Wheat Allergy Causes and Symptoms

Like most allergies, a wheat allergy is terrible because of the prolific nature of wheat in our society. You can find it in a myriad of products, and to get similar products without it is quite a task. What are the symptoms and causes of wheat allergy? I will explain them all very shortly.

Wheat allergy is among the more common allergy for kids, and though some can grow out of this allergy (usually by 3 or 5), there are a fair amount who have it for life. You can usually grasp the situation of their allergy rather easily, as symptoms will appear soon after eating any wheat products. It can also onset in adult times, but it is more likely for people to have it as children.

Your doctor may confuse it for celiac, which has very similar symptoms but comes from a different source. Celiac is based off the gluten in wheats and breads, and is more a sensitivity than a allergy, but nonetheless the symptoms appear very similar. A true wheat allergy though is caused by certain proteins in the wheat. The body has falsely recognized them as dangerous, and thereby releases histamines to destroy the protein.

These histamines are what cause irritation, runny nose, coughing, cold like symptoms, and for the worst sufferers anaphylaxis shock (constricting of throat, passing out, chest pains, problems breathing, pale skin, and dizziness are associated with anaphylaxis).

Often to stop them, an antihistamine can be very effective, as it would block the histamines from attempting to attack this false intruder. However, in the worst case, anaphylaxis scenario, you should have a doctor prescribe you an Epi Pen. This "pen" will administer a shot of epinephrine (a type of adrenaline) to wake you from an unconscious state. Unfortunately, at this point these are the only sure fire "cures" to help alleviate wheat allergy symptoms.