Nice to see we’re not alone in this. My 2 1/2 year old son just tested positive for a number of allergies: dog, pineapple, oats, and egg white being the top ones. Looking back at his excema and other skin rashes as an infant, I’m pretty certain that oatmeal was to blaim for most of them. His face was totally clear until he began eating oatmeal cereal at 5 1/2 months. As far as we can tell, skin rashes and overall itchiness seem to be his symptoms. No vomitting or diarreah. I’ve wondered why he’d never finish his granola bars when he would devour most any foods, especially sweet ones. I think he knew they made him feel bad. I’m curious to see how he does when we eliminate the oats from his diet. I think it’s going to be pretty challenging though with having to read all the food labels. I’ve been surprised at some of the things that have oats in them.

@Mom of 2: I don’t understand how the allergist could shrug off a positive test like that. Any chance you can get a second opinion?

I think I have identified oats as the culprit of breakouts on my butt. (not exactly pimples…but like infected spots that get a little swollen. When I was in my 20’s I was eating a very whole grain diet including oats…and at some point gave up oats and these breakouts disappeared for probably 15+ years until just recently when I was dying for homemade granola. Suddenly – after so many years of for the most part staying away from oats…the breakouts returned. I am sad as the granola is SOOO good. I am on the other hand happy that I think I identified that particular allergy and wonder if there are accompaning symptoms (energy loss…etc.)

thanks

Anyone else noticed that there are just FAR more food allergies than there used to be? I’m sure we’re going to see more cases of less common ones, such as oats. The “old school” doctors may just think “bah, nobody’s allergic to oats”, but it’s a while new world.

Chandler: It’s tough because oats are not among the allergens companies are specifically required to call out on labels (like milk, wheat, egg, etc.). So, it really takes a LOT of label reading. There are usually alternatives, you just need to hunt a bit. Rice cereals, wheat breads, and the like will become your friends.

I have had a similar experience with my 7 month old. When we introduced solids at 5 months, she was fine with a little bit of oatmeal. Then she vomited while sleeping after we gave her a more substantial amount. We thought it was due to her increased rolling over but stopped the oatmeal cereal for 2 weeks anyway. When we re-introduced the oatmeal at 6 months, she vomitted very violently. Just yesterday, I gave her a small service of bananas, apricot & oatmeal mixture. This morning, I discovered that she had vomited while sleeping last night. Our doctor is also unfamiliar with an oat allergy.

Is there a list of non-oat foods? Thank you anyone for your help!

I’ve heard that before… when positive for an oat allergy, limiting gluten. I have no idea why, though. Our daughter’s diet contained gluten and she was fine with it. Any ideas why they are keeping gluten from you?

That definitely sounds like an oat allergy. I hope the rash has started to clear up… we had a similar experience when we stopped giving our daughter the Aveeno bath.

My daughter had oat, peanut, and dairy allergies. I’m not sure if that means oat allergies tend to come along with others. On the plus side, she has grown out of the oat and peanut allergies.

My 9 months old daughter is allergic to oats. She has been getting bad rahses on her face and body for the past two months. Now that we found out that she is allergic oats, we stopped feeding her oatmeal and stop using aveno baby product. However, her rashes are still coming back. She is not allergic to milk, but as someone recommended above, I am going to try the hyproallergenic formuala to see if that works. Thanks for the advice.

Yesterday morning I made oatmeal for breakfast, with powdered milk, and later thought I was coming down the flu. I was getting cold sweats, a cough, and a blinding headache that I figured was from sinus pressure. Until I got the same thing with my vision that I had after eating the granola. I figured that I must not have cooked the oatmeal enough, as I had never had problems with cooked oats before or with any cold cereals.

The headache alone is enough for me abandon oats altogether, as it’s an experience I don’t want to repeat.

The thing with my vision was really weird as it didn’t matter which eye I looked out of.

I am a vegan and have been for 14 years so I guess it’s possible I have the egg and milk allergies that have been mentioned elsewhere – thank goodness it wasn’t soya and beer though – that would have been tricky!

I was amazed that oat allergy is so rare though – even rarer than vegans it would appear!

Ouch!

#6 January 5th, 2007 at 2:29 pm Helaine Says:
“Adam, I too would be interested in whatever you find on oats allergies. Suddenly, in middle age, I find that if I eat oats or anything containing it, I suffer shortness of breath, occasionally a tightness or rawness in the thoat (Goodbye, Honey Nut Cheerios!) I have a similar reaction to soy, something else with which I‚Äôd had no trouble prior to hitting my 40s. Decriptions of wheat allergy, celiac disease, and allergic asthma don‚Äôt quite fit.”

My allergy just seemed to appear. I am 23 years old, and I have noticed these symptoms for about 2 years. Not only do I get the shortness of breath and raw, “froggy” throat, my abdomen swells outward, well beyond my normal size. Also, my shortness of breath comes with an awful dry cough, that sounds like whooping cough. With the exception of Helaine, it seems nobody else has these symptoms. Is it the oat, or something used in the process of milling the oat? Any help would be incredibly appreciated. Thank you!

I googled “can I use Aveeno if I am gluten (oat) intolerant?” and I came upon your site. I just received the results of a gluten sensitivity test that confirms that I will have to stay away from all things gluten. I’ve had psoriasis for over 35 years – for the past 2 months I have been on an elimination diet and have removed gluten (and a lot of other things!) from my diet. My symptoms of muscle cramping, weakness and inflexibility and joint pain have cleared ocmpletely – quite a thrill as I had been experiencing terrible pain for many months. I also went off the very toxic drug that had been recommended for the psoriasis – I could no longer reconcile the risk to my liver. I hoped that on this gluten free diet, my skin would clear however, although the psoriasis has “changed”, it has not cleared and if anything, my skin is more irritated (in an unpsoriasis sort of way – red and inflammed). It finally occurred to me today to question the Aveeno products that I use – lotion, shower and bath product. So, I googled and came across your site and I think perhaps I am on to something. So, I’ll stop the Aveeno (with all other sources of gluten gone, my sensitivity to gluten will be heightened now since I am no longer on overload) and see if that is the culprit. As I said, my skin condition has changed and this new irrititation is a clear indicator that something is going on.