OAS - Interesting Additional Diagnosis from Dr. at s Hopkins Hospital

[Guest guest]

First, let me apologize for the long post below!!

Anyone with seasonal allergies – you may want to read on --- I've read numerous

posts over the last few weeks on " scdinfo " regarding allergies and thought I

should share some of our recent news about Kaitlyn that many help someone out

there!

After waiting for 7-8 months we finally got in to see Dr. Wood, the allergist,

at Hopkins. Within five minutes of meeting Dr. Wood, we had our diagnosis! None

of the other doctors exactly knew what it was! Great doc!

She has " OAS " = Oral Allergy Syndrome which is also called " pollen associated

food allergy syndrome " . When some people have certain allergies (seasonal

allergies to trees, grasses, or ragweed) some may develop itching, redness, and

swelling of the lips, mouth or throat when they eat certain fruits or veggies or

nuts. This occurs because the proteins in the pollens are similar to those in

these fruits/veggies.

In Kaitlyn's case she started at 6 1/2 yrs. old (now 10) complaining that her

mouth was itchy after eating apples one day. I blew it off but then over the

next few years, it became worse and also with cherries, peaches and then pears.

Who would have ever thought this was due to the fact that she was allergic to

mixed trees???!!!

Different foods are/could be involved depending upon what seasonal things you

are allergic to.

They say it's not serious, just stay away from the foods that give her a

reaction or cook them first to break down and change the proteins. But I think

this is more serious to someone with IBD.

I asked if these foods could bother her system going through and he said

probably not and it did not cause her CD (or new dr. says maybe UC). According

to Wikipedia, I now read that " If the sufferer swallows the food, there is a

good chance that there will be a reaction later in the gastrointestinal tract.

Vomiting, diarrhea, severe indigestion, or cramps may occur. " VERY INTERESTING

to say the least! Then it says " peeling and cooking the foods has shown to

reduce the effects of the allergy in the throat and mouth, but may NOT RELIEVE

REACTIONS IN THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT " .

I now do not give her the foods that give her " itchy mouth " in any form and she

is better for it. However, raw almond flour does give her symptoms but I still

give her well-cooked baked goods in moderation.

You can research more on this on Wikipedia if you have similar symptoms.

Kaitlyn's Mom

Kaitlyn, age 10

CD (severe) since 6/07, OAS also

SCD since 9/7/07

Med-free since 9/7/08