Food Allergy
-
- Tweet
Sunshine Allergy and Asthma
Allergists & Asthma Specialists located in North Port, FL
Up to 4% of adults and 6% of children today have food allergies. Because food allergies can be extremely dangerous at any age, Sunshine Allergy and Asthma specialist Nilamben Patel, DO, FAAAAI, offers highly customized, evidence-based solutions. To learn how oral immunotherapy or other innovative treatment approaches can help you, call the North Port, Florida, office or use the online scheduling link.
Food Allergy Q & A
What are common food allergies?
A small group of foods cause the great majority of food allergies today. These include:
- Cow’s milk
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Eggs
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Soy
- Wheat
Many people have sensitivities to one or more of these foods, which may cause symptoms similar to those of allergies.
What is the difference between a food allergy and food sensitivity?
A food allergy causes an immune reaction to a protein within a particular food. With a food allergy, the smallest quantities of the allergen — even trace amounts — can cause serious symptoms. Some food allergies can be fatal.
In contrast, with food sensitivity, you may experience some digestion problems when you eat a certain food. Food intolerance can be uncomfortable but not fatal.
With food intolerance, you may be able to eat small amounts of the food in question. Or you may be able to eat the food if you take medication to encourage digestion.
What are the symptoms of food allergies?
Food allergy symptoms include:
- Red skin around mouth
- Mouth itching
- Lip swelling
- Hives or eczema
- Nasal congestion
- Sneezing
- Itchy eyes
- Watery eyes
- Stomach cramps
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
Many people with food allergies also have asthma, and it’s also common to have environmental allergies at the same time. In some cases, a food allergy also causes eczema.
Food allergies may cause anaphylaxis, which is potentially fatal. Common signs of anaphylaxis with a food allergy include difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness, and tingling in your lips, scalp, or extremities.
What is the treatment for food allergies?
Food allergy treatment usually includes a few management and preventive measures. In some cases, treatment consists of avoiding the trigger completely while keeping an auto-injector of epinephrine with you at all times.
Dr. Patel also offers food oral immunotherapy, where she supervises you as you eat gradually larger amounts of your allergen under controlled circumstances. The goal is to increase the amount of the allergen you can eat before it triggers an allergic reaction.
Oral immunotherapy can give you added protection against accidental ingestion of the allergen. So a trace amount of an allergen that may have triggered a severe reaction in the past may not do so after oral immunotherapy.
Oral immunotherapy doesn’t allow you to eat an allergen freely, but it could save your life. You should always carry an auto-injector with you as a precaution, even after oral immunotherapy.
Learn more about how oral immunotherapy can help with your food allergies by calling Sunshine Allergy and Asthma or clicking the online booking link.
