I am going to an allergy clinic. What am I going to expect on the day?

[shukudai]

I have suspected buckwheat allergy. I loved buckwheat noodles. However since I had a childbirth I had breathing difficulty and tummy problems when I eat buckwheat noodles. I had a few episodes of allergic reactions from buckwheat noodles over a few years so I avoided it since. It was easy to do in the UK as there is not much buckwheat around me, until I started a gluten free diet. Buckwheat allergy is classed as bad as nuts allergy in Japan.

A friend of mine made me a gluten free cup cake for me and I had an allergic reaction from it. She didn't know Doves gluten flour has buckwheat in it and I didn't know that what she used it. I started to coughing and felt like someone was strangling me and it was really bad. I had bad itchy throat and tummy problems for a couple of days.

GP decided to send me to an allergy clinic and got an appointment. What kind of testing am I expecting? On the letter from the hospital it said there will be some tests and it may take up to 3 hours. I am guessing they may do some prick tests or blood tests. Are there personalised or basic set of allergens?

I usually make a list of questions to ask but what shall I list this time? A list of doggy foods etc? Apart from buckwheat,

I had swollen face when I had mango few years ago (I haven't eaten mango since).

I often get migraines when I eat some garlic.

I get bloated (and get other symptoms) when I eat gluten and dairy.

I get stomach upset when I have caffeine.

I get red mark if I wear a metal watch or jewelry.

I have a hay fever.

(I will put more if I remember more...)

I am having a blood test for gluten at GP before this allergy clinic appointment.

I am grateful if you have done some allergy tests before and give me some advice. Thank you very much.

[pretender]

Blood tests can give results for IgE mediated responses. Skin prick tests will give a reaction within a limited time to usual allergens. Cutaneous Allergy Clinic may give a result over five days with patch testing all depends on the clinic you attend. You will be asked many questions which will then decide on what to test you.

Having read your post please be aware that Doves Farm Flours are tested up to 20ppm per kilo of gluten which may be the cause of your continued ill health many blame other things than the low amounts of gluten. I personally do not have anything from a gluten source as a coeliac (twice diagnosed + one confirmation). I react to dairy as well.

[tassie]

Its a good idea to write down any foods you think you react to and what symptoms. Also anything else you react to.

You will likely get asked a heap of questions about various symptoms and then they may do a skin scratch test with various solutions based on what your answers are. They should have an adrenalin on hand and ready to administer in case you have any strong reactions. They may or may not order blood tests as well. If they do the scratch tests you need to sit and wait about 20 minutes or so for the reaction and then after they read the results you usually sit and wait a while longer just to make sure you are okay before you leave.

[DartmoorGuerrilla]

I would suggest you ring the hospital clinic to check what substances they propose to allergy test you for.

The hospital will need to know in advance what foods you suspect. When I had allergy testing I found the hospital has only very limited foodstuffs in their testing array and for all my specific ones I had to take my own samples e.g. tomato ketchup.

So you might need to buy and take your own mango, garlic, buckwheat etc.

Or the first appointment might just be a chat with no tests. But you should check... Otherwise you might wait months for another appointment.

[Penel]

I was asked to take in all the foods that I felt were a problem, the hospital only had the more common ones. I had a prick/scratch test of about 6 items as Tassie described and a good discussion with the consultant. All very helpful.

Best to take everything in that you can, as you can wait a long time between appointments.

[AdvanceNutrition]

I am not sure what type of allergy testing you are having done but this sounds like a IgG reaction rather than IgE - ideally you want both tested. What we find in clinic here is sensitivities to a range of gluten free grains due to intestinal permeability - I am not sure if you are aware of the cyrex lab tests but I would suggest looking into these to check for intestinal permeability and cross reactivity / food sensitivity arrays 2 and 4 . I can supply more details if you need it

[shukudai in reply to AdvanceNutrition]

Hi bicycle

Yes please if you could explain in detail please?

I've heard IgG and IgE are for the allergy testing thing but not sure... GP explained to me about allergy but not very much ... about the difference between allergy and food intolerance and allergy has 4 types (but not what 4 types are....)

Thank you

[shukudai]

Thanks everyone. I have no idea what kind of consultation I should expect as I have never been to an allergy clinic. I have heard some prick tests and blood tests from friends who have done it before. My husband's colleague who had strong nut allergy had to have something on her back over night...

I will prepare the list of suspicious allergens and give a clinic ring if I need to bring anything with me on the appointment.

According to the letter from the clinic, I need bring only my medications. The letter talks about tests but all seems general talks as it say you may have these tests and so on... It says I may be have allergy skin testing so I need to stop my antihistamines at least 4 days before. So I need to stop my hay fever tablets.

[Jacks]

Although buckwheat is gluten free it can produce an inflammatory response as it is high in oxalates. Here's an easy to understand blog:

lowoxalate.info/

[shukudai in reply to Jacks]

Thanks Jacks

I will have a look.

[Peshar]

Your answer is in the problem buckwheat you have a wheat alllergy

[Cooper27 in reply to Peshar]

Buckwheat isn't the same as wheat, it's a gluten free grain.