My 25-year-old daughter was losing weight. Her skin was gray and mottled, and she had a couple of food allergies. She went to her family doctor, who prescribed an ointment for her skin and told her to eat more.

I can’t remember what the ointment the doctor recommended had in it - probably steroids. My daughter was not happy with it and prepared her own antifungal cream. Six months later, I visited my daughter because I thought she was near a nervous breakdown from the way she was behaving with her children - she was feeling so rotten, she could not even smile.

I suggested that she should have acupuncture because I know this is effective for nervous breakdowns. I also found a bioresonance therapist who tests for allergies.

It turned out that my daughter has multiple food intolerances, being allergic to about 10 different foodstuffs as well as to soap and shampoo. Soon after she started on a new diet and food supplements, she started to feel better.

The therapist told me she measures health on a scale of 1 to 25, with 25 being super-healthy. My daughter only scored 11 on this scale at the first visit. A month later, she scored 15, which is an improvement, but she still has a long way to go.

She feels better than she has felt for a long time and can smile again, but her behaviour is still a bit wobbly. Goodness knows what would have happened if she had returned to her family doctor. I imagine she would have been prescribed antidepressants, and her health might have deteriorated to the extent that she would no longer be able to look after her children.

It makes me wonder how many people there are out there being treated with antidepressants or classified as having nervous breakdowns when they are really just allergic to foods. - P. Knox, Holyhead