To wonder where the allergies go?

[Defnotsupergirl]

To start off I'm not saying there are not some very serious, life threatening allergies out there.

My wondering is why you don't come across more adults with these allergies. I work directly with 40 odd adults i.e. We share a fridge and working space etc. none of them have any allergies that I know of apart from one lady who has coeliac disease - and I'm assuming I would know if others did due to having to be careful about birthday cakes, only using certain parts of the fridge etc. no one refused cake or didn't use the fridge.

Up till four years ago I work with another group of people except about 80 of them and none had any known allergy.
None of my friends or acquaintances have ever said they have allergy problems despite me cooking for them and checking in many cases

If you compare with friends DCs school, five of the reception children in a class of 22 have some form of supposed food allergy. Apparently this is a reoccurring theme throughout the school.

Is it that people grow out of these allergies or is it the imagination of over careful parents who see an allergy every time their child vomits after a meal.

AIBU to suggest that there are not as many allergies around as is thought and that it is parents who are quick to blame simple bugs on allergies?

Please note - I again realise there are some life threatening allergies that exist and are a huge problem. This is for the other ones.

I grew into my allergies - as a child I was allergic to nothing, then last year I became severely allergic to pineapple which was scary as one minute I was eating with the family, next minute I couldn't breathe.
I am also now allergic to cats, have hay fever and have an allergic reaction to wines with high levels of histamines (it should be illegal to be allergic to wine ). All came on within months of each other.
Hospital think it's linked to a change in my immunosuppressants which I take for an auto immune disease.
I was surprised as I didn't think they'd come on so suddenly and awfully in my 30's.
Most people wouldn't know about it though as I'm an adult and I manage it myself.

Increasingly we are seeing adults developing birch pollen allergies. As well as hayfever symptoms they may also react to apples, pears, preaches, cherries.

I am one of them. I doubt anyone at work could tell I have foods allergies.

YABU OP, and thinking very simplistically.
There is vastly better understanding of all allergies these days, what used to be passed off as unexplained death or inconvenience are now understood causes such as foods or environmental triggers.
For example, our parents' and grandparents' generation thought of nuts as a choking hazard, now it's understood that the deaths from 'choking' were more likely to be anaphylactic shock.

I have mild 'intolerances' to various foods (get big burning sores on my tongue when I eat fresh tomatoes/peppers etc) but none of my colleagues would have been aware, and I worked in my last office for nine years.
Pretty sure they were aware of my hayfever tho, couldn't really ignore that!

DH is properly allergic to penicillin/aspirin etc, but why would any of his colleagues be aware? It's of no relevance in his workplace, and he hardly goes around with his medical history pinned to his back.

often people are not even aware that they have allergies/intolerance to things as their symptoms are mild or they put it down to other things, like a bug or feeling run down. It tends to only be when they have a strong reaction to something that they are diagnosed in adulthood.

i am mid thirties woman who has a severe lactose intolerance but i am also violently allergic to chilli's - they cause anaphaylaxis and as a result i have to wear a medialert bracelet and carry an epipen. my partner is violently allergic to peanuts.

just because you don't know about your colleagues allergies/intolerances doesn't mean they don't have any they probably just don't want to share that information with a judgemental idiot!

Allergies as a whole are more prevalent now, how many people in your office have hayfever?!

They're also getting better diagnosed now, the it's just a bit of colic/toddler diorreah/reflux when it's caused by a food.

Non-ige/delayed allergies are not just banded under allergies, they are! They are immune responses, just because a child doesn't swell up does not mean they are not allergic. An intolerance is completely different and does not involve the immune system. There is also more evidence of Central nervous system reactions causing bad behaviour among other things and the successes dairy/gluten free diet as treatment for ADHD fuels that. Infact right now he has some very strange symptoms that is baffling the GP and this is looking likely down to a minuscule bit of wheat.

The problem isn't that there are more allergies rather that people do not have enough understanding of them, including many hcps. And with lack of understanding is often a lack of empathy, would you feed your child something that gives them any pain or discomfort?

My son has a very strict diet but I wouldn't go back to how he was before, the difficulties are far outweighed by having a happy healthy child.

I'll also say that I've since discovered that many of the foods he reacts to I do too, I avoid most of them (although it often comes down to cost) but it is my choice if I would like to eat something I know doesn't do me any good and that heartburn will be my own fault. If someone is making a cake I'm not going to make them go out of their way for me. Additionally I know a number of people who have a number of gastro issues and would benefit from attempting exclusion diets but would rather deal with the symptoms.

Coeliac disease is also more common now than it used to be (and not just because diagnosis is improving). One recent study suggests a link with pesticides. Another theory is that it's linked to modern varieties of wheat which contain vastly more gluten.

I think there are probably a number of complex factors involved, and whether or not your DC turn out to have coeliac disease / an intolerance / an allergy is not simply down to things that you can control as an individual (like not cleaning your house / always using a particular washing powder etc.).

wobblyweebles
Increasingly we are seeing adults developing birch pollen allergies. As well as hayfever symptoms they may also react to apples, pears, preaches, cherries.

I have birch pollen hayfever (there's nothing else that I could be reacting almost every February, is there), itching and swelling to apples and cherries, and I've been feeling suspicious about the way pears make my throat feel for a while.

Is it not a coincidence?

So that's why i don't react to apple juice or apple pies! First, I wondered whether it was a particular pesticide that was destroyed by cooking, and I tried organic fruit, instead. But the itching and swelling still happened.

Tilly This is interesting - Oral Allergy Syndrome.
Apparently those who react to different tree pollens are likely to react to the corresponding foods with similar protein structures or summat.

I haven't read up on it for ages and can't quite remember which affect me (and my reactions are pretty mild), but I fit one particular group.

xpost!

As irritating as it is to have whole food types banned by school lunchbox police etc, I can totally understand it, and have the utmost sympathy for those families living with severe allergies.

It's interesting how allergies can change and develop over time too - I hadn't realised until recently that a known 'mild' allergy or intolerance, with repeated exposure can cause a severe anaphylactic reaction.

My DS had a year of random and severe hives appearing (between 1-2), for which we never discovered the cause. He now has 'toddler diarrhoea' at nearly 3, which we also haven't figured out the cause of.
Clearly something doesn't agree with him, but tests have all come back clear. It's certainly not due to living in a Dettol-ed bubble!

LongTailedTit

The wikipedia page has even got potatoes on it. That's the other one- I've been noticing I need to be really careful with peeling potatoes over the last two years, otherwise my eyes begin to itch.

I think it really goes to disprove the OP's hypothesis! It's not that adults don't have allergies. It's simply that we can work around them more easily, as we have control over our diets. I have been changing my behaviour to avoid the itching and swelling, without even realising there was a name for the seemingly unconnected reactions, or more than two NHS visits.

Hmm, maybe I should listen to the nagging from husband and ask for allergy testing. Up to now, I've simply said, "why? I am perfectly capable of noticing when things make my eyes itch or my throat feel sore! And I don't like cherries or apples or pears, anyway".

OH and I both have severe hayfever mine mostly tree pollen, OH rape seed, I dont think Rape seed bothers me. When DS has sneezed we do look at each other and think "oh no"

I wont be working with rabbitt fur anymore that's for sure

tillytelltale when I discovered OAS it finally put everything together for me.

I survive birch pollen season by using steroid nose spray (like Flonase) and eye drops (sodium chromoglycate) as my main side effect is itchy eyes. Also take a zirtek every day.

I did have allergy testing eventually but I got a few false positives like almonds, so it didn't do much more than confirm what I already knew.

When I got married I was quite surprised at the number of people who came back with dietary requirements citing severe allergies to fish/strawberries/kiwi/dairy. All kinds ! It was a minefield.
I think most adults don't notice because you don't question another adult as to why they haven't chosen fish off a menu unless they take the waiter aside and advise them of certain anaphalaxis etc should their food be in contact.

My DH has a strong history of allergies in his family but I do not. When pregnant I made it a point to eat lots of peanut butter, regularly eat cooked shellfish (except oysters due to preg risk) and other known allergens. We then weaned our children very carefully as though they were highly likely to be allergic and kept food diaries to track new foods. So far, nothing except some baby eczema which has been grown out of, though to be fair I haven't fed either of them lobster yet

They are more common but I also think that our generation's parents were much more likely to slather us in steroid cream etc than to monitor our diets for likely cause.

I think I'm probably milder than you, thank goodness! I just take the occasional otc antihistamine, wander around with multiple packs of tissues, and make whinging noises every February!

Exactly Tilly! For years I assumed everyone's tongue burnt when they ate tomatoes! Finally twigged in my late 20s that it was a bit weird.

I seem to react to tomatoes, mango, honey, which are apparently related to latex allergy (and I do react mildly to some plasters) and really ought to see the GP about it sometime, but it's so easily ignored/self managed...

Tilly and LTT I was 29 before I discovered it wasn't normal to get an itchy mouth and swollen lips after eating certain fruits

The main triggers for me are melon, avocado and kiwi fruit, with bananas, pineapple and mango causing it to a lesser extent.

I also suffered from hay fever from age eight, but appear to be finally growing out of it at 40-mumble.

Bizarrely, beetroot brings me out in a rash. Don't know what that's about.

you must work in an unusual place, my office is full of people who can't eat certain foods - including some who will while accepting they'll have a mild reaction to it.

I also fall into this category - I have a very mild reaction to red grapes. I get blotchy skin on my face which is sometimes slightly sore - although not always, the severity can depend often on my general health and the amount I have. I like red wine so I'll have a couple of glasses sometimes, often the main reaction is my face goes hot - you might just think I've got a slightly flushed face, or if I've got foundation on you might not notice it. But more often than not, I'll order a glass of white wine. Few people have ever questioned me drinking white with meals that would normally be served with red.

As an adult, it's my choice if my desire to have red grapes/wine/grape juice is worth it for the level of reaction I'll have, whereas as a parent of a child with an intolerance, I'd just ban whatever the foodstuff was completely.

allergy people - DD3 has been saying for a couple of years that melon makes her mouth dry - is that how you might describe what mild Oral Allergy Syndrome feels like?

My OAS symptoms are an itchy mouth, throat and lips, sometimes blotchy, and sometimes I can't stop coughing. But one thing I have discovered about allergies is everyone seems to react slightly differently, so possibly she is allergic LOTW.

Melon is in the ragweed pollen and grass pollen groups so if she also feels funny when she eats any others of that group then that would be a sign of OAS too.

Birch pollen: apple, almond, carrot, celery, cherry, hazelnut, kiwi, peach, pear, plum
Grass pollen: celery, melons, oranges, peaches, tomato
Ragweed pollen: banana, cucumber, melons, sunflower seeds, zucchini

LongTailedTit yep. I have been really disliking this particular sore sensation that I get with apples since at least 15, if not earlier. For me, it's not a sudden thing in adulthood. But it's worsened. Possibly because I have gradually become more sensitive to them, with repeated exposure?

I only name 15 as a clear age in particular, because I remember experimenting back then with covering my obligatory apple each day with yogurt ("Tilly, you must eat fruit. It's good for you, Tilly!" Thanks, mother) then. I thought the issue was me being a wimp over the rough texture of apples. It didn't work, but the yogurt tasted nice.

So, that carried on, until I was an adult, and had a fridge of my own, for which I mysteriously never bought apples. After that, I just had to eat apples on family visits every weekend.

Then one night, stupid bloody fruit-bat of a boyfriend was worrying about my raw-fruit free diet, and predicting impending scurvy, because one apple a week couldn't possibly be enough. To shut up said fruitbat, I peeled and ate one of the apples I'd bought for his stay. Five minutes later, I had really itchy eyes and I kept rubbing at them, wondering why. Half an hour later, there was oozing!

We panicked, convinced each other I'd damaged my eyeball and fluid was leaking out, and got a taxi to A&E. Who told me I was probably allergic to something, put anti-histamine cream on it, and booked me a follow-up appointment in the eye department for the next day. The eye department said, "hmm, did it respond to the cream? Yeah, that was an allergic reaction. Your eye isn't damaged".

And now, no-one makes me eat apples any more!

Leaping it's not like mine but allergies vary so much I would say avoid as it may be her throat too. You could ask for skin prick testing however it must be the raw fruit, for example DS has oral allergy symptom to kiwi, raspberry and pineapple but all were negative on RAST testing as it is only the fresh raw fruit he reacts to.

Im kind of glad I wasnt here when this thread was first started as I dont think id have been able to hold back.

First up, allergies are worse now. Theres a whole generation of allergies that havent hit adulthood yet. Which sucks for my son as they dont know how serious cases like his end up. Because it hasnt happened yet, or hasnt happened enough for it to be studied, even on a small scale.

And as for 'is it just in the parents head and they dont really have allergies.' Allergies are under diagnosed.

Just go to the allergy forum and start a thread titled "who else had to fight tooth and nail for my childs allergy to be diagnosed?"

Its not just you that doesnt believe the rate of allergies OP. Its the doctors too.

Thats not because they arent real. Is because allergies have grown at a rate so fast that GP's havent been trained enough in that area.

I have personally found the older doctors are more sceptical and the younger ones are far more interested/open minded. Not that you can ignore my childs allergies because they are life threatening.

Its harder for parents of children with non-life threatening allergies because they are the ones that have to fight to be believed.

One mother I know in RL wasnt believed for such a long time that by the time she was listened to, all the foods her son had been eating had damaged his insides to such an extent he had a stoma fitted and he was fed through that for 3 years.

The GP kept suggesting it was in her head, and perhaps she needed councelling.

She is now taking the doctor to court. Unlucky for him, her husband is a lawyer.

Anyway, I tell myself not to get irrate at OP's like yours. As before my son had allergies, I had no idea about them. I didnt even know you could get anaphylaxis from a yoghurt. Or be allergic to cucumber, or heat and cold. Or polyester. Etc etc etc

Its all about education and research. And unfortunately allergies beyond our means of education and research.

People hate it when I say this, but I feel a big part to blame is vaccinations.

Not the vaccinations themselves, they are fab. But the amount we give at one time, expecting tiny brand new immune system to cope.

We see specialists in London and they have certainly not poo-pooed my idea and said they are researching this very theory. So it cant all be bullshit.