Essential Allergy Test

Order this kit and it is posted to you with lancets, a collection tube, plasters, instructions and a prepaid return envelope. Wash your hands in warm water, prick a fingertip, fill the small tube and post it back the same day. The laboratory tests your sample against 42 allergens and emails a colour-coded report within up to 10 working days. No GP referral, no appointment and nothing to stop beforehand.

£179 for this 42-allergen home kit, including laboratory analysis and the report. Our Complete Allergy Blood Test covers 295 allergens from £329, and the Premium test with molecular detail is £399. On the NHS, allergy testing is free but only by referral to an allergy clinic, which usually tests a few suspected allergens chosen from your history and can involve a long wait.

It covers the allergens that cause most reactions: the common food allergens, the main UK pollens, house dust mites, the three most common pet allergens and one mould. It does not cover less common foods such as sesame, mustard, lupin, kiwi or individual tree nuts beyond almond and hazelnut, insect venoms, latex, most moulds, or less common animals. If your suspected trigger is not in the list of 42, or you react to something you cannot identify, the Complete test's 295 allergens is the better choice.

An allergy is an immune reaction involving IgE antibodies: symptoms such as hives, swelling, itching, sneezing, wheeze or vomiting appear within minutes to two hours and can be dangerous. An intolerance is not IgE-driven; bloating, wind, headaches or tiredness build slowly and are unpleasant rather than dangerous. This test measures IgE, so it identifies allergies. For intolerances, our Premium Food Intolerance Test measures IgG reactions to 200 foods and drinks, also £179 as a home kit.

Each of the 42 allergens is listed with your specific IgE level and a class, colour-coded as no reaction, low, medium or high. No reaction means no antibody was detected. Low often occurs without symptoms. Medium and high mean you are sensitised and a reaction is likely if you are exposed. The report includes a summary and suggested next steps. A positive result is strong evidence but not a diagnosis on its own: it should be matched to what you actually react to, and confirmed by a clinician before you cut a staple food out of your diet.

If you have had symptoms after eating that food, the result confirms the likely cause: avoid it and take the report to your GP, who can refer you to an allergy clinic for a management plan and, if reactions have been severe, an adrenaline pen. If you eat the food regularly with no symptoms, a low or medium result usually means sensitisation without allergy, and you should not remove it on the blood test alone; ask your GP. Never introduce a food you have previously reacted to badly without medical advice.

No. Antihistamines and steroid nasal sprays do not affect IgE levels in the blood, so keep taking them. This is one advantage of a blood test over skin prick testing, where antihistamines must be stopped for several days. No fasting is needed.

The finger-prick sample is analysed in the same accredited laboratory, by the same specific IgE method, as a venous sample taken in a clinic; the volume needed for 42 allergens is small enough for a fingertip. Specific IgE blood testing is the standard laboratory test used by NHS allergy services. The result is as reliable as the sample: fill the tube to the line and post it back the same day.

Inhaled allergens: sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy watery eyes, wheeze or cough, often seasonal or worse indoors or around animals. Food allergens: itching or tingling in the mouth, hives, swelling of the lips, face or eyes, vomiting, cramps or diarrhoea within two hours of eating. Any swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing or faintness is an emergency: call 999. Symptoms that build over days point to intolerance rather than allergy.

No. Goodbody tests are for adults aged 18 and over. Allergy testing in children should be arranged through your GP, who can refer to a paediatric allergy service where testing is interpreted alongside a full history and, where needed, supervised food challenges.

Yes. Hay fever is an allergy to pollen, and the test includes the pollens that cause almost all UK hay fever: timothy and rye grass, birch, hazel, ash and olive tree pollen, and mugwort, ragweed and plantain weeds. Knowing which pollen you react to tells you when your season is: tree pollen from late March to May, grass from May to July, weeds from June to September. It also covers house dust mite, cat, dog and horse, the usual causes of year-round symptoms.

Your colour-coded report is emailed within up to 10 working days of your sample reaching the laboratory, with a summary of what reacted and suggested next steps.