Jacob Griffin

Tell us about your symptoms before you took the test?

I was suffering with rosacea-like symptoms. I would often find eating certain foods triggered these symptoms but was unable to narrow down the cause. I also found that exercising caused similar problems.

How long have you had your symptoms?

I had suffered from these symptoms for many years, on and off. I found that they seemed to be worsening over time.

How did your symptoms affect your day-to-day life?

The symptoms would cause general discomfort. The fact that they were getting worse over time was causing the greatest concern.

What did you feel unable to do as a result of your symptoms? (Activities and hobbies that you could no longer do etc.)

Exercising intensely almost always triggered these rosacea-like symptoms, as did heat and the sun.

How did you hear about YorkTest? (Through a friend/family member, on the internet etc.)

A family member had spoke with someone from YorkTest over 20 years ago and thoughts that it would be a solution.

Why did you take a YorkTest? Was there a specific incident that made you decide to take a test with us?

A particularly bad experience after eating a particular meal, which made me thing that what I was eating could be causing the problem.

What solutions had you previously tried before coming to YorkTest?

Eliminating various foods types, usually having very little affects. I believed it was a completely hereditary condition so often just ignored it.

Did you seek advice from a specialist/GP? If so, what was the outcome/advice given?

I had read online that there were very few/no treatments available for rosacea and similar conditions so tried to just ignore it.

What food and drink ingredients were you intolerant to? Were you surprised by the results?

Cows milk and egg were the main ones. I also found less severe intolerance to wheat, almond, tomato, and raspberry. I eliminated all except wheat.

Once you removed your trigger foods, how did you feel?

Symptoms improved significantly. No longer had as severe symptoms. This improve gradually the longer I avoided these foods.

Are you able to do things you couldn’t do before taking a test? (New hobbies and activities.)

Most notably is being able to enjoy food knowing that it won’t trigger my symptoms providing it doesn’t contain these foods. Also, hot conditions/climate don’t trigger it any more and nor does going outside or exercising.

How long did it take for you to see an improvement in your symptom(s) and overall health after removing your food intolerance?

The symptoms would appear immediately after consuming a particular trigger food and would then persist for several days up to several weeks. This meant that improvements were felt after a few days.

Did you see any change in weight through this process?

No.

How easy did you find the elimination process?

I didn’t eliminate wheat, and was advised this should be ok. I felt that this would restrict my diet too much. Otherwise, elimination has been ok but it is harder to avoid trigger foods when ordering takeaway or eating out.

Are you still following your diet plan?

Yes.

What happens if you eat your trigger foods?

Rosacea appears far worse than before. Very severe symptoms presented when I accidentally ate food containing tomato over night.

How helpful was the nutritional consultation?

Helpful. It provided me with ideas on how to reintroduce and also about the kind of alternatives to my trigger foods.

How helpful did you find the Customer Care Team?

Very accommodating. Friendly and knowledgeable.

How has your life changed since taking the test?

My symptoms are slowly improving now and I am suffering from bouts of skin inflammation/rosacea far less often.