Cases, Cases, Cases 35allowed to continue in his diet did not agree with him. Yet it would have
been a terrible mistake to assume he was not reacting to any of the banned
foods; in fact, when we tested them several caused a flare-up, namely wheat,
egg (very bad), tomato and milk.
We next went on to inquire into several foods we regard as relatively
safe. (The emphasized word is important because there is no such thing as
an absolutely safe food: I have patients who have been made ill by every
substance you can name, including such innocent-sounding ones as carrot,
lettuce and water.)
In Mr. Exley’s case we came up trumps with pork and lamb. For
both of these he followed the outlined test procedure given in this plan, and
there was no mistaking the result: it meant several days of feeling unwell
with a raw, itchy skin. Avoiding those also, he began to make rapid progress,
and within weeks his skin looked clear and healthy except for small patches
on his lower legs. Since none of his clients see this part of him it causes no
embarrassment or difficulty, and naturally he is very pleased.
Case no. 5: Bowel disorder
The next patient is Maria, an attractive 24-year-old Londoner of Cypriot
extraction. She came to see me with abdominal distress, flatulence, bloating
and variability of bowel function. Sometimes she would be constipated for
days on end; at others she had diarrhea so severely that she would be caught
out and have to run immediately to the nearest toilet. The complaint had
troubled her for as long as she could remember; furthermore, her father, his
father, an aunt and a young cousin were affected in exactly the same way.
Almost continual stomach pains were bad enough, but what
troubled her most was the flatulence. She had a job that meant a lot to her:
working for a celebrity tour promotion agency. It meant she had frequent
opportunities to accompany artists and stars for up to a day, taking them for
meals and showing them around the capital. But so often had she declined
these wonderful assignments (using fabricated excuses about “important
appointments”) that her employers had assumed she was not interested and
ceased to ask her. Instead she was left with mundane office chores, and even
then things were sometimes difficult; she had to suddenly excuse herself
from a meeting to break wind in the corridor outside.
Her relationships with the opposite sex were spoilt because she
was embarrassed about her condition. She had a fixation that she smelt
offensive, and one boyfriend, perhaps trying to be helpful, had dropped
hints about this, indicating that it was not all “in her mind.” When the