Citrus allergy (?) help

[LePetitPrincess]

Hi, I hope it's okay that this question is about me and not my kid. I just figured since you all probably have more experience with allergies than I do, you might be able to help me.

When I eat citrus fruits, my face gets very flushed and sweaty. It feels like I'm burning up (I am not actually hot and never get a fever, it's just my face). My eyes can get watery and my nose can run too. If you would like to see pictures:
http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...9/IMG_3346.jpg
http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...9/IMG_3347.jpg (ignore the scar! )
These pictures are what happens when I eat something like oranges; however, I did not eat any fruits to stimulate the reactions in the photos. What happened is that I had spent about an hour researching what my condition could be, and just THINKING about my citrus fruit reaction made me have one.

Does anyone have experience with an allergy symptom like this? Is it common? Can an allergic response happen just by thinking about it? Ugg, I have so many questions. I avoid nearly all fruit now because it's so uncomfortable.

[sbgrace]

Welcome!!

Originally Posted by LePetitPrincess

These pictures are what happens when I eat something like oranges; however, I did not eat any fruits to stimulate the reactions in the photos. What happened is that I had spent about an hour researching what my condition could be, and just THINKING about my citrus fruit reaction made me have one.

Does anyone have experience with an allergy symptom like this? Is it common? Can an allergic response happen just by thinking about it? Ugg, I have so many questions. I avoid nearly all fruit now because it's so uncomfortable.

Wow!
Certainly it looks allergic. Anything can set off an allergic response. I wonder if stress set it off. Does it always happen when you think of oranges? Always if you eat them? Any other times? Are other citrus fruits ok?

My son is orange allergic. Citrus is a common allergy. You can also have oral allergy syndrome (and that is, for all intents just like any other allergy in terms of avoidance).

I'd treat it like an allergy and avoid.

[Thystle]

Best to get tested.

My son has allergies to multiple citrus fruits (and then some).

Better safe than sorry!

[rachel65655]

My daughter is allergic to cirtic acid, which is naturally found in many fruits and veggies. We just made the correlation really.

We knew she couldn't eat grapes and oranges and after doing some research, it just makes sense. And the real bummer is all the bread we eat is sourdough. This list of trigger foods makes sense with the problems we were having with her. We eat a lot of tomatoes, berries, cheese, sourdough (not only as bread but as pancakes).

She has never had a regular bowel movement and she is over 2 years old. We were just stumped as to why she constantly had diarrhea. We started an elimination diet 2 days ago with her and also cut out gluten and dairy since we know that she is also sensitive to oats(she doesn't digest them at all). She did not have a bowel movement yesterday and she used to have at least 2 blow out nasty poops a day so I think that is a sign of possible improvement. Her little hiney has been so sore. She decided yesterday that she also wants to potty learn. YAH!!

List of Foods That Contain Citric Acid In Their Natural State

* Citrus fruits: all of 'em. It's strongest in lemons and limes, which are up to 8% citric acid by weight and can even be used to extract the chemical from; sour oranges can also be used, so we assume that the more sour the fruit the higher the citric acid content.
* Berries and soft fruit: Almost all berries with the possible exception of blueberries. Certainly found in: strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, cranberry, redcurrant, blackcurrant. Redcurrants are one of the worst offenders - redcurrant juice can be used to replace lemon juice in jam recipes!
* Exotic fruits: Pineapple, tamarind
* Stone fruits: Cherries (apparently only a small amount)
* Vegetables: Tomatoes, cayenne peppers (not the same as sweet peppers), Jerusalem artichoke, lettuce (!)
* Wine - as a by-product of fermentation, and to improve clarity
* Cheese - Citric acid is used in the manufacturing process to help clot the milk faster. It may be an integral part of making certain cheeses, especially mass-produced mozzarella, but appears to be a by-product of industrialisation for most British cheeses: the traditional method of adding bacterial culture to the milk and allowing it to act slowly does not use added citric acid as far as I know. I don't, however, know whether citric acid also appears naturally in cheese as a by-product of the bacterial reactions. Conclusion: traditional (read: expensive) cheeses are likely to be safer, but the jury's out overall.
* Sourdough breads eg. rye bread - as a by-product of fermentation.

[LizLizard]

Wow, this is timely because I've been researching citrus allergy and/or intolerance for my youngest DD, but haven't found a lot of info on it. She has very obvious reactions... crying, her tummy gets swollen, and she has AWFUL diaper blowouts for about 24-48 hours afterwards. The last time she had oranges, she pooped them out in less than a half hour, which I didn't think was possible but it was obviously chunks of orange. We've cut them out totally, now that we know the cause.

Thanks for the list of foods with natural citric acid, been looking for that. Will watch those foods to see how she reacts. She has had GI issues since birth, I can't help but think that citrus was the culprit all along even though we cut out a ton of other things.