allergy testing

katykitten

my son has very bad eczema and we would have to wait months for an NHS allergy test, does anyone know where i can buy a reasonably priced allergy testing kit?

jenniewb

I have similar skin issues which I am feeling quite overwhelmed at myself at the moment, it affects everything from what I can wear to what I can do and how (little) sleep I get as I wake up scratching.

I havn't asked for an allergy test from my GP, I don't know if I'd get one tbh so not bothered asking. Instead I chopped out all dairy from my food and drink to see if it makes any difference. Its hard as so many things have dairy- stuff I'd not even have considered- chicken peices, extra light mayonaise and I really miss not being able to eat plain yogurt after the gym....but it has made a difference to my bloating! (something I did not expect) but not to my itching or eczema.

It will take me another week to work anything out for real (I keep slipping up and eating products with dairy in without realising- yesterday I ate some rice cakes made from soya....and milk!) but its definetly a cheaper version.

Thing is with intollerance kits (if it was an allergy you had your mouth would flare up and you'd know about it within 30 seconds of eating whatever) is that the quality of the kit really matters. I don't know if there are any certificates they can boast that are legitamate or reviews that are unbiased. I think the general price of a kit can be anything from £30 upwards with some being more reliable then others and some being just plain wrong.

If your GP has said they will run a test I'd stick with it. Maybe try cutting down on some of the suspect foods, keep a diary and see if anything gets better before adding it back in 2 weeks later.

katykitten

thanks for that, i think we will go to the gp after the weekend and ask for a testing - hes off to canada in a couple of weeks and really want to get it cleared up before then of course