OAS question

[spacecanada]

The more I look into this the more confused and frustrated I get.  Most resources I read (including AAAI, PubMed, UpToDate, Medline, Mt. Sinai, among others) say immunotherapy is an inconclusive treatment for OAS (many studies have no effect at all, few show mild improvement to tolerance levels), less than 2% of people with OAS experience anaphylaxis, and most people can tolerate peeled and cooked foods that would otherwise be problematic, but cooked foods (including roasted nuts) may cause problems in a small portion of affected people.

(Yeah, I scrubbed, peeled, cooked, and rinsed those potatoes, just saying...)

Immunotherapy seems to work really well for environmental allergies, from what I'm reading.

OAS is also known as pollen-food syndrome; a note worth mentioning here, as many legitimate resources mentioned it as such.

* I am just pooling notes in this thread for future reference and pondering.  Mods can move/delete my pondering if they wish. *

A few resources:
https://books.google.ca/books?id=bTVPCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq=oas+immunotherapy&source=bl&ots=JeWifTVTip&sig=AdyXhaMknvASqb55sTdSleveXEM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pX9fVZKSM4GFgwTxl4GoBQ&ved=0CFwQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=oas%20immunotherapy&f=false
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/fact-sheets/food-allergies/oral-allergy-syndrome/eng/1332351950134/1332352076501
https://www.allergyuk.org/oral-allergy-syndrome/oral-allergy-syndrome

[GoingNuts]

Space, I really don't have any direct advice about immunotherapy and OAS; I did shots for several years and got great results for my seasonal allergies, but eventually had to stop due to anaphylaxis on 3 separate occasions.  My allergist and I mutually decided after the third time that they were really not a viable option for me.  I can't say that I saw any improvement in my OAS, but I might not have been doing them long enough.

I will say that after I finished the shots my seasonal allergies never went back to being as bad as they were before - particularly ragweed.  I don't regret doing it at all. 

[notashrimpwimp]

Space, I understand where you're coming from. My allergists both said tha, since I can't take antihistamines, these shots will eliminate my reactions to food...but it could take years and may not work. I struggle to understand why I should undergo these shots when most of my environmental allergens rarely impact my life. (Dust being the exception, but as long as I don't breathe or touch dust I am usually fine. The only time I had to epi for grass was when someone stuffed my shirt with grass.) given my experiences, I worry that this procedure will either worsen or add to my allergies.

I hope that your allergist listens to your concerns and develops a response plan to address them before you begin this journey.