Do Allergy Tests Work?

I know…big delays so thanks for those who have stuck with me!  The baby is getting bigger and it's amazing how much time they take!  Anyhoo, where were we...

So what happened next? I gave up with conventional methods and went down the route of alternative therapies. The first thing I tried was an allergy test. You are what you eat so I was sure that the pain must be caused by something I was eating. Remember, I still didn't know that they were migraines.

I was ushered to a low couch in a room behind a chemists and told to undress my left foot. A strange start, but what the hey! I was given a metal bar to hold whilst the specialist, and I use the term sparingly here, held my foot on her lap. The metal bar was connected to a strange contraption containing test tubes of clear liquid. A wire connected to a metal pen completed the contraption. Each vial of liquid in turn was placed into the main hole. For each one, she moved the pen down the inside of my big toe as if she were drawing a line from top to bottom. Each stroke would emit a whining sound which would progressively get higher. The degree of change in sound was dependent on the resistance between my hand, the vial of liquid and my toe. The higher the whine, the less resistance which was good (I think). If the whine petered out before reaching it’s zenith it meant that there was something in my body that blocked the signal. That would be what I was allergic to.  Or it could just mean that she didn't move the pen as far, thus giving the impression of an allergy (I know, I must stop being a cynic, but I just can't help myself).

It didn’t go that well and I did feel a little bit sorry for the specialist as it didn't go as smoothly as she would have wanted. The first item of resistance was pork. Bad start as I am Jewish and therefore have never eaten pork. I could see the quizzical look on her face as one eyebrow lifted slightly. however she hardly paused for breath before moving onto the next vial. The next low whine was caffeine. A problem there as I don’t drink coffee, or tea, or coke.
“Are you sure?” she asked, hoping that I might have forgotten about a recent caffeine binge. Nope, not a drop. The next one was grass seeds. She got me there! I do have hey fever. But then so do a lot of the population so that was a safe win for her.  There was one other spurious reading but I can’t remember the details as it happened about 12 years ago.

She perked up a bit at the end as she slipped into automatic mode almost forgetting the questionable results.  She advised that I go on a wheat free diet for one month and keep a food diary. I left the little room and entered the chemist on the way out.  As I left I heard another, much older, couple chatting about which wheat free items would be best for them. I wonder how many people which how varied ailments she advised to go on this diet.  I tried the diet. It wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. But it made no difference to the migraines.

The diary was a help though. It identified that I have an intolerance to dairy which I never knew about before. I just thought that I was a naturally flatulent person! Cutting out cheese also seemed to help reduce the frequency of the headaches. So maybe the treatment was worth the money after all!
Martin