Food Allergy Test Instructions

Use this page to review the food allergy test instructions Dr. Dahlman discussed with you about how to accomplish his food allergy test. Please read carefully and perhaps a couple times to avoid sending Dr. Dahlman questions that are already answered here. Let me repeat that: The purpose of this article is to provide you with the answers to questions you may have. Please trust the info in this article. It is written specifically to answer the most common questions.

You will be receiving a test collection kit via FedEx from Genova Diagnostics in Asheville, North Carolina. When you open the box you will see it is lined with styrofoam and contains everything you need to accomplish the test: Necessary test tubes, requisition for Genova Diagnostics, instructions for you, instructions for the lab technician, a freezer brick and a FedEx return mailer bag that is prepaid.

Please freeze the freezer brick and remove it from the freezer and place it in the styrofoam cooler when you leave to go get your blood drawn. Take the entire box with you.

Where to go to have your blood drawn

Your options for the blood draw are a friendly doctor who is willing to do you a favor and draw your blood for you and has the ability to “spin it down” which requires a centrifuge. Most doctors who draw blood will have a centrifuge.

If you do not have a doctor to do this you can look up “Laboratories” in the Yellow Pages and go there. The most common labs in most areas are Quest or LabCorp. You can also go into a hospital laboratory for your blood draw. No appointment necessary, just show up.

If you go to a laboratory, please understand you may be taking that very busy person you find at the front desk a bit out of their comfort zone. Most patients come in with a requisition from a local doctor, have their blood drawn and leave. The lab identifies the sample and sends it to their own facility for analysis.

So, you may have to do a bit of a sales job by explaining to them that you know that they don’t do this test there and you are not asking them to perform the analysis, you simply want to pay them for blood drawing services and you will take responsibility for sending the sample off to the lab that your doctor has recommended.

The charge may be small for the blood drawing services.

If you cannot find a lab near you who will draw your blood, here is a new source around the country for labs based on your zip code that may draw the blood for you:

Find a Lab to Draw Your Blood Here

Hand the lab technician the instructions for the blood draw, though they may only glance at them as this test is a standard laboratory protocol…something they have done many times before. DO NOT GIVE THEM THE REQUISITION WITH MY NAME ON IT. THAT WILL ONLY CONFUSE THEM. THE REQUISITION IS FOR GENOVA, NOT THEIR LAB.

Once you have had your blood drawn, you will wait in the waiting room for about 20-30 minutes while they prepare the sample. They will hand you a plastic bag with the sample in smaller test tubes than it was drawn into.

Put the bag they hand you into the cooler with the freezer brick. Place the entire package into the FedEx prepaid mailer bag and seal it. The mailer has an address label on it, please place your name and address in the return section. It also has an 800 number for you to call FedEx to arrange pickup. They will get to your home or office by the end of the day. While you wait for the pickup, please put the entire package into your freezer. It’s only important that it stay cold, there is no amount of time that it must be in the freezer before pickup.

Sometimes the lab will want to keep the sample and hand it off to FedEx when they come to the lab at the end of the day. Please call them the next day to make sure the pickup was accomplished.

Please note you have no need to fast for this test.

Here are some important things to remember:

You only need to have one test tube of blood drawn. There are additional test tubes in the kit, the laboratory can keep them or throw them away. If you and Dr. Dahlman have discussed adding the “Vegetarian Profile” to this test, you will fill two test tubes.
On the requisition for Genova Diagnostics you will see that Dr. Dahlman’s name and address are preprinted on it. There is also a place for Dr. Dahlman’s signature. There is no need for Dr. Dahlman’s signature. These tests are shipped out everyday throughout the US and Canada and the laboratory knows that Dr. Dahlman will never see the requisition.
The ONLY information you need to put on the requisition is your name and address in the spaces provided if it is not already pre-printed. Please do not check anything or put any additional information on the requisition. Dr. Dahlman tells the lab all they need to know to accomplish this test. Anything else you put on the requisition other than your name and address may cause you to have to repeat the test.
There may be two confusing statements contained in the instructions for you. The first says that you should “eat a wide variety of foods prior to the test”. That is incorrect. Please follow whatever dietary instructions that you and Dr. Dahlman have in place. Change nothing. Some patients take that statement to mean that they should eat some dairy or gluten in order to have an accurate test. That is incorrect.
The second possible confusing statement says that “you should stop all anti-inflammatory medications” for a period of time prior to the test. If you are on any anti-inflammatory medications, please stay on them and DO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICATIONS.
Remember that you and Dr. Dahlman discussed that you will set your next appointment to go over the test results by emailing or calling Dr. Dahlman’s office on the day you ship the sample with FedEx. Dr. Dahlman relies on you to contact him and he will be able to “guestimate” when the test will be ready and that’s when both of you will look at your calendars and pick a time to go over the results. Do not forget to contact Dr. Dahlman’s office to set your next appointment to go over the results.