaccurately) and therefore not digested properly. (Hence the digestion problems). Even more, once they reach the end of the intestines, where they are absorbed into the body, they are not in the proper state (i.e. toxic). The hardest part in the diagnosis is that the digestion process can take up to 2-3 days. So the symptoms you feel today can be from any food eaten in the last few day.

After 3 years of trial and error, I have linked the following symptoms to food from my list:
- 5-7 days after eating wheat, I break out in swelling type pimples. This one is absolutely confirmed and repeatable. If I no wheat, but do eat other foods on my list, my face is clear for months.
- Also, within the month after eating wheat, I loose concentrtion and have memory struggles, takes another month to clear up
- The day after eating sugar, I absolutely have woken up mad. Or, during that day, if my patience is tried, I am simply snappy. I loose my patience almost immediately. (Now, that I know about no sugar, this marriage is going to last! ;) )
- Garlic (and this one is the hardest) gives me a sore throat within a few hours, that last for a day, and I tend to get night sweats. (Note that since this is an immediate reaction, I am finally getting checked next week to see if this is an actual IgE Garlic Alergy, maybe alergy medicine will help this a little. Sore throats every day are not fun.

In general, I feel so much better when I stick to my avoidance. And, I am happy to have an answer. My 5 year sholder pain vanished. My energy increased. My sharp thinking returned.

Also, I was rash free for 3 years! (I just broke out again, most likely due to a 'eat any food" binge last month when my father in law passed away.) Last thing, last week I found an actual alergist that did a biopsy of my skin to diagnose the rash. She thinks it is what the other person said above. But I was happy to give the skin to know for sure.

Good Luck, and I hope you feel better soon!

Alisa