How were you tested??

[Broxine]

Hi all,

I've been getting symtoms similar to my lactose reactions but when I haven't had any dairy. I'm thinking of getting properly tested now to see if there is anything else I should start avoiding too as I can't seem to work it out myself - but there are so many different types of tests I don't know which to go for!

What are people's views on the hair strand method v. blood tests or any other methods that are out there?

Cheers!
Christine

[rebecca c]

I would have serious concerns about any of them. As there is no medical knowledge of how intolerance works and no accepted tests.

[Broxine]

I know that they all are questionable, but i just want to know which is the best of the worst so to speak. At least it might give me a slight clue on what direction I should be looking as to what is causing this.

[happycat]

Broxine I was tested by the therapist placing the various foods on my stomach and then the therapist tested the strength of my muscles, I think its called kineslogy. As with all tests I believe they are never 100 percent reliable and they can only test you for so many foods at a time as it becomes very tiring for you and the therapist.

You could of course do a mini elimination diet by yourself by cutting out one major food group at a time and see if it makes a difference to you symptoms.

Good luck.

[linny]

Hi, I did the 'York Test'. The details are on the site somewhere. It shows intolerence not an allergy.

[goose]

I was kinda luck to not even get as far as the tests, due to other medical reasons and cutting dairy from my diet for a certain amount of time, it was obvious to see what was causing Ibs for me.

[Copper]

I have been able to find what foods etc I am intolerant to without tests. If I wanted to know if there were any I have not found yet, I would go for the York tests.

http://www.homeinonhealth.com/categories.php?cPath=3_21

[paranoidangel]

I did the York Test, which seemed to be mostly right.

[Lan]

Hi all,

I did the old fashioned elimination diet to find out what was wrong with me. That was 10 years ago mind.

Not up to date with all these new fangled ideas.

:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2:

[Lou C]

Hi Broxine,
I have read quite a few articles in various magazines etc. quoting the yorktests as being quite reliable.....They are probably the most expensive but do seem to give pretty good results.
Lou x

[jill]

I came to the conclusion that I had some kind of intolerance to milk products after many years of suffering, but it took ages to realise this because of the sometimes delay in reaction, I suppose this depended on the quantity consumed. This came more apparent after having a cream cake.
I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy at hospital with a biopsy which prooved nothing. I was transfered to a different hospital and had a hydrogen breath test which confirmed lactose intolerance. Some people have expressed concerns about this making them ill if you actually have something you are intolerant to, I can't remember being really ill afterwards but I expect the concentration of the lactose drink that I had for the test was quite low.
It did take about 2 years to get my results though as the consultant went off sick! and my notes were filed away, by which time I was milk free anyway. Working in a laboratory myself I was a bit suspicious about how the test was conducted as the nurse didn't seem to be that familiar or confident in setting the bit of equipement up, but other hospitals might be different.

I did have a test done at my local health food shop where they put a probe on your finger, but this only shows up reactions to foods that you have eaten recently, being milk free at this point nothing showed up. I did show up as having an intolerance to strawberries, which I don't have but I think this was because I had just eaten a strawberry cake bar as I went into the shop, because of this I didn't have much trust in this kind of test.

You say you are having symptoms even when you haven't had any dairy. Are you aware that it can sometimes take up to 4 days for symptoms to develop, I suppose this will depend on how much you have consumed and what else you have eaten with it, I think this is why it was difficult for me to sort out what the problem was.

[matt]

ok maybe i'm a cynic but they are all smoke and mirrors designed to seperate ill people from their cash.

their is the hydrogen test for lactose done via the doctors. and a blood test for wheat intolerance again by doctor. allergy tests.... oh they would be by the doctor!!

the york tests try to find anti bodies from exposure to food groups you are intolerant to. subject to false negatives and can't detect the antibodies unless you've been eating that food recently.

sorry but he most relaible is the most time consuming. a food diary and then elimination diet. when symptoms go away reintroduce stuff one at a time to see which one causes the reaction.

[paranoidangel]

I had an intolerance test done by the doctor which told me I wasn't intolerant to anything, which was quite obviously untrue given how ill I was, and I later worked out it must be wheat/gluten since it was the only thing I was eating often enough.

[whitewabbit2001]

ive had the lactose test and ive had the prick test things on arm, im still unsure if i have developed ibs along the way, im finding it really hard to maintain a normal diet.

[matt]

trouble is on the daft / restricted diets we often find ourselves on ibs is a side effect often.

just sit down when things have stabilised and see if you can get a better more stable diet then see if the ibs goes away. or see the doctor if bad. i'm on some tablets to calm down the ibs which seem to be working.:)