symptoms

I suffer from eczema, bloating, low energy and dark circles under my eyes. I drink plenty of water, eat (relatively) healthy and exercise. What am I doing wrong?

Have you been tested for food intolerances/allergies? They can cause all of the symptoms you mentioned.

That doesnt sound fun. Good shout on the food intolerance.

So food intolerance's and allergies can bring on eczema? I suffer from in it from time to time so it'd be great if I could cut it out all together.

Yeah they are not always the cause, but they can be behind exzema and other skin problems so it is worth ruling them out, especially if you have other symptoms.

Food intolerance is a big culprit for bloating and eczema, it can also cause the low energy levels. 2 of the biggest intolerances are wheat and dairy and they often cause bloating and eczema flares, have you tried singularly reducing certain types of food from your diet? Have you noticed having a stuffy nose and irritable stomach after eating some foods? Dairy often causes nose stuffiness/increased mucus production.

It's a slow process to rule out food intolerance via diet, you have to rule out 1 thing at a time by not eating it, then slowly re-introducing to see if you get a reaction. You can get allergy testing done on the NHS if your GP refers you (can be hard work, took years for them to give in and test my Dad!), or you can pay to get it done privately.

Dark circles could be anything from intolerance to lack of sleep. When my eyes are particularly dark it's often because of anaemia, a blood test would be able to rule this out and a chat with the doctor won't hurt. Drinking plenty of water and eating a 'healthy diet' won't necessarily help if you're eating foods you're intolerant to!

I've had a nightmare with GPs over the years pooh-poohing food intolerance and therefore not being willing to give me an allergy test. They were , however, more than happy to book me in for an endoscopy, a sigmoidoscopy and many blood tests (surely they're more expensive -and stressful for the patient- than just doing an allergy test?) The quest continues...

Sometimes you need to be incredibly firm/persistant with doctors to get anywhere. There are a LOT of different kinds of allergy testing, unfortunately for food allergies you tend to get told to keep a food diary and slowly cut out 'suspect' foods. If you notice your symptoms reduce/disappear you mark it as a 'possible', then slowly re-introduce it until you notice the symptoms come back... even if you don't think you've reacted, you slowly re-introduce so you can be sure. That way you know your tolerance for certain foods and what you can/cannot eat. You can do this test at the hospital, but it requires testing 1 food at a time and can be horribly time consuming, probably why you're struggling to get referred.

Sometimes it's easier to take things into your own hands, keep a food diary for 3 months (or however long it takes) and eat as you currently do. If you suspect you're dairy intolerant, start by cutting out milk and use rice/oat/soya milk instead. If you think it's OK, slowly re-introduce back to the normal level over a week. Repeat with yogurt/cheese/chocolate etc. Next, if you haven't reacted and suspect it's wheat, cut out your bread... re-introduce after a week and notice if symptoms come back, next try pasta/rice etc. It's intense but it's accurate. Jot down and group together your favourite meals/takeaways/snacks and the things you eat regularly, you might notice certain trends, like you're eating a lot of pasta. Start by cutting that out. Also take note of the things you particularly enjoy but don't necessarily feel good after eating, they're likely to be suspect.

It might not even be intolerances, the food diary will help you recognise if you're not eating enough fruit/veg, if you're eating a lot of processed food, that your diet is different at weekends to the weekday, or that you're drinking more coffee than water. If you keep note of your fluid intake/what you're drinking you can address that too if there's a problem. You could even use a blog to record everything if you don't like diaries, just give it a go and be totally honest about what you eat/drink.

Thanks for your advice gone fishin! It is very frustrating and doesn't seem to be getting any better. I just want a normal digestive system!

Intolerance can be worse than outright allergies, at least you KNOW when you're allergic to something. If you ARE intolerant to certain foods it won't get better until it's eliminated from your diet.

I am allergic to cat hair and lamb's wool and the reactions to these are so much more obvious and consistent, which confirms my allergy. But you're right, intolerances are much more indistinct!

I have been told I have an intolerance to yeast, but I don't even know where to start with addressing this?! Any suggestions?

First step would be to avoid bread products. You can google for yeast-free breads but they're usually flatbreads, pittas, naan bread and crackerbreads-type breads.

Yeast extracts such as marmite, bovril and vegemite. Stock cubes and gravies usually contain it.

Alcohol, over-ripe fruit (grapes can be very yeasty).

Condiments etc you'd need to check the label.

How does the intolerance manifest itself? Wind? Digestion issues? Yeast infections? Skin infections/eczema? Weight gain? Intolerances are exactly that, you just need to work out the level you can personally eat without triggering symptoms and then mostly try and avoid eating it. I'm lactose intolerant but find it fairly easy to work around, i know I'm bolloxed if my nose stuffs up because I can guarantee I'll be puking within the hour!!