Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

If you live in the UK, your GP (MD?) can refer you for free to a local hospital for allergy testing - it's a blood test - not the old skin-prick tests which were dangermouse. BUT, they only test for about 5/6 foods - wheat, cows milk, beef, pork, fish and maybe one or two others at the most as far as I can recall. Mine showed up nothing even though I'm quite an allergic person.

If you want more comprehensive tests for more foods I think you'll have to pay a company - but what you want is classical allergy tests for IgE antibodies. As far as I'm aware there are NO reliable tests yet for any kind of food intolerance (which is a sensitivity or delayed reaction to food) - companies offering these tests always refer in their small print that these tests are not conclusive, they give a shortcut or indication only and that you have to follow this with elimination and reintroduction to measure the reactions yourself. Everything I've read so far suggests these tests can give high false-negative readings. I wouldn't waste money on these, at least until trying the classical allergy tests first.

Finally, the food 'intolerances' that these companies refer to are different anyway from the sensitivities that IBS have. IBS react to foods more intensely, so that how and when you eat a food becomes important. It's how much of a food, how it's prepared and when you eat it etc that causes the reaction, rather than the food itself... ever eaten something one day and were ok, the another time you suffered??? this is IBS.

Speak to your doctor about allergy testing.
Hope this is helpful
Shellsbells

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