Sulpiride

Nowadays, it seems most of us suffer from some irritating minor malaise whose causes cannot quite be pinpointed. Asthma, eczema, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome: their incidence is on the rise. And many people are looking for an explanation for their ailments in their diet. Twenty per cent of people believe they have an adverse reaction or intolerance to some kind of food. While medical experts claim that only 1-2 per cent are actually experiencing a true intolerance, no other causes for these modern epidemics have been put forward.

Sometime in my mid-20s I developed irritable bowel syndrome. IBS, which is characterised by a spectrum of unattractive and embarrassing symptoms from constipation and diarrhoea to bloating, wind and spasms, isn't life threatening. It is estimated that between 15 and 20 per cent of the population suffer from the condition. Yet it can be extremely debilitating.

For several years I hid indoors, gnawed with shame and self- hatred at the chronic and uncontrollable attacks of wind I would often suffer in public spaces. I doused myself in perfume. I burned candles. On the days when I was riddled with pain and anxiety from the spasms brought on by the IBS, death seemed preferable to life. For what could be worse, socially, in our ultra-clean, deodorised, aromatherapeutic world than to smell bad. Worse still, I worked in fashion journalism, not a world renowned for compassion or understanding towards the slightest physical defect.

I had an overwhelming urge to erase the problem. To deal with it and vanquish it and to once more be unselfconscious about my body rather than at war with its offensive and uncontrollable spasms.

So, in the mid-Nineties, I paid my first visit to a GP to see what could be done about it. At the time I was living in Scotland and I remember acutely trudging through the pouring rain of Edinburgh and hoping I would return from the surgery cured. The consultation room had a brown nylon carpet; the doctor was a brusque woman with short hair. She prescribed Merbentyl, an antispasmodic drug used in the treatment of chronic IBS. The next morning I took two. The sensation it caused was weird - the muscles in my body felt simultaneously slack and clenched. It turned the rippling spasms in my gut into a kind of constant tautness. What was almost worse was that it affected my eyes. Suddenly they felt as though they were bulging and popping from my head in a kind of globular thousand-yard stare. I felt that I had to avert my gaze from whomever I was talking to so as not to frighten them (an unfortunate characteristic which has stuck). I was mortified.

It quickly became apparent that this drug was plunging me into a physical hell all of its own making. A scan through a friend's medical dictionary revealed one of the side effects to be "vision disturbances". This was an understatement. Wracked by my experience on the Merbentyl, I went back to see my GP who seemed to deny I was experiencing any side effects. She suddenly deemed the cause of my IBS to be mental and prescribed Prozac. And this was the beginning of a long, inconclusive trail of visits.

Five years on, I am desperate. I have had barium enemas, colonic irrigation, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, therapeutic massage, reflexology, acupuncture, homeopathy, Chinese medicine and faith healing. I have taken Prozac, Valium, Citalopram, aloe vera juice, peppermint oil, charcoal tablets, calcium and magnesium, acidopholus, linseeds, psylium husks, Colofac, Colpermin, cayenne pepper, spirulina, even sulpiride - which is an antipsychotic drug prescribed to people with physical tics and even schizophrenia.

All these remedies I took in the hope of ridding myself of this crippling pain and shame. All to no avail. I have seen the top nutritionists in the country and the top psychologists. But although food intolerance was suggested, nothing was verified by testing. I have been examined by esteemed gastroenterologists and colo-rectal professors alike. I've talked with a stream of psychiatrists, many of whom deemed me an "interesting case". I have the home telephone number of the founder of Aveda, Horst Rechelbacher, who was particularly sympathetic.

And so I end up, one Monday morning, waiting to have a consultation at Farmacia's clinical green homeopathic treatment centre on the top floor of Selfridges in London. I am not hopeful. Over the years I have persevered with wheat exclusion diets, detoxes, spells on raw food, weeks without dairy products, months without coffee. Wheat does seem to trigger my gut into either inaction or spasm. It is painful to digest, sometimes I can almost feel it scraping and clogging through my system like one of those medieval balls with spikes on them.

So I decided to go to Farmacia. Founded by the former chemist Sanjay Bhandari in 1997, this holistic boutique and clinic, originally set up on Drury Lane in Covent Garden, has quickly established itself as a kind of alternative Boots. Not only do they offer one of the best organic skin and haircare selections in London, with brands like the American Burt's Bees and France's Rene Furterer, but it's a reliable (and chic) place to head for complementary medical treatments such as acupuncture and reflexology. Its success has been such that more stores are planned both in and outside London. At the end of last year, they opened a concession in Selfridges. It's a slightly incongruous venue for an urban healing clinic, but nevertheless even on a Monday morning it's surprisingly busy. A friend had recommended Farmacia as having helped them with their migraines. And although I'd had an excellent holistic pedicure at the Covent Garden branch when it opened, I'd never considered having medical treatment there.

The treatment is called the Farmacia Urban Healing MOT. It is particularly recommended for people with digestive problems, and analyses levels of hormones and vitamins in the body, the health of the major organs and sensitivity to certain foods. According to my therapist, a very calm nutritionist called Rachel Davis, the three most common ailments people come to get help with are digestive problems, their skin and their energy levels - in that order.

She uses the Best (Bio Energestic Stress Testing) system for diagnosing my condition, a computerised system for testing for food intolerance. It's a relatively new way of determining sensitivity - in the past, nutritionists would recommend an elimination diet, cutting out all suspect foods and introducing them one by one to determine what had caused the problem. Now, theoretically, it can be done in one morning using a machine. She instructs me to hold on to a conducting rod in my right hand. She then presses a metal round- tipped pen-like instrument into "acupressure" points on my left hand. The pen sends minute electrical impulses through the body which mimic the presence of foods or vitamins. From the body's response it is, apparently, possible to gauge which foods create an adverse reaction or "intolerance" f (a mild sensitivity as opposed to an allergy which can be potentially fatal).

Before this, she takes an extremely thorough verbal medical history, which lasts about an hour. This is impressive, particularly in comparison to the five minutes I might get with my GP. At pounds 200 for two hours, it is expensive. However, the findings will supposedly help to identify the precise deficiencies and sensitivities that cause long-term difficulties and in doing so Farmacia claims it can treat ailments such as asthma or IBS.

I watch the computer screen as my body responds to the placebo current for each food. The machine makes a radiophonic orchestra- like Clanger whistle as a jagged line shoots up the graph on the computer screen. If the line ends up within a green band then it denotes a neutral reaction or tolerance to the foodstuff. If it falls significantly above or below, it denotes intolerance. The results are thus: I am intolerant to monosodium glutamate (MSG or flavour enhancer), tartrazine, gelatin, chocolate and yeast. I am also sensitive to tea, red wine, white wine and vodka - this comes as a disappointment. In fact, everything I like is a no-no. Goat's cheese, soya milk, cottage cheese and cream cheese, tuna fish, apples, nectarines and cashew nuts are all difficult for me to digest. As are aubergines (which I love), mushrooms, peppers and potatoes (which I live for mashed and saturated with butter). All kinds of sugar cause an adverse response.

Rachel says it is common for people to react to the foods they like. When the body is overloaded with these substances it builds up antibodies to them and we react adversely with any number of symptoms from sluggishness to eczema to diarrhoea.

After the screening is complete she determines that my large intestine is weak and dysfunctional, or at least not operating normally. This is not a surprise. I also discover that I am deficient in a large number of vitamins and minerals and have problems digesting sugars.

This is not life-changing news for me, it confirms what I had suspected for some time. But if you follow the advice, Farmacia claim the success rate is high. According to Rachel over two-thirds of patients who follow the advice find relief. I feel for a one-off consultation it is worth the money.

By this point I am ready for some practical advice. To hear about action that will produce positive results. It is going to be tough. No coffee at the beginning of the day - instead, hot water and lemon. No wheat products - which is not much of a change from the way I eat already. Two litres of water a day, which will be boring, but not problematic. Avoiding all sugar is also recommended. I end up buying the multivitamins, chromium and acidopholus supplements she suggests. What gives me added impetus is that, unrelated to my Farmacia appointment, my doctor - yes, unbelievably my own NHS GP - has prescribed me a granular food supplement called Manevac that seems to be relieving my pain and symptoms. In combination with this detox plan I figure I might achieve some relief. Rachel recommends a follow- up consultation in two months to determine my progress.

It's now over a week since the consultation and I feel lighter, happier and more energetic. I am losing weight and am feeling far less tired. My irritable bowel syndrome seems to have become less acute. Most important of all though I now have a glimmer of hope that the spasms might go away, thanks to this new form of allergy testing. In the end, all I really want to be is like everyone else. E

For more information about its allergy testing, contact Farmacia, 169 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2 (020-7831 0830).

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