After visiting a new allergist yesterday, I've found out that I most likely have a pretty severe case of oral allergy syndrome. (Though we're doing more testing to make certain)

The problem has been that I've been developing allergic reactions to raw fruits and veggies at a pretty rapid rate (this started about 10 years ago, but has gotten drastically worse in the past year) where my lips, tongue and throat swell, I get itchy, it's hard to breathe, and sometimes I'll get hives or my eyes will swell shut.

Apparently this is related to all of my environmental allergies - my body is unable to distinguish between pollen and apples and such.

This pretty much means for me, what I expected - I'm never supposed to eat apples, bananas, pears, nectarines, peaches, canteloupe, cherries, bell peppers, lettuce, green leafies, or cucumbers ever again unless they are fully cooked. Hopefully I'll stop developing new ones - I was pretty mad last month when I developed a banana reaction.

I picked up my first two epi-pens at the pharmacy yesterday - they're scary, but hopefully I won't have to use them - I have a pretty healthy paranoia about food that others have prepared, I examine and ask lots of questions.

wow, I'll keep you in my prayers. Food allergies can be so scary, especially because we just never really know what's in anything anymore. We must carefully read every label, because one of our sons is allergic to penicillin which is what's in blue cheese, but that's only one thing. You have so many to watch out for! But, cooking the foods allows you to eat them without reaction? That would help your nutrition somewhat. At least you now know what you need to do and are prepared for emergencies with the epi-pens (I carry one too for beestings). Best advice-read everything, ask questions, and check out lots of new recipes to try to keep eating as many veggies and fruits as you can without becoming more ill. for you!

Oh, I am SO sorry about this.

I have OAS, too. My (pollen and cat) allergies started at the end of high school, then in college I discovered my apple allergy. It was actually a pretty funny story - I was talking to a friend and mentioned that everytime I ate apples my mouth got super itchy, my throat got scratchy, and my lips swelled up. She looked at me like I was an idiot (which I was) and said, "Duh! Think you're ALLERGIC?" Honestly, it had never occurred to me.

I'm currently only reactive to apples and cherries, but I think nectarines are starting to be bothersome. I live in fear of the day all my fruits and veggies are taken away. How awful.

Did your allergist suggest allergy shots? I've heard that that may be beneficial for some people. It sounds like you're allergic to alder pollen, like me.

I hope dealing with this gets easier!

I did about 8 years of allergy shots in starting in high school. It didn't really work for me, and eventually wasn't worth it any more. I was allergic to so many things that I had to get two shots each time (they couldn't fit everything in one) and I was so reactive to the shots that they were reduced to barely anything, and I'd still get huge hives and have a systemic reaction where I got extremely tired.

I wish there was a magic pill...but at least I know what is going on now, instead of people thinking that I'm crazy.

I think that cherries were the ones that upset me the most - I LOVE fresh cherries. The last time I ate them was 4 years ago, and my lip actually touched my nose. Then they took me to the ER.