The FastDay Forum

Hi folks - just wondered if anyone has bought/used any of the food intolerance tests that are out there? I seem to have an intolerance to something but can't work out what. Have been to the doctor and been tested for coeliac which was negative and been "oscopied" and bowel appears fine so they are not interested. In the meantime, I keep losing at least a day to feeling rubbish every time it flares up so am thinking of trying one of these tests. Any advice/shared experience most appreciated!

My sister has had her foster child and both her children tested. It has helped them all, I am quite tempted but never seem to have the spare £50. Also she had it done in a clinic whereas all the ones I've seen have involved sending hair away to be analysed.

I was tested about 2 years ago now, it was a clinic that came to the house and did a finger prick test (like for diabetes) took a tiny amount of blood away and then came back a week later with results. They tested for loads, I was worried I was allergic to wheat but with Dr's test it was negative. The test cost about £160 (it took me a long time to decide to go for it!)

I have a medium intolerance to yeast and dairy and a mild intolerance for legumes. The difference not eating bread and doing a complete reset for 3 months (no fruit because of sugar feeding yeast problem) just berries made a huge difference! I'm asthmatic and was spending most of October to March on antibiotics - usually chest infections. I have had antibiotics maybe twice in the last year. I don't get colds or the constant nasal drip/yucky throat/nausea that I used to. Never lost any weight though, that was this year

I went and had a very expensive blood test that showed I was intolerant to all sorts of food, went off all of them for a long time. Made no difference at all. I think an elimination diet is a good way to go, especially if it is done under the supervision of a professional as they know best when to add certain foods back in and check for reactions. I've not done it but know of someone who has had success.
Horrible to feel awful all the time, hope you find some answers.

I had a test at a clinic last year, cost £90 and was a blood test on 46 foods. I felt yucky on cow dairy products so had the test done. I had a strong reaction to whole eggs, medium reaction to Brazil nuts and cows milk and a light reaction to wheat, celery and legume mix.
I have stopped everything with cow's milk and my symptoms have gone.

Have you tried keeping a food diary and logging everything you eat and drink for a week or two, you may be able to find out what is causing it that way.

Chris x

It might be worth trying an elimination diet and cutting everything out initially - lactose, gluten, fructose etc - and seeing how you react when you reintroduce things.

I know that I'm not celiac or anything but after trying an elimination diet with my naturopath, I realised that I'm sensitive to lactose and gluten, so I minimise both of those and feel better!

Thanks for all the replies - I haven't done a food diary since I used to be at a Slimming Club but I suppose it would be a good place to start - although this doesn't seem to follow any sort of pattern! Will let you know how it goes.

[carorees]

I think you can have an intolerance to wheat without having celiac disease, so just because that test was negative doesn't mean you're not sensitive to wheat. Have you tried going gluten free for a couple of weeks?

No - haven't ever gone so far as cutting anything right out (apart from pork, which I've never been able to stomach) - suppose the time has come I will have to if I want to sort this out!

I have an intolerance to wheat, yet the blood tests came back negative for celiac's. You can be intolerant without it showing on blood tests. If you are intolerant wheat isn't going to kill you but it is going to cause all sorts of problems from inflammation in your bowel (IBS) and joints, headaches, water retention, respiratory problems, low energy, all sorts.
I've been on a carb and wheat bender over Christmas and feel pretty yuck right now.

Try an elimination diet. Choose a common reactive, such as wheat or milk (wheat is the number one culprit) and TOTALLY eliminate them for 2 to 4 weeks. This means label checking because even OXO cubes have wheat in them.

Keep a health and well being diary and see what if anything improves, you may find that something improves that should have nothing to do with your gut. For example my hot flushes go away when I cut out wheat, so does my water retention.

After the 4 weeks eat a pile of what you have missed for 2 days and see what happens. Its a lot cheaper and more accurate than the blood tests for intolerance's.

Someone mentioned Hair Tests earlier. My wife and I have both done this and while its great - it wont tell you intolerances - its more for seeing the concentration of different metals etc in your body and where there are imbalances.

So even though this may help you get on track health wise its not going to give you a list of foods you can or shouldn't eat.

We have just been referred by our local GP to undergo a FODMAPS Diet under supervision of a dietician. You could look into it - looks like the first promising thing our doctor has ever referred us for!

And it may not just be wheat, it could be gluten which hides in a lot of foods like soy sauce, seasonings etc. Gluten is wheat, barley and rye. As a reminder, a blood test can give false negatives for celiacs disease, only a colonoscopy scraping of the small intestines is the 100% fault free method. And like others mentioned, neither of these will indicate sensitivity or intolerance.

About 10 years ago, wrong medication left me with a stomach that could digest only bread, pasta, cheese and oatmeal. Anything else would be "exported" in a few minutes.

I was informed about the -then- new generation of intolerance tests, the ones with ultrasounds, not blood nor hair. It was rather expensive back then but probably my only hope so I went ahead and did it.

The results were shocking! I had intolerance in 95% of the foods!!! The doctor (it was a doctor who did the test) gave me a very short list of the foods I could eat and a few supplements and told me to go back after 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, he repeated the test and the results were brilliant. I was intolerant to only 3 foods; 3 I disliked anyway.

He told me to insert one food after another in my diet, slowly and with caution. Ever since, my stomach can digest everything! I'm very happy, it was well worth the money and I remember that I did lose 2 or 3 kilos during those 6 weeks. Not bad of an addition, LOL!

Keep in mind that although all coeliac are wheat intolerant, it doesn't mean that all people who are wheat intolerant are coeliac too (like all Scots are Brits but not all Brits are Scottish). Also, sometimes what makes us intolerant to a food is the lack of an enzyme in our stomachs which cannot digest an enzyme in a certain food. BUT, the second enzyme is not always in the food, which makes all this very confusing.

Example: I'm lactose intolerant but I can drink 50% of the milk I find in supermarkets because modern methods of milk treatment kills the enzyme of lactose that upsets my stomach. Confusing? VERY! But also good because I can enjoy a splash of milk in my cuppa without any problems.

[carieoates]

A very interesting and informative thread everyone thanks @Madcatlady for asking the question. This one will be book marked.

I had the Yorktest IgG antibody reactions test years ago. I too was highly allergic to wheat (but not coeliac), plus high on milk, eggs , oysters and cheese. Medium intolerance to beans, bananas and asparagus