Skin Prick / Allergy Test Advice

[Egordon]

Hi Guys,

I just got my intradermal done yesterday and the experience of it made me want to create a new thread so that we could discuss the Allergy tests more thoroughly. After all, these tests are incredibly important for most of us because if they don't come up "positive" we'll be denied treatment. But, as you can see from the Poll Center, there are quite a few individuals who unquestionably have our disorder but are producing "negative" tests.

I think my experience may speak to this problem somewhat. I tested positive yesterday but only did so after over 10 injections (and about 5 hours at the doctor) . My first injection was at about 1 : 40,000 and my "positive" injection was at about 1 : 150. In fact, had it not been for the fact that I've got an incredibly sympathetic and persistent doctor, I probably would've been diagnosed as not having the allergy. As i'll explain, I suspect that what caused this was a faulty or corrupted sample.

The difficulty that I experienced in getting a "positive" test got me thinking about all those folks who tested "negative" to the allergy tests, and what caused those results. (After all, a number of the people that tested negative initially seem to have tested positive under different circumstances.)

I think this topic is really important because if one of the methods that we use to get the sample used for the intradermal test is flawed, and that method is also used to get the densens samples, it should severely reduce the process's effectiveness.
. So I think we should make it a priority to determine what's causing the false negatives with our members!

For those of you that tested negative initially and later tested positive, what was different about the two tests? Were the samples frozen for the 1st one? Was there a long transport time? Was it ever exposed to any kind of heat? Was the second sample fresh? Did you take niacin beforehand?

Here are the conditions under which the doc got my sample: I forgot to fast the night before the test so I woke up very early (around 5am) and (after taking niacin) produced a sample. I placed the sample in the freezer, as instructed, until I drove to the doctor's at about 8:30. On the drive over, I had the heater on and it got somewhat toasty in the car. After about an hr of driving, I arrived at the doc's office and gave it to him.

It seems to me that either the heat, the cold, of the amount of time it took to get the sample to the doctor could've caused the sample to be incredibly weak or corrupted. (In fact, the doctor suggested that, in certain cases, such things could absolutely change the proteins and alter the test results.)  And the weakness of my response at that very low dilution (1 : 150) -- I just got a fairly small dot, and didn't really get any POIS symptoms -- was fairly atypical. Most people seem to have reacted very strongly at 1 : 40,000 (for many it even induced POIS). So something is clearly up.

For those who tested positive, under what circumstances was your sample produced and delivered? (Maybe I should take this topic to the Poll Center)

[Starsky]

Something to think about:

If we all have some kind of prostatis, is it possible that in semen are inflammatory mediators which cause a reaction? It would be a reaction not to semen but reaction caused by prostaglandins. I began to think about it after Animus case...  the prostate is a rich source of prostaglandins, some of which play a part in the inflammatory process, inflammation is a special problem for this organ. The different types of prostaglandins mediate in a sort of yin-and-yang way in the body. The "bad prostaglandins" constrict blood vessels and bronchial tubes, produce inflammation, and may exacerbate symptoms of PMS in women. The "good prostaglandins" reduce inflammation, and cause blood vessels and bronchial tubes to dilate. Accordingly, an imbalance in prostaglandin metabolism could easily set the stage for chronic inflammation of the prostate. I don't think anti-inflammatory medication is a good long-term solution, since in order to reduce inflammation it inhibits all prostaglandins -- the good ones as well as the bad ones. If we could find a way to selectively inhibit the bad prostaglandins without inhibiting the good ones, we'd have a good therapy for prostatitis. ("Good" and "bad" are relative terms, of course, since inflammation and constriction of blood vessels are to some extent a useful response to a wound or an infection.)

[Ccconfucius]

I got a positive reaction on my test, i got reactions from all sample have give for my allergy shots. ,Am still getting reactions.

My test.

-Woke up in the morning ejaculated and put sample immediately into a  insulated container with ice.  The first container where i put semen has no ice just the second container does.
-Drove about 10 minutes to doctor. and within about twenty minutes of getting to doctor they did test.
- My semen was fresh and never went in freezer and stayed cool.
- when i got my test the weather was fairly cool, not to cold.
- i even ejaculated the night before.
- Mine was also at a dr bewtra/nyguen and it was not diluted.
- my reaction was not that big, dr bewtra was about to say it was negative result.

My shots
- wake up in morning to produce sample and put into container and put container into insulated container with ice.
- drive 10 mins to doctor, within 20 mins doctor makes sample.
- put sample in fridge for storage, sometimes up to 4 months.  
- i have done nights where i ejaculated several times the night before producing semen.
- I dont worry about fasting.

Am trying to figure out if fresh semen will produce stronger reaction than refrigirated semen.
now that i am using same concentration from now on, i can compare the next time i make new sample.  

[Hoping]

I like the topic! Compiling a quick-reference guide is a good way to see what's work and what hasn't, and why that might be so. I've mentioned my allergy test in the forum before, but I'll repost it here.

My allergy test was considered positive.

I received an intradermal test from Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Bewtra at Creighton University. The semen was not diluted at all for the two intradermal injections. I collected a sample and immediately put it in the freezer (in a glass jar). I did this about a week before the test. A few hours before the test, I moved the sample to the fridge and thawed it. I then put it on ice for the drive to the doctor's office. It remained on ice until it was injected. When it was injected, it looked fresh.

The intradermal reactions were huge. It was 25x30mm wheal and erythema and 15x30mm wheal and erythema. Waldinger says in his study that wheal and erythema less than 5mm is negative. (For those who don't know, the "wheal" is the red bump that appears and the "erythema" is the flaring out rash that surrounds the wheal. Measuring these two components gets the numbers I mentioned above).

[Dante88]

I got a positive reaction on my test, i got reactions from all sample have give for my allergy shots. ,Am still getting reactions.

My test.

-Woke up in the morning ejaculated and put sample immediately into a  insulated container with ice.  The first container where i put semen has no ice just the second container does.
-Drove about 10 minutes to doctor. and within about twenty minutes of getting to doctor they did test.
- My semen was fresh and never went in freezer and stayed cool.
- when i got my test the weather was fairly cool, not to cold.
- i even ejaculated the night before.
- Mine was also at a dr bewtra/nyguen and it was not diluted.
- my reaction was not that big, dr bewtra was about to say it was negative result.

My shots
- wake up in morning to produce sample and put into container and put container into insulated container with ice.
- drive 10 mins to doctor, within 20 mins doctor makes sample.
- put sample in fridge for storage, sometimes up to 4 months.  
- i have done nights where i ejaculated several times the night before producing semen.
- I dont worry about fasting.

Am trying to figure out if fresh semen will produce stronger reaction than refrigirated semen.
now that i am using same concentration from now on, i can compare the next time i make new sample.  

Certainly POIS, how is your treatment going? It seems counter-intuitive to ejaculate before having your shot since you are already in a full allergic reaction from the orgasm...someone on the other forums compared it to being exposed to peanut butter, and eating a whole carton of it (if you are allergic to it) and then having the hyposensitization treatment (with peanut butter instead of semen)...it kind of defeats the purpose. What do you think? Personally  I don't think I could handle giving a sample before every shot, I would just feel too terrible.

Can you pm your Dr.'s name and location and contact info? My Dr. where I live is looking to speak with any other doctors performing this treatment.

Thanks!