How A Child Is Diagnosed With A Food Intolerance

How A Child Is Diagnosed With A Food Intolerance

Just before Christmas we finally saw Joshua being diagnosed with 2 out of the 3 food intolerances we finally had him tested for. It has been a massively long journey and one that has involved more tears than I care to admit too right now. 

Symptoms From The Start 

Joshua has been super unlucky and has some really painful systems with bloating and cramps but it was the constant runny bum thats pledged him. Thankfully he has never had any accidents with it but he did have a few near misses and living with the inconvenience of constantly heading for a toilet midway through or just after finishing a meal has been a nightmare for him.

We tried early on to find a root cause and came up empty, it seemed no matter what he ate it went straight through him.

He was diagnosed with low levels of Iron and for at least a year now has been on liquid iron orally. Energy has also been a problem as he has been lethargic and lacking in overall energy.

It has been a hard slog for him, until recently. 

The Diagnosis 

We had an online intolerance test carried out 2 years ago that claimed he had an intolerance to turkey, however it never picked up anything like the major intolerances he actually has so please do be careful if you are purchasing online. 

Joshua was sent to our local hospital where he had breath testing carried out 3 times, the first was for Fructose Intolerance, the following week was Lactose intolerance and then sucrose intolerance. 

The first 2 weeks I was able to take Joshua to his appointments. After carrying out a strict diet the 24 hours before the morning of the test and then ensuring he was fasted we set off to have the breath testing carried out.

Breath Testing

Breath testing for food intolerances is normally carried out in a hospital setting, and Joshua’s appointments were no different. We arrived and he was asked to blow into the breathalyser style machine to get a base level reading. Once the base level has been obtained Joshua was given a concentrated drink that was super sweet for the fructose testing, chalky for the lactose test and a little sweet for the sucrose test. 

After drinking the concoction he was then asked to go into the waiting room for 15 minutes. But 5 minutes in he was asked to brush his teeth to clear off any of the solution he drank from his mouth to ensure the reading came from his insides not his mouth.

Then every 15 minutes Joshua was called back into the room to give another test and for the first hour this is normal to be tested every 15 minutes. Then the following 2 hours the test is carried out every 30 minutes. If after 3 hours the reading does not go 20 points over the base level reading then a negative result is given. 

The Results

For Joshua he exceeded his baseline plus 20 points over in less than 45 minutes for the fructose testing. And tested positive for a lactose intolerance in less than 1.5 hours in. Thankfully he received a negative result for the sucrose test as 3 positive results would have been soul destroying! 

The Next Steps

For Joshua we were advised to start a fructose and lactose free diet in January to allow him to have Christmas as planned with his food preferences. So as of January 1st we put him on an elimination diet ready to see the consultant later in January and we are now also awaiting an appointment with a hospital dietitian.