I think seed he allergic to all ones that are small fruits. You can take like blackberries add small amount water heat on stove add sugar make drink juice strain it with fine mesh strainer.
I've met several people can't handle seeds small fruits you Google Allergic to small seeds.
I'm allergic to my own body heat in winter my skin cold like 10:00 am and do hard exercises go to itching on places of my skin for 10 minutes over for rest the day. Not big deal I just wear real warm clothing in winter morning all okay no itch.
Hopefully your son grow out allergic condition most of allergic do grow out condition.

What type of 'allergic' symptoms does he show?
Are the symptoms serious (throat swelling, wheezing, breathing trouble)? The same to all berries?
Is he allergic to any other foods at all?

(I'm a family physician)

There is a good chance that he is not allergic to blueberries, since you say he can eat cranberries, and these two are related species. He might be gluten intolerant, which is a challenge to manage, since gluten is in so many common foods. Gluten intolerance can act as a trigger for "itchy skin" that appears suddenly after physical labor and overheating, followed by rapid cooling.

He is allergic to blueberries also, forgot to mention that. He gets an itchy throat, runny nose, sneezing, and it exacerbates his asthma. He is also allergic to shell fish, several evergreen trees, horses, grass pollen, and cats and dogs. He does not seem to be allergic to our ferrets.

I feel for you and for your son. Both my kids had bad asthma, my son had severe respiratory allergies and my daughter had life-threatening reactions to walnuts and pecans(even if the allergens were aerosolized by someone eating them near her). They are 26 and 24 now, and those problems are markedly reduced.

It sounds like he is reacting to histamine in certain foods. Histamine is a key chemical in our body's allergic reactions but is also found in various foods. His reactions are typical for an 'allergic person's' response to those foods. Typically a true allergic reaction to a food, not just exposure to dietary histamines, is much more severe-but these reactions like your son gets are often labeled as an 'allergic reaction'. Typically milder symptoms like his will respond to one of the anti-histamines, and the degree of the reaction is dependent on how much of the food is consumed, what else is consumed with some histamine in it, and how much other allergic and asthmatic reactions are already going on. Best thing is really avoidance for now, antihistamines as needed, and possibly consider allergy desensitization shots with a real Allergist for his respiratory allergies which often helps asthma significantly in a highly allergic person. My understanding is that shots are not really helpful for 'food allergies', just for the respiratory allergies like pollen, mold, etc.

I linked a nice explanation below that I found on line-not sure about all of the writer's conclusions at the end or the book promoted. From reading your posts I have noted that you really research things well for your orchard and I am sure you are even more concerned for you son. If you have any questions for me I can answer them here or by email. Good luck with those allergic symptoms.

Here is a link that might be useful: histamine in foods

One way to help get over allergies is to eat some local honey. You eat a little bit each day and it helps you overcome your allergies. I had a cousin that had the same type of problems and that is what the doctor told him to do. He doesn't have any allergies anymore. Though you will also outgrow most allergies in time as well.

eboone ,

The article you linked to is exactly the information that I was hoping for. This ties all of his allergies together. It addresses shellfish in particular and I can understand why, along with berries and other fruit, he is also allergic to shellfish, which is seemingly unrelated.

I have only skimmed the article and I will have to study it more in depth. I feel as though we may finally be able to get a handle on the problem.

He was given allergy shots as a boy. I recently took him to National Jewish and they are preparing more allergy shots for him. My fear was that the shots would address more symptoms and not the main cause of the allergies. Rather than "growing out" of his allergies they have become worse. He is about to turn 21 now and his allergies and asthma have made finishing his education and working impossible.

I can't thank you enough!

This post was edited by milehighgirl on Mon, Jul 15, 13 at 13:43