Oral Allergy Syndrome

Oral allergy syndrome is a food allergy. This allergy is when your immune system reacts to certain types of raw vegetables, fruits, or nuts. This is also known as Pollen-food allergy syndrome. This is because if you have an allergy to certain pollen, certain foods have similar proteins. When you ingest these certain proteins your body mistakes the food for pollen and causes an allergic reaction. You are at a higher risk of having oral allergy syndrome if you have seasonal allergies to tree, grass, or weed, pollen.

Oral allergy syndrome does not tend to show up in children under the age of three. This is because children that young do not tend to get seasonal allergies until after their toddler years. Oral allergy syndrome affects older children, teens, and young adults. It can also occur suddenly when you have had no trouble with certain foods in the past.

Common Triggers

Common triggers are birch, grass, ragweed, and mugwort pollen.

Foods that have similar proteins to birch pollen are apple, almond, carrot, celery, cherry, hazelnut, kiwi, peach, pear, plum, soybean, and peanut.
Foods that have similar proteins to grass are celery, melons, oranges, peaches, tomatoes, and potatoes.
Ragweed pollen is similar to banana, cucumber, melons, sunflower, and zucchini.
Mugwort pollen is similar to the proteins in garlic, coriander, mustard, peppers, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, parsnip, and onion.

Other oral allergy syndrome triggers include berries, citrus fruits, figs, grapes, mango, pineapples, pomegranates, and corn.

Symptoms

Symptoms usually start quickly after first eating a food that causes the allergic reaction. The most common symptom is itching, tingling, or minor swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, and throat. Bumps may occur on your lips or mouth. Less frequent symptoms can include nausea, hives, rash, or difficulty breathing. Anaphylaxis can occur, but it is not very common with this type of allergy because symptoms tend to be mild. Symptoms are usually minor and contained to the area around the mouth. Symptoms decrease once you stop eating the food. Symptoms usually go away within 30 minutes after stopping eating.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of oral allergy syndrome is done by an allergist. They will want to take your symptoms and a full medical history. They may suggest doing some allergy testing to verify your symptoms. An allergy skin test can be performed. This is done by the allergist lightly scratching the skin with an applicator. They then place a small amount of the allergen to the scratch. If you are allergic then hives will appear around the area. If there is no reaction then you are not allergic to that specific allergen. Another way to test for oral allergy syndrome is with a food challenge test. In a safe environment where you are being carefully monitored you will be given increasing amounts of the food you have trouble with to watch for signs of an allergic reaction.

Treatment

There usually isn’t a need for a treatment plan if you are diagnosed with oral allergy syndrome. Symptoms are mild and go away on their own. In some cases taking an antihistamine can help mild symptoms go away faster, but usually isn’t needed. Serious symptoms can be managed with antihistamines, or epinephrine. Epinephrine would be prescribed if there was a chance of anaphylaxis. It reduces swelling and opens up your airway if it were starting to close off.

Most people with oral allergy syndrome may only have reactions to one or two foods, not all of them. This can help with avoiding foods that cause you to have a reaction. Cooking foods changes their proteins. So cooking the raw vegetables or fruits you have reactions to can help alleviate symptoms as well. In cases of foods you can’t cook like melons, it’s best to try and avoid them. You can also learn what your threshold is. Knowing how much of something you can have before having a reaction can also help alleviate symptoms or allow you to enjoy the food without having symptoms at all. In some cases you may be able to have a small helping in moderation, instead of indulging a large amount and causing symptoms. If your symptoms are severe your doctor may suggest avoidance.

If you have reactions to peanuts, or tree nuts this can be a sign of a severe allergy that can be serious. Nut allergies can be life threatening so it is important to talk with your doctor to make sure you aren’t at risk of serious symptoms if accidentally ingesting these foods.

Takeaway

Oral allergy syndrome is common among people who also suffer from seasonal allergies. It is hard to say how many people exactly have this condition but from people who have seasonal allergies about 40-70% will also have oral allergy syndrome. Figuring out what your triggers are can help you avoid foods that cause symptoms. Symptoms are usually mild and resolve on their own within about 30 minutes of you eating that certain food. You may have reactions to one or two foods, not all foods that have similar proteins to certain pollen. You may be able to find ways to eat the foods you have reactions to by cooking them, or finding your threshold. Oral allergy syndrome is more of an annoyance than a serious medical condition.