My DD is allergic to a lot of raw fruits...Anyone else?

[1GirlTwinBoys]

She's 13 and has told me before the when she eats apples, cherries and other fruits that her mouth feels weird and itchy and even her ears will feel itchy.  I mentioned to her doctor so we went over to the Children's Hospital and had blood work done on Friday.  The level is supposed to be less than 0.34 but she tested 4.84 on apples, 3.something on peaches and 2.something with cherries.  I think she's possibly allergic to plums and apricots too but we just tested for those three fruits so far. 

 

He is sending her to an Allergist and wants more extensive testing done to see what we're dealing with.  She doesn't have this problem when the fruit is cooked but only raw.  He mentioned something about the proteins being broken down when cooked etc...

 

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone else has this, or if your children are dealing with this.  If so, what treatment has been done and how do you handle this type of food allergy?

 

 

[Spryte]

I have lots of experience with this, frustratingly. I grew up with a mother who could eat *nothing* raw aside from iceberg lettuce. Everything else triggered full body gives and anaphylaxis. She just avoided raw foods. And cooking was an adventure - she basically wore a hazmat suit. Really. Once, without the mask, she had juice from a raw potato get into her eye. Yikes. I won't describe what happened, but it was a trip to the ER.

 

Now, my DS has multiple life threatening food allergies. I think of those as separate from his raw food issues, because most of the raw foods that bother him, he can eat cooked. Like my mom. In DS's case, he has Oral Allergy Syndrome in addition to his other allergies. So if a raw fruit or veggie has proteins that are similar to one of his other food or environmental allergens, he'll react with tingling, burning and itching in his throat. Cooking breaks down the proteins enough that his body can handle them. With the exception of bananas, none of his raw food issues have become anaphylactic, and he can eat them all cooked. So it's a bit different from my mom, but we still avoid the OAS foods because it can become anaphylactic, like his other allergies.

 

I feel like I need to point out that this, the raw food issue and OAS, is significantly different from his other LTFAs. No amount of cooking makes peanut, tree nut, sesame, lentil or his other anaphylactic allergens safe for him. OAS is a different beast, and easier to manage.

 

As for treatment, we've done extensive allergy testing and he's followed by an allergist we trust. We avoid his allergens. Carry an epipen. Keep Benadryl on hand.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Spryte

[sbgrace]

Google oral allergy syndrome.

But I don't know why her blood allergy tests were positive. I'm glad you'll see an allergist.

[Starr]

My dd started with oral allergy to apples and ended up with a tree nut allergy, especially almonds. I don't know if they are related. 

[Carrie12345]

I was recently talking to a group of friends and acquaintances about allergies in our hs circles.  Several people were talking about nut trace and other allergens in fruit *coatings.  So, even without an actual FRUIT allergy, supermarket fruit can be impossible to eat.

[The Girls' Mom]

My oldest dd has OAS, and other food allergies.  She can eat grapes, berries, and oranges, but pretty much all other fruit is out.  Anything remotely related to a melon is the worst.  Most cooked fruit is ok.  She's also allergic to nuts, shellfish, diary, wheat, sesame, and soy in varying degrees according to blood and skin tests.  Most of it just makes her feel kind of bad.  She stays far away from nuts though, as those test highest and make her feel the worst.

[Seasider]

Almonds and cherries are related, something about the pit - iirc, cherry pits are even used to make artificial almond flavoring, because they have similar properties.

 

Two of my kids have slight reactions to some fruits. "Fruit coatings," that's interesting; they can handle organic apples and bananas from certain stores, but just regular ones from high volume mainstream groceries stores make 'em tingly.

[Upward Journey]

As far as I know there's no treatment for OAS (I wish!).  It'a just something you have to live with. :(  The severity fluctuates with the allergy season.  It can make summer a bit depressing.

 

I have reactions to almost anything in it's raw form: fruit, veggies, seeds & nuts.  I carry an epi-pen because I'm anaphylactic to citrus of all things. I have to be really proactive about making sure that people don't peel or eat oranges around me. It makes flying on an airplane a bit scary. 

 

I've learned that, yes, benedryl can be chewed  :ack2:

 

Cooking the food, in most cases, should let her eat it.  Freezing also works (sometimes). Dehydrating is iffy; that depends on how high the heat was when processed. 

 

I developed a latex allergy around the same time (it's related to the OAS).  Something to be aware of.

 

 

[J-rap]

My dd has a reaction to many raw fruits and veggies.  Pears and apples and blueberries are okay, and I'm sure there are a few others too that are okay.  Melons and bananas are worst among the fruits.  Most raw veggies are out, with the exception of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and beets.  The inside of her mouth and lips turn very numb and tingly.  Cooking the vegetables fixes the veggie problem.  She stays away from the fruit.

 

Interestingly, she was living in Costa Rica for about five years, and didn't react to the fruits and veggies there.  Her other allergies mostly went away too, as did her asthma.  She could eat bananas there fine, but if she ate bananas imported to the U.S. from Costa Rica while in the U.S., she reacted strongly.

 

We've tried to figure that all out.  I think part of it might have to do with the point at which the banana is picked.  In Costa Rica, they're picked later.  When they're imported, they're picked earlier.   Of course there could be some kind of preservative added too, but I thought I heard they weren't doing that anymore with imported bananas.

 

I can't remember if she does better with organic anything or not.

 

But I think there's a threshold component involved in her case too.  That is, when she's back in the U.S., her environment is different and she seems to be allergic to a lot of things.  So, her body is already being attacked and is sensitive, even before she eats fruits or veggies that bother her.  She doesn't seem to react to her environment in C.R. so maybe her body can fight off food allergens more easily.  Just my theory.   :)

 

In any case, this is a girl who broke out in a some kind of allergic rash within a few hours after being born!

Edited August 3, 2016 by J-rap

[Seasider]

My dd has a reaction to many raw fruits and veggies. Pears and apples and blueberries are okay, and I'm sure there are a few others too that are okay. Melons and bananas are worst among the fruits. Most raw veggies are out, with the exception of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and beets. The inside of her mouth and lips turn very numb and tingly. Cooking the vegetables fixes the veggie problem. She stays away from the fruit.

 

Interestingly, she was living in Costa Rica for about five years, and didn't react to the fruits and veggies there. Her other allergies mostly went away too, as did her asthma. She could eat bananas there fine, but if she ate bananas imported to the U.S. from Costa Rica while in the U.S., she reacted strongly.

 

We've tried to figure that all out. I think part of might have to do with the point at which the banana is picked. In Costa Rica, they're picked later. When they're imported, they're picked earlier. Of course there could be some kind of preservative added too, but I thought I heard they weren't doing that anymore with imported bananas.

 

I can't remember if she does better with organic anything or not.

 

But I think there's a threshold component involved in her case too. That is, when she's back in the U.S., her environment is different and she seems to be allergic to a lot of things. So, her body is already being attacked and is sensitive, even before she eats fruits or veggies that bother her. She doesn't seem to react to her environment in C.R. so maybe her body can fight off food allergens more easily. Just my theory. :)

 

In any case, this is a girl who broke out in a some kind of allergic rash within a few hours after being born!

You make me want to move to Costa Rica!

[Spryte]

J-Rap, that's interesting about your DD. My mother had a similar experience. She was allergic to everything raw, and then when she was in her 50s she spent a lot of time in Bali, and Papua New Guinea and Thailand, and hiking to see hill tribes... At some point she threw caution to the wind, and tried a pineapple on the beach. Nothing there bothered her. She came home addicted to fruit. :)

[Tess in the Burbs]

my son has this.  Oral Allergy.  He's highly allergic to Birch trees, so most raw fruits cause itchy throat.  You can google to see the list of things to avoid if a birch allergy.  It's definitely the source of his issues.  He does now have peanut and tree nut allergies that he developed many years ago, but one by one they are being outgrown, so I hope one day the tree allergies will be less of an issue and he can do fresh fruits/veggies again.  But he knows he can't, so we usually have something packed that was cooked/processed for him to eat.   

[AmandaVT]

I can't eat raw pineapple. Well, I can, but it immediately gives me tons of canker sores and makes my whole mouth tingly and a bit numb. Cooked pineapple is fine though.

[TravelingChris]

My dd is allergic to citrus.  She is so allergic that anyone peeling an orange anywhere near her will trigger an anaphalactis.   We haven't tried giving her cooked citrus because of her severe reactions to raw. 

[wintermom]

To the OP, I was the same way in my teens, a sudden reaction to raw fruits starting with apples. It's linked to allergy to trees, which manifests as hay fever with me every spring. Is your dd showing any signs of air-borne allergies in the spring? I also have ragweed allergies in the early fall now, too. I'm not sure if this is more localized to where I live now, though. 

 

Anyhow, definitely see an allergist, as your dd may be a candidate for an epi-pen. When you see the allergist, you may want to bring along some fresh fruit for testing. The oils they have don't always cause a reaction as they are processed or something, so those of us who react to raw fruit may not react to the oils used at the allergist's office.

[kbutton]

You can get Benadryl fast melts (at least in generic form) from some stores. It can be hard to find. They are about 1/2 a benadryl tablet in dose, I think, but they are a good option to put under your tongue and travel more easily than liquid.

 

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=chewable%20children%27s%20benadryl   Various brands pop up here.

 

I am still figuring out my oral allergies--they seem to fluctuate based on other things that raise my histamine levels (glutamates, etc.). It's been fun. I seem to have OAS to coconut of all things, which is not on the typical list.

 

I would guess that OAS could be better in other locales because someone might not have allergies to the plants in that locale (if OAS is from reacting to plants with similar proteins).

 

Hang in there! 

[cjzimmer1]

It's linked to allergy to trees, which manifests as hay fever with me every spring. Is your dd showing any signs of air-borne allergies in the spring? I also have ragweed allergies in the early fall now, too. I'm not sure if this is more localized to where I live now, though

If you don't mind my asking, what part of the country do you live in. I'm in the Midwest and have never heard of hay fever as a spring allergy. For us hay fever is a mid to late August allergy and comes a few weeks before ragweed. My dad had both but I only have hay fever. He season of misery definitely lasts longer than mine. I do have issues with white oak as a spring allergy but the severity is highly variable from year to year depending on the pollen level.