Intolerant to most fruits, vegetables and nuts

[Nick3144]

Hi, nice community you all have here.

Was hoping to get some input on my food allergies, or it might be just be food intolerance to be honest. So for the last 10-15 years I have noticed that whenever I eat most fruits, veggies, and nuts before cooking my mouth, gums, lips and throat get very itchy and swell up. The itchiness is the worst part as it can feel unbearable if I eat more then a tiny bit of the offending food. I have not however tested how far I could actually go or tested how bad the symptoms get as I usually only eat very little of the offending food and if the itching starts I stop right away.

This does not usually happen if the veggies are fully cooked, if it is a fruit juice or if it is processed first. I thought this might be Oral Allergy Syndrome but am not sure. When I was a child and up until about age 12 I had terrible allergies that would result in constant sneezing, and an itchy face and eyes. This was usually from the grass or trees that were in bloom at the time. As I have gotten older, I no longer suffer from the sneezing, itchy face and eye allergies that I used to but I recently had an allergy test (I attached the results of it here, the higher the number the more of a reaction I showed, apparently anything over 10 is really high) and it shows that I am still highly allergic to a lot of plants.

If it is not Oral Allergy Syndrome, I think it might have to do with just the way fruits and veggies are processed/cultivated and that they have a lot of grass/weeds and other things that are still on them, or even in them that for the most part get "removed" when they are cooked or processed but am unsure of how correct this assumption might be.

I was hoping to get some feedback from some of you that might have an idea of what I am talking about. After the allergy skin test I had talked to my doctor and he said it would probably be best to just avoid the foods that cause the reactions or to come in for further testing but have had to put it off a bit for financial reasons, I mean I can eat just fine if I avoid these things as I always have but avoiding all fresh fruits, veggies and nuts is pretty disheartening. Would it be a good idea to try to test my reactions to these foods that cause reactions little by little? Would it help by getting my body "used" to these foods and prevent future reactions?

Thank You

[Abs101]

http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/oral-allergy-syndrome

[Nick3144]

Thanks for the replies, they do help. I suppose I will avoid these things as I have always done and just keep waiting until I can get to a proper allergy specialist, although I am unsure of what they can do to help with something like this beyond telling me what I already know.

Thanks again :)

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Once the allergy testing is positive, they are best avoided. The other alternative would be to get desensitized. Very minimal amounts of the allergen or the antigens are used for Desensitization, which is done over a prolonged period of time. The body is very slowly and gradually exposed to the allergen so that it stops reacting. The severity of the allergic reaction is tested and based on this the therapy is planned. The dilution of the agent used and the course of therapy are planned according to the severity and with adequate monitoring the person is desensitized.

You can discuss this with your allergy specialist.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[ChitChatNine]

OH MY ... those are good-size wheals you have there on your test results :(

[ChitChatNine]

Hi, being a Mom to two teens  (now in their late teens) who have severe OAS it sounds like it may be this and during pollen season the OAS can be much more reactive than other times of the year.  When cooked, my teens can eat their foods that react ok, but if raw their mouth swells inside in the worst scenario and/or everything inside itches and ears even can get red!  I read that 1% (I think) of OAS can turn into anaphylaxis so you are prudent to stop eating those items that cause issues.  That's my two cents!

WELCOME to our community -- so glad you found us!

C~