Oral Allergy Syndrome

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hi
I have OAS
I am only able to eat lettuce, onion, cabbage, Apple, lemon without my lips swelling up.
I can about 4 grapes, a small amount of cucumber, carrot and one thin slice of tomato until the swelling kicks in.

I do eat a lot of coleslaw and love it
I eat lots of onion and lettuce in everything too.

So having fruit salad, salads and smoothies are a big no no for me.

What other ways can I get health snacks without a trip to the hospital LOL


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Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Can you meat?
  • Blueseraphchaos
    Blueseraphchaos Posts: 843 Member
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    Nuts? Granola bars? Cereal? Not sure what all that allergy entails...if all else fails, ask your dr?
  • Zedeff
    Zedeff Posts: 651 Member
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    If if can only eat what you describe, how did you get to be overweight? Twenty pounds of onion and lettuce per day?
  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
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    OAS - Oral allergy syndrome, also known as pollen-food syndrome,is caused by cross-reacting allergens found in both pollen and raw fruits, vegetables, or some tree nuts. The immune system recognizes the pollen and similar proteins in the food and directs an allergic response to it. People affected by oral allergy syndrome can usually eat the same fruits or vegetables in cooked form because the proteins are distorted during the heating process, so that the immune system no longer recognizes the food.

    The foods I said I could only eat are the only raw fruit vegetables and nuts I can eat otherwise it all needs to be cooked.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Popcorn, cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, steamed broccoli or carrots. Eat what you always have, only in moderation.
  • lesliezimmer
    lesliezimmer Posts: 85 Member
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    I have similar allergies and I seem to find more than enough calories in processed foods! Ha. Though, I am trying to cut down on the processed foods, eating more nuts, beans and meats for me has helped.
  • longtimeterp
    longtimeterp Posts: 623 Member
    edited July 2015
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    or cook your food?

    eta: oral allergy sounds like a relationship deal-breaker lol
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited July 2015
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    If it helps any, I had this before it had a name. All kinds of allergists were interested and had heard about it and would talk my ear off about "Maybe this" and "Maybe that." It's the seeds. No, it's the stalk remnants. No, it's...whatever. I didn't care. I couldn't eat stuff I liked unless I cooked it. Steaming didn't do it, but baking, boiling or drowning in sugar (like canned peaches in heavy syrup, but not light syrup) did the trick.

    For many years, people (non-allergist people) thought I was lying. Because it wasn't possible...because they'd never heard of it and nobody they knew had it. Plus, there was no name for it, lol. "You're allergic to it fresh, but can eat it cooked? THEN you're not allergic?" Lots of suspicious questions and "You just don't like it," type comments. People are so annoying when they don't know something, so assume they know more. Ugh.

    Sugar pop and a Benadryl helped ease my swollen, itchy mouth if I ate a bitty bit of something.

    It started with bananas as a teen and got worse and worse, with more fresh food options eliminated. It was so bad I couldn't eat any fresh produce and had to cook everything. Then - almost in reverse order of how they left me, they started coming back.

    It all turned around. Bananas, raw carrots and fresh tomato are now the only things I can't eat. I never liked fresh tomato or carrots, but I'm still hoping for bananas!! I MISS bananas. (Banana bread, though, is cool.)

    Hope it turns around for you. :)
  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
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    I felt the same and still have people think I am nuts!

    My sister tells me I should wash it harder!

  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I felt the same and still have people think I am nuts!

    My sister tells me I should wash it harder!

    You can explain it until you're blue in the face. People who don't want to believe things just won't. When they're being especially dumb, I'd just give up. There are none so blind as those who will not see. :)

    It helps a lot to have a name for it, now. People tend to believe things that have names more than things that are explained to them.

    Melons! I forgot about melons. Even as a child, I couldn't eat melons and still cannot. But melon-flavored things, I love. And cukes are out, but pickles are in. :)
  • megpiesweats
    megpiesweats Posts: 10 Member
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    I have this too! I thought I was crazy until I happen to be dating the son of an allergist and asked him what it might be. He knew immediately when I mentioned the reaction to bananas and carrots, but somehow only seasonally.

    I'm lucky in that everything freezes over in the winter here so there's no pollen to react with in my mouth. Winter I can usually eat anything...except melon. I can never eat melon.

    Good luck! I know how annoying it is. Once my lip swelled up to the size of a golf ball while I was out shopping because I ate a banana without thinking.

  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
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    I love melons! Too!! Just not my body.
    My get so depress when I see people eating and drinking health meals filled with raw fruit and vegetables.
    Or when people tell you to eat fruit and vegetables to loss weight.

    I have only just found out that what I have been going through the past 20 years has a name and now I am feeling a lot happier about
  • Maleficent0241
    Maleficent0241 Posts: 386 Member
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    My husband has this too. He can do cooked and sometimes frozen... Something about freezing can help destroy the pollen like cooking can. Have you ever tried thawing frozen berries or something and giving that a try?
  • Avalancheofthrills
    Avalancheofthrills Posts: 7 Member
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    Ha - Yes! I feel crazy when I have to tell people what I can or can't eat. I'm a real blast ordering in a restaurant! My carrot and cherry 'allergies' are so bad that cooking doesn't help. I have even been known to ask to smell people's fruit - I miss stone fruit so bad!! and apples. and carrots. :P I have had anaphalactic (sp?) reactions to carrots and cherries so now I carry an epi-pen. Sorry - I'm ranting. I could go on for days with allergy annoyances. It is refreshing to hear about people who have the same issues - such a huge pain in the butt!

    Here are some the fruit/veggie things I can still eat raw:
    raspberries/blueberries
    spinach
    citrus (lots of oranges and pineapple)
    broccoli/cauliflower
    bell peppers
    cucumber (didn't realize this was a problem for some people - that sucks)
    bananas (ditto the above - really sucks)
    avocado
    nuts (I have had some issues with almonds but pistachios are great)
    not raw but... in the summer I keep roasted fruit (peaches and nectarines) in the fridge for an easy snack
    lettuce (but even that is limited by ibs - no spring greens, raddichio, kale...)
    tomatoes

    Have any of you had more serious reactions? or reactions just from touching something? do you have other allergies or related issues (aside from pollen :wink: ) like asthma?

    @Kalikel you give me hope - I didn't know this could improve. So far mine are still getting worse - green beans were the latest to go for me (even cooked!!).
  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
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    When Avocado touches my lips they swell straight away
    I can't eat them cook too
  • Blueseraphchaos
    Blueseraphchaos Posts: 843 Member
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    Actually, I'd heard of the allergic reaction but never the name for it. That would be frustrating. I developed an allergy to onion and garlic in my mid-20s, and i have noticed that cooking or using powdered versions of those can prevent anaphylactic reactions...although i still have reactions, they just aren't as bad. Yet...

    But i would say, eat what you know you can eat. I don't think there is much else you can do. Hopefully it turns around for you like it did for kalikel, good luck to everyone here :)
  • JoAnnRyan123
    JoAnnRyan123 Posts: 110 Member
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    Oh my goodness- I thought I was all alone on this! Tomatoes, apples, grapes, bananas; I could go on and on. Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this!

  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
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    Yeah, my wife claims she has that, too. I'm not buying it!
  • 52cardpickup
    52cardpickup Posts: 379 Member
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    I can only eat berries, basically. Every other fresh fruit? Forget it. Gotta cook 'em all. Vegetables I'm fine with. It blows huge chunks, because I'd love to throw a piece of fruit in my lunch for a snack. Pain in the @$$. FML.

    I sneak one or two cherries when they're in season because I can't resist, but any more than that and I seriously regret it. Apples make my mouth region peel like I've got third degree sunburn. I get blisters everywhere from any kind of stone fruit. Bananas, kiwis and basically any other kind of fruit make me itchy as hell. It's just not worth it.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited July 2015
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    OAS - Oral allergy syndrome, also known as pollen-food syndrome,is caused by cross-reacting allergens found in both pollen and raw fruits, vegetables, or some tree nuts. The immune system recognizes the pollen and similar proteins in the food and directs an allergic response to it. People affected by oral allergy syndrome can usually eat the same fruits or vegetables in cooked form because the proteins are distorted during the heating process, so that the immune system no longer recognizes the food.

    The foods I said I could only eat are the only raw fruit vegetables and nuts I can eat otherwise it all needs to be cooked.

    So you're just talking raw state of grown foods?

    Whilst that must be a pain I'm failing to see the problem. Cook food and leave it in your fridge for snackage ...no?