Allergies & intolerance tests

didn't think we were allowed medical threads?

Still I had one via my doctor - involved a bunch of small injections along one arm... arm was left for a bit then at various of the injection sites you'd see raised bumps... apparently the diameter of the bump indicated the severity of the allergy to that particular substance - lack of a bump/reaction obvs = no allergy...
 
Skin ***** (p rick - stupid filter) testing - pretty useful and reproducible

Serum testing for allergy - less useful as elevated IgE levels don't correspond well with clinical symptoms

Hair testing - not used in allergy clinic I've come across - if they were effective we'd be using them
 
secretspy said:
Interestingly since I changed my diet I've not had a cold or caught any stomach bug going around the family and I used to get them constantly
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Indeed, I am not saying what you did was wrong in any way. There are as with all walks of life, people who will attempt to exploit situations. In my case a medical doctor, who realised he can make a fortune out of desperate people selling them potions.

Personally myself, since the start of the year I started avoiding gluten and lactose, on a whim, I didn't think I was allergic, I didn't get tested, I just decided to give it a blast for a while.
I am not bloated anymore, never get stomach cramps, which I used to get, and my **** barely smells now, and isn't 'dirty'. So I've stuck with it. I think it is more likely the lactose rather than gluten, as testing a few desserts here and then do tend to upset me.

As much as I would like to test, I know the proper test for coeliac (gluten) which can be done by triplicate blood tests isn't indicative, the proper test is a biopsy after exposure of the head of duodenum. And I cba to bother with such a thing, when I've made the changes in the first place.

Its why I would like the allergy background doc to tell us the benefits of the various testing things, conceptually, rather than medical thread.
 
Minstadave said:
Skin ***** (p rick - stupid filter) testing - pretty useful and reproducible
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Love how that got starred out!

Both of our girls, aged 5 and 2 have intolerance to

Dairy, Wheat, Soya, and Nuts so you can imagine the range of food they have to eat, it's extremely difficult!

Our two were skin pr1ck tested at the hospital, they're under the consultant pediatrician who they see every 6 months.

Pretty sure you can get referred to the dietitian via your GP who will do the test for you, admittedly not to the song of 300 different foods but they do a good range.
 
Mr-White said:
This company for £50 will test you against 300 foods from 3 or 4 hairs.
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Quack! Quack! All about the looney train!

You cannot test allergies from hair samples. You could, in principle, detect certain common genetic variants that, for example, make you intolerant to efficiently process milk or alcohol but you couldn't hit 300 foods.
 
I saw a doctor yesterday about intolerance as I've very suddenly and recently become lactose intolerant (related to my Crohn's Disease). Basically, he said that with regards to lactose intolerance, if I've cut out milk and feel a lot better then that's sufficient evidence for him to suggest intolerance, and I agree. He said the same about wheat.

I think his implication was basically that the only real test is to eliminate things and see how you feel.

I believe one of the tests for lactose intolerance is just to drink a glass of milk and see how you feel...!
 
secretspy said:
To some extent I can see where you're coming from. There does seem to be some stigma when someone says naturopathic and I think a lot of people assume it's some hippy centre filling your head with nonsense. The place I went to was recommended by a supplier I deal with at work and it was all normal tests.

A lot of it is just reassessing your diet, looking at what nutrients etc that you're not getting and determining if you have any intolerances. I haven't taken everything they've said as gospel I've also did my own "research" online so to speak. In the past I had a doctor tell me "don't worry it will settle when you get pregnant" and another say "well i will put you on the contraceptive pill" when I refused and said that's not finding out the issue he said "well I don't know what else you want me to do I've offered the solution" :rolleyes:

I've made changes to my diet and over the past two years can feel the difference. My average sick days off work used to be around 14 minimum. This year so far it's two - one of those being a headache!:)

It's actually not been until this year that I discovered I can no longer eat peanuts, they seem to make me violently ill, something the clinic didn't find either. It does seem more and more people are finding they have a sensitivity to gluten/wheat etc nowadays. At the end of the day it's all about finding the right lifestyle for you. I get a lot of people bitching at me being fussy but hey, I'd rather be careful with what I eat and enjoy my life than have something I know will make me sick :)

Interestingly since I changed my diet I've not had a cold or caught any stomach bug going around the family and I used to get them constantly
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If you were that bad why didn't you go and see you GP?

I started having issues about 13 years ago and went to my GP who referred me to a nutritionist (employed by the NHS), got a food diary going and we worked out what I couldn't eat. Turns out it was wheat. I also had a few appointments with a specialist in London to check if my issues weren't symptoms of a more dangerous underlying issue. All free on the NHS...

I get the impression this area is becoming like the Chiropractor/Physiotherapist issue. One is essentially a quack that doesn't need qualifications and the other is a trained, regulated career largely connected to the NHS... Nutritionists and Physiotherapist work for the NHS, Chiropractors and Naturopathists(sp?) don't...
 
Gluten allergy in particular is nasty,

I think I have it and only now after cutting out gluten has my fatigue and general emotional problems faded after years of suffering.

It causes sooooo many bad bad issues that get misdiagnosed.

If you are interested in diet and how it effects you / emotions the ultramind solution is a good book.
 
Following on from this, I was ill last summer, which from what I can tell damaged my stomachs environment. As well as the expected stomach problems it was causing me bad anxiety and panic attacks. I ended up paying for an allergy test last December where they tested my blood and said I was to avoid dairy, yeast and parsley. I was also recommended to take probiotics to rebuild the flora in my stomach.

Over the last few weeks I have improved quite a bit, I believe my intolerance were the side affect of my illness not the cause but I'm still unsure if once my stomach recovers I'll be able to continue eating the foods I'm currently avoiding.

MW
 
Mynight said:
I can't understand the need to get tested randomly (especially for £50).

If you're allergic or intolerant to something it's normally pretty obvious in which case cut it out if it's not then why let it bother you?
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Not the case, most people just aren't aware as they don't know any different or just put up with minor symptoms out of now knowing what causes it.

Wouldn't be surprised if most people are living with easily solved issues that would improve there life. However I do not know of any reliable mass test.
 
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You get what you pay for (usually). Yes, some of them do work quite well, but to get a reliable and more accurate test done you'll be looking at spending more than fifty notes.
 
Blood testing (which typically is a quantitative IgA test) gives you a whole load of numbers but as a screening test it's largely meaningless. Many people have antibodies to common allergens without symptoms. So a positive result shouldn't mean you automatically start an exclusion diet.

Glaucus said:
Not the case, most people just aren't aware as they don't know any different or just put up with minor symptoms out of now knowing what causes it.

Wouldn't be surprised if most people are living with easily solved issues that would improve there life. However I do not know of any reliable mass test.
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As above, simply having a blood test gives a load of numbers which are largely meaningless in isolation.

SexyGreyFox said:
I had skinprick testing done back in the early 80's, didn't think it would still be done.
Dust mite, sheeps wool and house dust.
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Skin prik (SIC - filter stars it out) testing is useful for exactly the reasons above, it shows that the immune system reacts to an allergen, rather than having X level of antibodies.
 
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There's not a 100% accurate test, it's not always what you eat but how much. The test I had was an immune response test which wouldn't show up foods that just irritate my stomach.

MW
 
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