A Hull woman who spent up to 15 spells in hospital in a single year with agonising gallstone attacks says a food intolerance test has helped her take back control of her life. Amelia Andrew, 25, began suffering crippling abdominal pain in 2024.
She said: “I had never felt pain like it. Doctors tried to pass it off as IBS. I couldn’t eat or drink, it would come straight back up.”
There were repeated A&E trips, ultrasound scans and spells on intravenous fluid drips. She was diagnosed with gallstones and told fatty food would set off an attack, but her experience was different.
“For me it was lying down to sleep and eating anything at all,” she said. “Sometimes I couldn’t eat or drink for 48 hours, which meant I lost a lot of weight. I was only allowed 3-5g of fat a day, which is very difficult.”
Doctors mentioned hormone and food intolerance testing but advised her to hold on for surgery, which meant a two-year waiting list. Amelia, a primary education manager for Tigers Trust – the charity attached to Hull City FC – was running PE sessions and football centres for children at the time.
She said: “It was impossible to fuel myself for the job. I wasn’t sleeping or eating properly, so it had an impact on my job and my social life.
“I didn’t eat out at all and saw my friends less. I felt like I was missing out.”
After a family member took a food intolerance test, Amelia looked into it herself. “I went online and chose Supply Life because it tests for the most things,” she said.
The results she received in November flagged reactions to gluten, cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk, dairy, casein, egg whites, hazelnuts, peanuts, flax seeds and brewer’s yeast. “Thankfully, all meat is fine,” said Amelia, who had previously been warned that it could be one of her main issues.
After talking through her results with a nutritionist, she cut out everything on the red list. “I’ve gone from two or three attacks a week, sometimes one every 24 hours, to less than one a week.”
In January she had emergency keyhole surgery to remove her gallbladder, which was 90 per cent full of stones. Amelia is clear the test was not a cure, saying: “I understand it wasn’t the sole reason I was suffering, but it definitely helped me manage my symptoms.
“I know what foods I can eat. I’m not as stressed and I don’t worry as much anymore.
“I’ve been on holiday and I’m going out more with friends. In two years, I only went out to eat twice but I can now do it much more.”
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