I hate oral allergy syndrome

[joannqn]

It isn't even tree pollen season anymore, but DS continues to have reactions to fresh fruit. This year we've added strawberry, banana, and blackberry to his list of fruits he can't eat raw. Last summer was his first summer with OAS. His first obvious reaction was January 2011.

 

We made blackberry milkshakes from blackberries I picked in the preserve across the street. It caused a more severe reaction than some of the other fruits he can't have. Some dripped on his hand, and he developed a small welt where it hit. Later he developed throat swelling...the sensation that something is stuck in his throat. He took a Benedryl, and it was gone before we turned out the lights, but I hate that kind of reaction at bedtime especially. Fortunately, anaphylaxis is rare with OAS.

 

It's just frustrating. I wish there was something we could do to outgrow or overcome it...ya know.

Edited August 25, 2012 by joannqn

[SonshineLearner]

I do too!! For years my best friend said that I was just "sensitive"... made kinda fun of me... saying it wasn't an allergy. I first saw the Kaiser brochure about it being an allergy and felt validated!! I can have bananas again and have for a few years..

Here's a "FYI" if he becomes allergic to avocado look up the need to be careful about latex!! I'm not awake enough to explain it, but there's a correlation between those allergic to bananas and avocados and those who can become allergic to latex... so if you're careful, it's possible that won't happen...

I became able to eat bananas when I moved to OR from TX...

I have a huge list of not able to eat. I can usually eat carrots again (raw) but not yams (they are so good raw..) Red/Green/Yellow peppers I can sometimes eat... Sweet Peas I can't... BUT, I was able to eat them blanched!! I have a lot of other fruits including apples that I can't do raw. I'm sure you know that he can probably eat it cooked... It changes the enzymes...

::)

[joannqn]

He'll be so unhappy if avocado becomes an issue. We eat guacamole on a regular basis. He loves it and even knows how to make it himself.

 

His list includes apples, peaches, pears, nectarines, apricots, plums, strawberries, blackberries, and bananas. He had a reaction to one dinner recently that had almonds and guacamole. We think it was the almonds because he rarely eats nuts (never liked them) and often eats guacamole.

 

I won't even try hazelnuts. It's on the list of possible reactions for both alder and birch. Plus he's allergic hazelnut tree pollen.

 

So far the vegetables (and fruits often called veggie like tomatoes) are fine.

 

We know someone who pretty much can't eat any raw produce. I don't want that for my son.

 

It's harder now because we are switching our diet to one that is heavy on raw produce. We're eating fruit at least twice a day and salads 1-2 times a day.

[Upward Journey]

Me too!!!! :grouphug:

 

I've had it for about 10 years now. I went through a period where I couldn't have anything raw at all, not even lettuce. Mine started with strawberries and watermelon and gradually just got worse and worse :( I can now have lettuce, occasionally peppers as well as some tropical fruits (if I only have a very small amount). I had testing done and it was discovered that I had developed allergies to almost all of the vegetation in our area + the dirt. That was a problem since we lived in the desert :D I developed an allergy to latex, and started having issues around Sharpie pens at the same time (throat starts getting tight, tongue feels thick). Like you, I've found that Benedryl works quite well. Also taking Claritin and sudafed (the original kind) on a regular basis has allowed me to eat more things. It does make life interesting. When I start feeling sorry for myself (usually in the summer ;) ) I try to remember that it's a relatively small hardship all things considered. But sometimes it doesn't seem that way. :grouphug:

[The Girls' Mom]

:grouphug: We hate it too. My dd15 can't have anything related to a melon, bananas, or pineapple. I hope her list doesn't grow...she already hates veggies!

[Lolly]

Add my dd to the list. She can have absolutely NO raw fruits or vegetables. Not even...LETTUCE. The poor girl loved salads. In addition, she is also allergic to almost all of them cooked as well. She can have cooked broccoli, bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, spinach, corn, artichoke, tomatoes, potatoes, peaches, and blackberries. That is it. Nothing else. That cuts out an awful lot of spices too. They are usually vegetable based. Shame, because she loved so many foods.

[LittleIzumi]

It's annoying! And new fruits slowly add to the list. Carrots are getting worse for me this year. :001_huh: Bananas aren't an option at all anymore.

[Mergath]

I hate it, too. I started having reactions over the last year, and I can no longer eat raw apples, peaches, celery, and a few other things I'm forgetting. We have to keep plenty of Benadryl on hand now.

[Mrs Mungo]

My son had those issues for so long! But, it faded after we moved to Hawaii and hasn't come back since moving back to CONUS. I think the break from those types of tree pollens helped. Sorry you guys are going through this. My son would even react to BBQ sauce that had apple cider vinegar in it!

[Mom-ninja.]

This is my dh. He absolutely can't do apples, pears, or any stone fruit.

 

I hope it doesn't get worse because he eats salad every day for lunch.

[SonshineLearner]

Oh.... gosh... lettuce??? I hadn't thought of that. I can have some guac... sometimes.... I do love it!!!

[rafiki]

nt

[Photo Ninja]

My dd has not been able to eat most fresh fruit except berries and bananas because of this. I was actually relieved to learn about OAS because it explained what people said was not possible (she could not eat fruit raw but could eat it cooked).

 

She was ecstatic this summer because she has been out of state going to college and discovered that she could eat apples that were grown locally there! She has not eaten a fresh apple since she was too young to remember what it tastes like raw. We are assuming that whatever has caused the allergy problem with apples here is not an issue there. She has been loving eating apples for the first time in her life! She has also been able to eat peaches grown locally there.

[joannqn]

How do you guys go about finding out that you can eat something previously not tolerated? Do you just eat it and hope? Aren't you worried about reactions, especially bad ones? My son has completed of throat swelling (like something stuck in there) twice now...once with soy and once with blackberries.

 

I've had throat swelling with an antibiotic so I know what it feels like and it isn't pleasant even when it isn't life-threatening. That same family of antibiotics give me hives all over if I touch them. Yeah, I stay away from them.

[Photo Ninja]

How do you guys go about finding out that you can eat something previously not tolerated? Do you just eat it and hope? Aren't you worried about reactions, especially bad ones? My son has completed of throat swelling (like something stuck in there) twice now...once with soy and once with blackberries.

 

My dd is away from home and decided to try the apple because she was hungry and it was handy. Fortunately, in her case. the OAS allergy only gives her hives, not anaphylactic reactions. That is reserved for other allergies. So she only risked hives that she knew could be handled with Benadryl. She would never do this with peanuts or eggs or dogs or horses.

[Karen in CO]

JoAnn,

Are you sure the reaction was OAS? Since he reacted to the blackberry juice on his hand, it could just be a blackberry allergy instead of OAS. My OAS symptoms are blisters and burning in my mouth/throat, not hives and choking. That is more in the regular and severe/systemic allergy category.

[joannqn]

JoAnn,

Are you sure the reaction was OAS? Since he reacted to the blackberry juice on his hand, it could just be a blackberry allergy instead of OAS. My OAS symptoms are blisters and burning in my mouth/throat, not hives and choking. That is more in the regular and severe/systemic allergy category.

 

Well, he can eat all of the fruits cooked, including the blackberries. He also gets hives from raw apples and pears. This all came out when he started getting hives (on his face) when he drank smoothies. The allergist confirmed it as OAS because he's allergic to birch, alder, and several other trees. He's also allergic to timothy grass and soy. He had positives for peaches and apricots, but he can eat those cooked. He was also positive for peanuts, but he eats peanut butter regularly without any issues at all. Only soy and blackberries have caused throat swelling though.

 

I'm thinking about making an appointment with the allergist just to talk about what we've learned, see if there's anything the doctor has to tell me (DH took him the first time), and to get new epipens.

[Lolly]

Well, he can eat all of the fruits cooked, including the blackberries. He also gets hives from raw apples and pears. This all came out when he started getting hives (on his face) when he drank smoothies. The allergist confirmed it as OAS because he's allergic to birch, alder, and several other trees. He's also allergic to timothy grass and soy. He had positives for peaches and apricots, but he can eat those cooked. He was also positive for peanuts, but he eats peanut butter regularly without any issues at all. Only soy and blackberries have caused throat swelling though.

 

I'm thinking about making an appointment with the allergist just to talk about what we've learned, see if there's anything the doctor has to tell me (DH took him the first time), and to get new epipens.

 

My dd has OAS and allergies. The OAS's only symptom involves her throat feeling like it is swelling shut. The things she has regular allergies of also cause skin rashes and diarrhea. Some things, like apples, she reacts with all the above. By the way, watch shampoos, they are horrid about using real fruit juices. Poor dd had a rash on her face where her hair touched for a while before she read the ingredients on her new shampoo bottle...apple juice/extracts (can't remember which). Uggh.

 

As far as trying things she knows she reacts to, she pretty much does not. Trying new things (like in a restaurant) is scary. She can have Benadryl, so she just keeps it handy (the liquid kind). It will usually calm her throat down fairly quickly. If it doesn't, she has her epi pens.

[mamakim]

JoAnn,

Are you sure the reaction was OAS? Since he reacted to the blackberry juice on his hand, it could just be a blackberry allergy instead of OAS. My OAS symptoms are blisters and burning in my mouth/throat, not hives and choking. That is more in the regular and severe/systemic allergy category.

 

My OAS son and daughter both get rash/welts up their hands/arms when, say, peeling potatoes which they're OAS to. They're for sure not classically allergic, as they do fine with them cooked (potatoes being an example -dd in particular will rash on contact to all of her many OAS foods).

[Karen in CO]

My dd has OAS and allergies. The OAS's only symptom involves her throat feeling like it is swelling shut. The things she has regular allergies of also cause skin rashes and diarrhea. Some things, like apples, she reacts with all the above. By the way, watch shampoos, they are horrid about using real fruit juices. Poor dd had a rash on her face where her hair touched for a while before she read the ingredients on her new shampoo bottle...apple juice/extracts (can't remember which). Uggh.

 

As far as trying things she knows she reacts to, she pretty much does not. Trying new things (like in a restaurant) is scary. She can have Benadryl, so she just keeps it handy (the liquid kind). It will usually calm her throat down fairly quickly. If it doesn't, she has her epi pens.

Fructis has apple extract - my younger is allergic to apple, and I tried a new conditioner last week that I bought on sale without reading the label. That was a disaster.:glare:

[arlingbound]

This started plaguing my fruit-loving son about 2 years ago, when he was 12.

 

One thing I find challenging is that his symptoms seem to wax and wane depending upon the fruit and the season, so it is hard for me to tell what is and is not OK for him to eat. Also, sometimes I think a particular fruit may bother him, but he may eat it anyway because he wants to. For example, I recall him saying that pineapple and cherries bothered him a good deal in the past, but this summer he has been eating them. Now that I think about it, this summer he has really been eating everything: nectarines, peaches, plums, apples -- that he avoided in the past year or two.

 

Since his symptoms are not visible (mainly itchy mouth and throat), there isn't really a way for me to monitor what is going on, other than by a reaction that he reports. Is it healthy for him to eat fruits that give him an itchy feeling? Could it possibly exacerbate the syndrome?

[SonshineLearner]

Also, sometimes I think a particular fruit may bother him, but he may eat it anyway because he wants to. For example, I recall him saying that pineapple and cherries bothered him a good deal in the past, but this summer he has been eating them. Now that I think about it, this summer he has really been eating everything: nectarines, peaches, plums, apples -- that he avoided in the past year or two.

 

 

As I posted in a post above, I too can eat some fruits...sometimes.. and not others. I have SOOOO many things I can't eat (fruits/veggies) that I eat what I can.... when I think I can get away with it. I can't do apple... But baked apples are yes. I can't do sugar snap peas... but when I got them ready for the freezer after blanching them.. and I did just fine!! I was so excited. Then I tried blanching cherries... and it didn't work. etc... :)

[Lolly]

This started plaguing my fruit-loving son about 2 years ago, when he was 12.

 

One thing I find challenging is that his symptoms seem to wax and wane depending upon the fruit and the season, so it is hard for me to tell what is and is not OK for him to eat. Also, sometimes I think a particular fruit may bother him, but he may eat it anyway because he wants to. For example, I recall him saying that pineapple and cherries bothered him a good deal in the past, but this summer he has been eating them. Now that I think about it, this summer he has really been eating everything: nectarines, peaches, plums, apples -- that he avoided in the past year or two.

 

Since his symptoms are not visible (mainly itchy mouth and throat), there isn't really a way for me to monitor what is going on, other than by a reaction that he reports. Is it healthy for him to eat fruits that give him an itchy feeling? Could it possibly exacerbate the syndrome?

 

I know that for my dd, the most exposure she has the worse the reaction. Take a lovely salad for example. If she only has one every month or two her mouth just gets a little itchy. If she has one a week, her throat starts to swell a bit. If she has one more than twice a week...the epi pen will come into play. After her last salad, 3 or 4 years ago, she has been forbidden to ever try one again. (For her a salad means a bowl of lettuce. We know she can't have anything else in it!)

[Maverick_Mom]

I hate it, too. I've been getting back on my low-carb diet, and I made a huge, lovely salad with grilled chicken, beans, cheese, and fresh romaine, tomatoes, and cucumber. My reaction hasn't been severe, but it's been noticeable enough that I can tell that one or more of the vegetables is irritating my throat. Usually I experience that with bell peppers, so I leave them out (or just don't eat them raw). I've never had issues with the other veggies before. It makes it hard to eat healthily if you have to avoid fresh vegetables! I already have a problem with a number of fresh fruits.

 

Ah, well. I can always eat cooked veggies instead.

[Maverick_Mom]

I do too!! For years my best friend said that I was just "sensitive"... made kinda fun of me... saying it wasn't an allergy. I first saw the Kaiser brochure about it being an allergy and felt validated!!

 

 

I don't remember how I stumbled onto a website about OAS, but when I did, I felt validated, too! It was like, "YES! I am NOT crazy!" I'd had problems off and on for years -- apples, bell peppers, and carrots were really problematic, and if I put my hands anywhere near my eyes while preparing raw potatoes, I had a terrible reaction.

 

I miss raw apples the most -- the wonderful taste and sensation of biting into a crisp, juicy apple. But having your throat swell up is scary. I can live with cooked apples instead.

[joannqn]

I stumbled upon this blog in which the writer claims to have of OAS. There are a couple of people in the comments section that says they did too. This gives me hope.