To tell you I have Oral Allergy Syndrome?

[FromDespairToHere]

I know nobody cares, but I'm so happy that what I have is an actual thing, and not just my body being weird!

I get a terrible itch in my ears/throat when I eat certain fruits. It started with pineapples about 20 years ago and then apples, tomatoes, pears and most recently watermelon. It's infuriating as I bloody love most things on that list but it's so uncomfortable and an antihistamine only takes the edge off, it doesn't make it go away.

Anyway I was explaining (again) to somebody today why I was removing the pineapple from a fruit salad and somebody else told me that not only does my thing have a name but that she has it too!

I'm really excited that I'm not as much of a freak as I thought I was!

It's not as unusual as you'd think! I studied it while doing a nutrition degree and found it so interesting and went home to tell my housemates about it and it turned out two of them had it!

Fellow sufferer here. I also get hayfever from birch pollen and eczema from perfume. Raw apples, cherries and nectarines are particularly bad for making my lips, mouth and throat itch and swell. My hands also become very itchy when handling peeled potatoes or parnsips.

My doctor was pretty uninterested when I mentioned it, so I have only found out about it from my own research.

Oh... it has a name! I've had it for as long as I can remember. I'm also a life-long hayfever sufferer.

Worst for me are fresh pineapple and raw apples. Weirdly, I can eat apple just fine if its been cooked. Pineapple makes deep cuts on my tongue, like its burned into the flesh.

DH has the same problem, has become slightly worse with age. Apples, cherries, kiwi, apricots, peaches, strawberries, raspberries, pears, hazlenuts, almonds, walnuts and a few other random fruit. He also has moderate tree pollen hay fever, main culprits for him are alder and birch.

All fruit is fine if cooked and the protein denatured. Some fruits are worse than others - the odd strawberry is ok if covered in cream and accompanied by water/tea or similar.

I made the mistake of juicing apples in the kitchen once - the vapour caused a massive asthma attack. That was my one and only attempt at home made apple juice!

chouetted RAW potatoes! How on Earth did you find that one out!

Yep, I have it too, worst for me are kiwis and pineapples. Great tip though is that you shouldn't get the same reaction if they are cooked, so you can eat Apple pie and pineapple upside down cake to your heart's content!

My DD has it and one word of warning to all - she was told NEVER to eat kiwis as even though her reaction is mild to them, apparently it’s the one that can suddenly change and become dangerous.

Wow. I get this when I eat melons. Also if the juice touches my skin around my mouth I get itchy. I remember googling it years ago and couldn't find any answers and when I asked people if it happened to them I got weird looks so just chalked it down to just me. Glad I know its not now!

Kiwi, figs, pineapples, peppers

I have this too. I was referred for allergy tests as my GP was concerned that I get swollen lips. My worst reactions are to apples and cherries but I’m also allergic to some unroasted nuts, nectarines, peaches, plums, birch tree pollen, animals and grass pollen.

I can still eat fruit crumbles with a fuckton of custard .

Great thread as people can be rather when I say I’m allergic to a lot of fruit.

This is really common apparently. I thought I was the only one, but when I mention it to people, loads have said they get the same thing. Kiwi fruit is my worst trigger.

DP used to get it worse than me.

I know someone who has that with fruit but can eat them if cooked.

I'm actually nearly in tears to hear that so many other people have it! I'd forgotten about cherries and kiwis too. I also have terrible hay fever and am especially allergic to grass pollen. I don't know about birch pollen, how do I find out about that?

And I can eat them cooked. I am, like a PP, very overweight so am acutely aware how bad it looks that I can eat apple pie but not an apple...

So this is why my ears sometimes itch from the inside? It doesn't seem to be food related for me, so maybe its pollen. Its the weirdest sensation!

Pineapple and kiwi do for me. It's like someone's sanded my throat.

Do you like coriander leaf? I've heard that there's a link between the pineapple thing and hating coriander. I can't stand the stuff.

Love coriander, no no link for me.

I already posted that my son is under investigation for this but he doesn't have many hayfever symptoms BUT my hay fever is horrific and I get itchy hands when peeling potatoes.

How very bloody b'zare!!

There is a chart here which aligns allergens with groups of foods:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4655061/

It isn't guaranteed, just the commonly identified groupings to help identify likely sources of irritation.

I'd never heard of this until I met DH but have met many others over the years and it does seem to run in families (but that is just observation, no idea if its proven link).

OP, birch pollen allergy was found out via an allergy test. Very hard to get on the NHS unless your reaction causes anaphylactic shock. Private testing would be an option, some chemists offer this service. Birch tree pollen season happens in spring time, before regular summer hay fever season starts.

Ah, maybe I do have that too then. My hay fever seems to run from about April to September, although it's at its worst in June and July.

My ds has this to all tree grown fruit and increasingly vine fruits. He was hospitalised 15 times before he was allergy tested as, if left untreated it would cause him to go into what they called ‘prolonged respiratory failure’. He would get itchy mouth, excess saliva, hives that would spread from his mouth across his face and then his breathing would become more and more laboured until he was on the brink of hypoxia. They said they hoped that he would grow out of it. He is 15 now and we’re still waiting.

I have it too, also a birch pollen allergy. Initially it was apples and pears that set it off. I also find peaches, apricots and preparing parsnip cause a problem. I've started to get a more severe reaction to almonds now and feel like they effect my throat; generally avoid them!

Yip me too, another one here for apples and kiwi. Interestingly cooking the apples does something to the fruit and I can it it

Not BU at all.

I have it and have known for years. Apples are quite bad, but cherries are really bad. And I love both. But cherries make me feel like I can't breath.

Itchy inner ears, itchy throat and my lips swell up. Never seems life threatening, but awful nonetheless.

I had a really bad reaction to cherries a few years ago and two days later I got tonsillitis. Not saying they are connected but it was weird timing.