Oral Allergy Syndrome

[Lamb]

Have you ever had a weird reactions to fresh fruits and didn't know why? It could be oral allergy syndrome where your body thinks that the proteins in that fruit are the proteins of things you are allergic to.

Last year I discovered that I had oral allergy syndrome and it surprised me because it seemed to have come out of nowhere even though I have a lot of allergies. This isn't a "true" allergy, it mimics that allergy from what I understand. My worse fruits were watermelon and cantaloupe. I found that Zyrtec helped but made me sleepy.

So I stopped eating fresh fruits and tried baking them to see if it made a difference and at first I couldn't even eat them that way. Then I made some mini blueberry muffins and I could have one or two.

This year I found I could have a banana once a week.

Well, yesterday I decided to buy an entire watermelon that was on sale and when I cut it and ate pieces out of it, I was fine. But later I went back for more and my throat swelled up. I had a hard time sleeping, even after taking some generic flonase (I am out of Zyrtec because the one I need is hard to find). My husband won't eat watermelon, so now I need to ask my neighbors if they want containers of cut up watermelon.

 

[Forgiven1]

I have not hear of that. Must be hard to deal with.

 

[Lamb]

I have not hear of that. Must be hard to deal with.

It's a total pain. After having the watermelons and swelling, now I can't eat bananas again either. My neck hurts really bad and I'm out of my Zyrtec medicine (can't find the kind I can have). No more fruits for me for a few months again. Eat healthy they said, you'll feel good, they said. That was a lie

 

[Frankj]

It's a total pain. After having the watermelons and swelling, now I can't eat bananas again either. My neck hurts really bad and I'm out of my Zyrtec medicine (can't find the kind I can have). No more fruits for me for a few months again. Eat healthy they said, you'll feel good, they said. That was a lie

By any chance are you also allergic to latex?

 

[Lamb]

By any chance are you also allergic to latex?

Yes, as well as ragweed, grass and other things.

 

[Frankj]

Yes, as well as ragweed, grass and other things.

The grass could be unrelated, but the latex, ragweed, watermelon and banana's all contain a similar protein that can cause the allergies. It might be treatable, I have a friend whose wife has multiple serious allergies to all sorts of things normally present in the environment and she has to go to a specific clinic that actually develops a specific anti allergen shot tailored exactly to her needs. I don't know what it costs but he said it is quite expensive but doesn't have to be redone very often and actually solves the problem by addressing the allergy itself and not just the symptoms. You might ask your doctor or AI about this approach.

 

[Lamb]

The grass could be unrelated, but the latex, ragweed, watermelon and banana's all contain a similar protein that can cause the allergies. It might be treatable, I have a friend whose wife has multiple serious allergies to all sorts of things normally present in the environment and she has to go to a specific clinic that actually develops a specific anti allergen shot tailored exactly to her needs. I don't know what it costs but he said it is quite expensive but doesn't have to be redone very often and actually solves the problem by addressing the allergy itself and not just the symptoms. You might ask your doctor or AI about this approach.

I could...but I also have numerous allergies to things that some medicines contain, so it's difficult for me.