Hay Fever Reaction When Glutened?

[holdthegluten]

Does anyone else a hay fever feeling when glutened. Pressure between the eyes and a headache. It feels like spring allergies, but it only happens when glutened. Anyone else get the stuffy head feeling.

[Guhlia]

Absolutely! It's even worse this time of year when my real hay fever is going nuts. Ugh...

[hathor]

That is my immediate reaction. I not only get a stuffy head, I go into sneezing fits for about 5-10 minutes & my eyes & nose run like crazy. A little later gastrointestinal things happen. Then next day the brain fog moves in.

[gfp]

Absolutely! It's even worse this time of year when my real hay fever is going nuts. Ugh...

Dunno about you but mine is REAL hayfever...

That is I don't have hay fever unless I'm glutened (perhaps the slightest touch) but when I am I get hayfever and anti-histamines work so its a real allergy (IgE) reaction.... same goes for other allergies I have like lavendar and geranium... both dissapear when Im gluten-free well lavendar oil goes from a severe blistered rash to a little red....

[Ursa Major]

Dunno about you but mine is REAL hayfever...

That is I don't have hay fever unless I'm glutened (perhaps the slightest touch) but when I am I get hayfever and anti-histamines work so its a real allergy (IgE) reaction.... same goes for other allergies I have like lavendar and geranium... both dissapear when Im gluten-free well lavendar oil goes from a severe blistered rash to a little red....

Steve, I would never have thought of it this way! But you're right, now that I think about it. Whenever I am glutened (or 'dairied' or other intolerances), my allergies go into overdrive. And antihistamines do work for those allergy symptoms for me as well.

Thanks for mentioning that, you learn something new every day when reading posts!

[Jestgar]

Whenever I am glutened (or 'dairied' or other intolerances), .....

When you're feeling "intolerant"?

[Ursa Major]

When you're feeling "intolerant"?

Yep!

[gfp]

Steve, I would never have thought of it this way! But you're right, now that I think about it. Whenever I am glutened (or 'dairied' or other intolerances), my allergies go into overdrive. And antihistamines do work for those allergy symptoms for me as well.

Thanks for mentioning that, you learn something new every day when reading posts!

Yep, I find it interesting... I think conventional wisdom would say the antibody reactions are unlinked but this leaves me with 2 possibilities I guess...

1/ I'm also allergic to wheat and hence have an IgE reaction

2/ The immune system is more complex than medicine understands...

My "normal hay fever level" is one I wouldn't take meds for except perhaps a spray when pollen count is highest... if I'm glutend though its a misery..

Just throwing this in but does anyone else have a photosensitive reaction to the sun coming out.... I specifically mean coming out... like from behind a cloud or walking out into it... because after 2-3 secs I'm fine.. just the 1st few secs I start sneezing...

This means I always wear sunglasses for driving.... (except on the rainiest days)... sneezing while driving is.... well not exactly good!

[jdp364]

I recently told my allergist that my allergy symptoms (sneezing, runny nose, post-nasal drip, coughing) seem to be less severe when I'm gluten free. He said he's had several patients report their environmental allergies clearing up when they go on gluten free diets. He said that there may be a connection between gluten and allergic reactions in general, but added "it's something that we don't really understand yet." Although I haven't officially been diagnosed with celiac yet, he told me that I should stay gluten free even if my endoscopy results are negative, as long as it seems to be beneficial to me.

[gfp]

I recently told my allergist that my allergy symptoms (sneezing, runny nose, post-nasal drip, coughing) seem to be less severe when I'm gluten free. He said he's had several patients report their environmental allergies clearing up when they go on gluten free diets. He said that there may be a connection between gluten and allergic reactions in general, but added "it's something that we don't really understand yet." Although I haven't officially been diagnosed with celiac yet, he told me that I should stay gluten free even if my endoscopy results are negative, as long as it seems to be beneficial to me.

Sounds like you got yourself an allergist worth keeping!

[jdp364]

Sounds like you got yourself an allergist worth keeping!

Oh yeah, he's my favorite doctor in my current "arsenal" of doctors. Very thorough, open minded and up to speed on all the latest research.

By the way, I have the sunlight/sneezing thing too. Very often when I walk from a darker interior out into very bright sun, I sneeze exactly three times. Thereafter, I'm fine. I always wonder why when it happens, it produces exactly three sneezes--no more, no fewer. I've been told that this kind of reaction is a genetically transmitted trait.

[Ursa Major]

I react to sunlight, too. That is one reason that I have a coating on my lenses that makes my lenses turn dark as soon as I step outside. Sunshine on my head and in my eyes made me miserable all through my childhood during the summer. But I never thought of wearing sunglasses or a hat, since my siblings didn't. And my mother wouldn't have thought of it anyway.

[loco-ladi]

When I lived in Maine sunlight bothered me a tiny bit, however there were mountains and trees there, since moving to Nebraska you never see me outside without my shades but I never concidered it along with the "intolerant/celiac/whateverIam"

Some things just make ya go Hhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm

[Kaycee]

Thank you for bringing this up. I do get hay fever symptoms pretty soon after being glutened and a cough. Can a cough be related to an allergy? Actually I was beginning to suffer these symptoms more and more prior to diagnosis, but since being gluten free it is not a problem, unless I get glutened. I thought it was me and so totally not related to coeliac and was all in my head (nose and eyes)

It probably means that I have an allergy to gluten, and there seems to be something else that will make me cough for a little while, then I am fine.

Cathy

[hathor]

By the way, I have the sunlight/sneezing thing too. Very often when I walk from a darker interior out into very bright sun, I sneeze exactly three times. Thereafter, I'm fine. I always wonder why when it happens, it produces exactly three sneezes--no more, no fewer. I've been told that this kind of reaction is a genetically transmitted trait.

Here's an article about it. Open Original Shared Link You can see there are a variety of names, and I recall hearing others. My husband, though, calls it "photo-sneezy-itis" so, of course, that's the one I remember.

It obviously has a genetic link. My dad had it, and my sister, my daughter & I all have it. Usually three sneezes, too. It is so funny when sis, dd, & I get together and walk out into the sun together. People give us the strangest looks!

[TestyTommy]

My medical odyssey that led to me being diagnosed with celiac started 9+ years ago, when I suddenly started developing allergies at the ripe old age of 36. This is my first spring that I'm gluten-free, and my allergies seem less severe (though not gone).

My allergist says that I may have "pseudo-allergies". When the immune system is activated/irritated by something (like celiac) it becomes much more sensitive than normal. Kinda like when you have a headache, and every little noise bothers you, when your immune system is in over-drive it reacts more strongly to things that normally wouldn't bother it.

That could be what's happening to some of us.