# Links between IBS and Oral Allergy Syndrome?



## sazzy (Nov 27, 2006)

Looking back, my symptoms for IBS and Oral Allergy Syndrome occured around about the same time. Starting very mildly when I was about 8 years old, and gradually getting worse and worse - both problems were most prominent from around the age of 12 to about 17.I was always a bit suspicious that they may have been linked in some way shape or form. I was diagnosed with IBS at around 11, and misdiagnosed with just a nut allergy around 14, which was then re-assessed about a year later and found it was actually Oral Allergy Sundrome. Though I'd been suffering symptoms for both a lot longer than before I went to the doctors. I was told my allergy problems were something that was likely to go away once I stopped growing and going through puberty, but IBS was something I'd just have to learn to deal with through my life. The thing is, I have been avoiding the foods that triggered my allergy reactions for years - namely it was certain nuts i.e hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds and raw fruits like cherries, apples, pears etc. Yet I was still suffering IBS throughout my teens to a fair degree, I learnt to manage and deal with it fairly effectively but it was still there. So for years I just thought I was unlucky to have both and it was just coincidence they occured at the same time. However, recently over the last year my IBS has settled down to a rather large degree. Without even realising it I've been taking far less pills and my diets got a hell of a lot more relaxed and yet I have barely suffered any symptoms - the occasional stomach ache, but aside from that I've felt better than I have done in years. I have not done anything differently, I'd just learnt to make IBS a background problem and swore it'd never affect my life and my decisions - so it seemed to creep up on me when suddenly I realised I wasn't suffering that badly anymore. At the same time, the other day without thinking about it I accidently ate a couple of walnuts. A few years ago this would have caused me to get a horribly itchy throat, possibly slightly swollen lips - yet I got no symptoms at all from it. I had a mini experiment today and ate another few walnuts and an apple and have not suffered from any problems at all. Now I'm starting to wonder whether there is a bigger link between the two than I thought. As much as I avoided the foods that caused my allergy problems, could what ever have caused me to have the allergy in the first place be some how linked with causing me to suffer from IBS symptoms? I've done some searching on the internet, but aside from some people saying Oral Allergy Syndrome caused their IBS by direct food intake, and some people saying they think they outgrew IBS as their hormones settled down - I cannot find any direct link between the two.So, anyone got any insight?


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Here is an article:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/524230_4Have you seen this?http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/70418-oral-allergy-syndrome-not-ibs%3B-im-free/Or this?http://allergies.about.com/od/foodallergies/a/ibsallergies.htmI don't think all possible links are quite known yet. Glad you are feeling better!


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