Could A Home Allergy Testing Kit Help You?

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Living with allergies can be difficult, can be life-changing and can completely take over your daily life but are you fully aware of everything you are allergic to? How many of you assume you just have hayfever? That you might be sensitive to strawberries but you’re not too sure? That the pet hair makes you sneeze but you’ve never been checked? I bet some of you nodded along there because far too many of us do put off going to the doctor especially if you don’t deem an allergy as being too severe or you think you will be wasting a GP’s time. But if you did know the answers you could make such a difference to your life and this is where a home allergy testing kit could help you…

What Is An Allergy?

Your body is full of clever immunity defences to battle all of the possible germs, viruses, bugs etc that we are exposed to on a daily basis, however, the immune system is a complex one and sometimes it can get things a little bit wrong. When we come into contact with particular substances our bodies can react to them as though they are dangerous and they try to fight it with histamine. This overproduction of histamine is what then results in us having the classic allergic reactions- itchy eyes, sneezing, wheezing, dry throat, runny nose and so on. It isn’t known why this happens but one theory is that our modern obsession with beating bugs, cleaning, disinfecting our homes have all contributed to this problem and it is now estimated that 1 in 4 people in the UK suffers from allergies of some kind.

How They Affect You

Having lived with an allergy to cat hair and dust for years, I know how frustrating, irritating and tiring having allergies can be. The consistent sneezing, red, painful and watery eyes, sometimes tight chest is all very draining and it affects my energy levels, my concentration and leaves me feeling foggy. Of course, this is only a mild allergy and it is something I can put up with but as we know, many allergies are life-threatening and require daily medication, the use of an epi-pen and medical intervention is required when the reaction leads to an anaphylactic shock.

The range of symptoms seen vary between people but the most common are:

• sneezing
• a runny or blocked nose
• red, itchy, watery eyes
• wheezing and coughing
• a red, itchy rash
• worsening of asthma or eczema symptoms

And the most common allergies are:

• Hayfever – grass and tree pollen 
• Dust mites
• Animal dander, skin/hair
• Food – particularly nuts, fruit, shellfish, eggs and cows’ milk
• Insect bites and stings
• Medicines
• Latex 
• Mould spores
• Household chemicals

Having Children With Allergies

It is now estimated that 1 in 10 children suffer from some form of allergy and we have seen this in Jake. At around the age of 3, he suddenly started to suffer from hayfever. We haven’t ever had this checked out but we believe he is only allergic to tree pollen as it only happens in around April/May each year. However, because we live right next to silver birch trees which release a lot of pollen, he can be completely overcome by his reactions and we struggle to help him. Due to this, we are now considering getting him a home test to check if he is allergic to anything else.

Home Allergy Testing Kit

A home allergy testing kit can be useful to help you to discover which triggers might be causing your symptoms and to rule out others. Having the right information can help you to better manage your allergy and to seek the correct medical advice. Although an allergy test can show an indication of your triggers it is not a diagnosis and only a doctor can give you this.

With a home allergy testing kit you simply order a kit online, you take a small blood sample, send it off for analysis and await your results. You can find out more on home allergy testing here.

The Klarify.me home allergy testing kit can test 294 different allergens, detect allergen-specific IgE, is very reliable and will provide you with your results in 2 weeks. Once you have your results you will have a clearer picture of what your triggers are, how you can cope with them, if you need to seek medical advice, what you can change in your lifestyle and what steps you can take to manage your allergy.

Klarify.me say:

“As an example, if you’re allergic to pollen, you can check the specific pollen count and plan your day accordingly. You’ll also be able to identify which part of the pollen season is likely to be worst for you, so you can take steps to manage your allergy before the season begins. 

Some allergic reactions may also become more understandable to you once you know what you are allergic to. For example, if you’re allergic to birch tree pollen, you may experience a cross-reaction to certain foods like apples and celery?

Or if you’re allergic to moulds or house dust mites, you can focus on controlling the humidity and taking measures to reduce mould or mite levels in your home.“

Having this knowledge could make a huge difference to your life and the fact that you can do it all really simply from your home is a big bonus.

Do you suffer from allergies? Do you think a home allergy testing kit could help you or your family?

*This is a paid collaboration with Klairfy.me. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.