Susan Stratford vomited after meals, her skin was red raw, she felt tired all the time and she was extremely prone to illness. This was her life for eight years.

But although she suspected she had a food allergy, her doctor refused to help and simply repeated useless prescriptions.

The 33-year-old receptionist says: "I feel very disillusioned and let down by the medical profession. At one point they put me on anti-depressants, which are still in my cupboard. I never took them.

"I told the doctor I wasn't depressed but there was something wrong with me. It was a very frustrating time.

"I remember once going to the surgery with raw skin from head to toe. My doctor told me not to be a silly girl and to go home and put on some cream." Her condition got so bad Susan was admitted to hospital on several occasions. Even there, she was told to go home and take her medicine.

"At some points it was so bad I couldn't go out and I always had to wear long clothing to cover my skin. I couldn't put make-up on or use facial cleansers because they burned so badly," she remembers. "It was affecting my whole life."

In desperation, Susan, of Berinsfield, spent £35 a week for two years going to a spiritual healer in Buckinghamshire.

"I was told I had a yeast allergy and was put on a very strict diet," she says.

But in April, when her condition failed to improve, she realised she was getting nowhere. So she opened up the Yellow Pages - and found the Oxford Allergy Centre.

After meeting director Dr Peter Fell, she knew she could be cured.

Rigorous tests showed Susan was severely allergic to certain foods, including potatoes, hard cheese, tomatoes and wheat - all of which had been included in her previous diet.

"The spiritual healer only let me eat porridge, fruit, vegetables and meat. I used to eat grapefruit for breakfast and drink cups of coffee all day, both of which I'm very allergic to.

"It was a huge relief to finally find out what was wrong with me and I lost 10lbs without dieting. Dr Fell said I was just one of those unfortunate people who was allergic to lots of foodstuffs." Now that she has cut these out of her diet she is much better. She doesn't vomit, her skin is clear and she has a new lease of life.

"I feel so much better in myself. I haven't felt this good in the last ten years. I still have to be careful when I go out and I can't drink, but it's a small price to pay," she says.

Susan paid four visits to the Oxford Allergy Centre at £35 a time and says it was worth every penny.

Susan's laborious path to the clinic is typical. Many of Dr Fell's patients come to him as a last resort and few are recommended by doctors. That's why he has brought out a new book, Was It Something You Ate?, to help people who are looking for answers to their problem.

Kevan Elsby, 41, was told by his doctors he had an allergy, but no more. He started to get lethargic, had breathing problems and felt as if his life energy was just slipping away. "It really affected me, both at home and work. I couldn't concentrate on anything or sleep. It was like permanently having mild flu," says Kevan, a coffee scientist from Banbury.

His GP prescribed an inhaler, but as his condition deteriorated, Kevan realised he had to take action himself, and he looked up allergies on the Internet. "There is so much hocus-pocus out there but as a scientist I recognised that the Oxford Allergy Centre used a scientific approach."

After being tested, Kevan discovered he was allergic to dust mites and mould, as well as certain foodstuffs such as wheat, coriander and brewing yeast.

He laid non-mite carpet in his house, changed his office and diet, became a teetotaller and is now a new man.

"I lost a stone without even trying and in three to five days was transformed. It was a tremendous relief. I had begun to think I was seriously ill," he says. "I have the occasional pint of real ale but apart from that don't succumb to temptation. When something makes you feel bad, the yearning to have it is reduced and I'm in control of my allergy now."

Kevan still has injections four times a year to help with his dust allergy, but he should be completely cured in a few years.

He remains angry about his treatment by the medical profession. "When I told my doctor about the transformation, he told me he knew Dr Fell. So why didn't he refer me?"

Story date: Saturday 30 October

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.