Food and oral medication

Is it worth having tests for food intolerance? I have
recently read about this testing and about claims that
most people get better after testing, although nothing has
been published. Is it worth doing?
These tests are being developed but, at the time of writing, have
not been fully evaluated or validated. This process is very important
if the tests are to be used to change treatments or dietary habits.
Tests need to be accurate and repeatable – this means that they
should give the same result no matter how many times you are
tested before having any treatment so that changes in the results
can be believed.
Could I sometimes be allergic to dairy products and
sometimes not? I notice that my skin sometimes seems to
get worse when I drink milk?
One possible explanation may be that the lining of the gut can
become inflamed when eczema is severe, and larger proteins than
normal can get through. These larger proteins may trigger an
immune response and cause further exacerbations, but once the
eczema has settled, the gut returns to normal and the larger proteins
are kept out. My asthma flared up recently, and my doctor told me to
stop taking aspirin or Nurofen. Could these also have
been causing my eczema?
Some people with atopic diseases such as eczema, asthma and hay
fever are sensitive to the effects of ‘salicylates’. These are naturally
occurring substances very similar to aspirin, which was derived
originally from willow bark. Nurofen and other ‘non-steroidal anti-
inflammatory drugs’ have a similar action to aspirin and can share
some of its potential reactions. This appears to be much more of
a problem with asthma than eczema. Salicylates tend to give an
urticaria (hives) rather than eczema, but they could be a factor for
you.