I'm going to the allergist in a few days. I'm pretty sure I have another food allergy/intolerance/both, but I'm not sure which one. I've already stopped my allergy meds in preparation for the skin tests. I know those are based on the exposure at the time of the test, not a build up over time.

So what should I do to prepare for the blood tests? I suspect that my problem is either dairy, soy, or corn, so I haven't had those this week. Should I eat a bunch of those things a few days before my tests in order to get better results? Last time I had negative gluten blood tests and positive skin tests because I'd already been on the diet. I don't want to get false negatives again because of the diet.

The problem with dairy, soy and corn is, that usually those are intolerances, and the adverse effects aren't immediately apparent. If you have a delayed reaction, it will not show up on allergy testing.

Those tests are usually pretty good for environmental allergies, though.

So, what I am saying is, that even if you have a problem with those foods, the test results may not show your intolerances.

Enterolab is a good option for finding out about soy and dairy. Or an elimination diet, which is free, but takes a while.

A little late for the reply, but from what I understand about the blood tests, they actually mix standardized protiens of the foods with a sample of your blood to see if it reacts. So not eaing/eating the foods won't make a difference.

Dang it. ALL 10 of my food allergy (IGE) tests came back negative! (Dairy, egg, soy, corn, peanut, beef, tuna, salmon, chicken, rice - He basically tested 90% of what I eat every day.)

Now what? My wheat IGE test was negative too, but obviously the gluten free diet helped me immensely. How do I start an elimination diet when there are so many possibilities?

My additional problem can't all be environmental, can it? I feel like I've done so much to help that already- cleaning, changing bedding, etc. He gave me some much stronger allergy meds this week, and they've helped a ton. (namely a Symbacort inhaler)