Allergy testing

[cjsmith]

I went in today to be tested for allergies to 1) serotonin and 2) lots of common foods.

I'm apparently allergic to every substance they tested. This includes about 80% of what's legal for me to eat, on this diet that's already so restrictive I can barely have a social life.

The woman who did the testing tried to tell me to eliminate these foods for six weeks, or at least make the portions of them smaller. I told her I was already down nine pounds and I wasn't going to eliminate a damn thing.

She said maybe I could substitute. I pointed to where the substitutions sheet suggested other things I was either allergic to or couldn't have on the current diet. She suggested things I hadn't been tested for. I said looking at the sample set, it's reasonable to infer that I'm allergic to many of those too, and since we don't know which ones, it's kind of pointless.

I told her I felt fine other than the joint pain. She said chronic food allergy can cause inflammation that could explain the joint pain. I said my pain had never responded to anti-inflams of any kind, including some pretty strong ones, so it was reasonable to conclude my pain is not inflammatory in nature.

So I'm ignoring it.

There's nothing else to do really.

I want my $625 back.

I am seriously considering never going to another doctor again. All they've done for me is take my money, make my life miserable with "noninvasive" approaches, and fail to get results. I HAVE HAD IT.

Comments

[inflectionpoint.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry that is what you were told.

I'm curious about trying to decipher their test results with you, if you are willing. I'm willing to try and decipher what they are testing and WHY, and try to figure out how they arrive at the conclusions they do. I'm somewhat concerned about their methods.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you! That would be wonderful. That is a spectacularly great offer and I appreciate it a lot.

I don't know if I have enough good hard science to be useful to you; I don't have any kind of writeup with numbers on it, and I may not have any kind of description of the process or the compounds used (beyond "I got lots of transdermal shots in my shoulders"). I'll look at the handouts I was given... when I'm a bit less angry. :-) And I deeply thank you.

Do you mean you don't have a copy of the results?

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Not sure I followed what you just said, but um, if you are saying that you don't have the test results on paper, that is easy to fix. Call and ask for a copy. Not only do they need to give you one, they ought to be nice about it..... (although not all are. I had to sign a bunch of stuff to get my chest xrays.)

Re: Do you mean you don't have a copy of the results?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

They gave me a handwritten sheet with names of substances and check-marks next to them. What I don't have is anything quantitative: levels of dilution, baseline against which reactions are compared, anything like that. That may be in my record. If it is, I'll almost certainly be able to get it. But until I do, I really can't take inflectionpoint up on her offer, not with the goofy handwavey info I have.

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

The doctor should have given you a detailed copy of your results with an explanation of what they mean and what reference intervals are. I have a copy of every single result from Igenex tests and other tests that my doctor ordered. They explain the bands, the tests, and how one matches the CDC requirements and one matches the research requirements. They explain the difference between IgG and IgM. They're quite detailed, and I'm surprised your doctor did not give you your own copy.

I'd ask for copies of everything they've done/prescribed/suggested and take them out and get a second opinion somewhere else on this stuff. With what you said about the allergy testing and their attitude... I'm afraid they might be taking advantage of you. It wouldn't hurt to see what someone else says.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

The doctor should have given you a detailed copy of your results with an explanation of what they mean and what reference intervals are.

I don't know what the gold standard is for an allergy testing report, but I'm pretty sure that what I have isn't it. I do have the Igenex results with the explanations of the bands, IgG, IgM, etcetera. Those they gave me.

I may go get a second opinion or even a second test on allergy stuff. But honestly, right now I'm not even taking the allergy results seriously enough to do *that*. :-) I'm blowing it off. :-)